The sound of silence....Pedersoli Enfields

[Hickok]

After all the excitement about the introduction of the Pedersoli Enfields, and some good videos by Space Cowboy, it now seems like the song, "The Sound Of Silence."

I was expecting alot of shooting results, pro and cons, and debate about the new line of Enfields. All the cosmetic issues and demensions have been discussed, but is anyone buying these rifles and shooting them?

[Maillemaker]

I bought a used P58 Pedersoli from a forum member here. I've been meaning to write up a review with pictures but have not yet had a chance to do so. Nor have I worked up a good load for it yet.

It looks good overall, with all the accuracy improvements that have been discussed.

It has correct square-eared lock washers.
It has a correctly-marked lock plate.
A new hammer with very crisp thumb checkering.
Strong new mainspring.
Correct swivel hardware.
Nice oil-finished stock.
Lighter weight.
"Proof marks", though they are engraved instead of stamped.

Here are some of the negatives:

The inlet into the stock for the lock plate is very slightly too deep. Say .01" or so. This allowed the back of the hammer to contact the wood and so mar the wood when it was cocked and released. To fix this, I added two layers of electrical tape to the back of the lock plate where it seats on the wood to bring the lock out of the stock flush with the wood.

The inlet into the stock for the lock plate is also too tightly toleranced to the perimeter of the lock plate - it is nearly a press fit. As a result the first time I pushed the lock out of the stock the beveled edge of the lock plate acted like a chisel and raised a sliver of wood about the size of my pinky nail out of the stock. I injected super glue under the sliver and pressed it down back into place but the glue wicked to the surface and you can see the blemish now.

The rear sight seems to be the original cast Euroarms sight. On mine the leaf would not stay down under spring pressure at its lowest settings. On each shot it would bump up about .05" and you had to remember to push it back down flat. In addition, it is a 900 yard sight which is not correct for the P58. It should be 1100 yards or 1250 as I recall. I replaced the sight with a machined 1100 yard sight from S&S firearms.

This was the most serious problem: The stirrup arm of the tumbler has a hole in it that the trunions of the stirrup sit in. There was not nearly enough metal around that hole - maybe .015". Consequently when I disassembled the lock for the first time and twisted the stirrup out of the hole it snapped the stirrup arm of the tumbler. I replaced the tumbler and sear with Lodgewood machined replacements. However when I did this the tail of the trigger had a large gap between it and the arm of the sear, which allowed the trigger to rattle during cocking. I fixed this by building up the tail of the trigger with JB Weld.

The barrel bands are cast. The middle barrel band had a slight bump in the inside of the casting and they were not properly ground smooth. When I slid the band off for the first time that bump cut a scratch into the stock.

While not necessarily a negative, I will note that all of the lock components with the exception of the springs and hammer appear to be the original Euroarms cast parts. They still have the old P-H visible in the bridle.

I originally tried shooting it with RCBS-Hodgdon bullets with charges ranging from 45-60 grains of 3F Shuetzen. I got keyholes below 55 grains.

Based on Space Cowboy's video I ordered a Lyman 575213PH mold. However, my bore requires a bullet sized to .578 and the Lyman mold drops at .575. The bullet shot and did not keyhole but accuracy was not stellar.

Last weekend I shot nearly 100 rounds using the Moose 580 Wilkinson, sized to .578. I used 2:1 Crisco/Beeswax lube, 1:1 Olive Oil/Beeswax lube, and from the 1862 Ordnance Manual 8:1 Beeswax/Tallow lube. I'll make a separate post about that. But accuracy was not stellar.

Steve