Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Pedersoli Hawkens

Hi gents. I'm giving some thought to buying a muzzleloader. It would be my first, and I'm going traditional (percussion, not flintlock). It would be used for deer and maybe Colorado elk at some point.

I've got some Cabela's bucks to burn, so that's where I'd be shopping. The two they sell that look interesting to me are the Pedersoli Rocky Mountain Hawken (.50 or .54 cal) and the Missouri River Hawken (.50).

Rocky Mountain

Missouri River Hawken

Anyone have experience with either of these, or with Pedersolis in general?

Also, of the 3 choices in caliber/twist (.54, .50 slow twist, and the faster twist .50 of the Missouri River), which have you tried on elk (even if in some other rifle)? I wouldn't mind keeping it simple with .54 round ball, and just stay inside of 100 yards (75?). Do I need to be able to shoot conicals? Do I need tack-driving accuracy out to 200+?

I'd appreciate your insight. Thanks.

I had a Mortimer .54 flintlock for a few years. Once I sorted out the size of the touch hole, it was fast, reliable and very accurate. They make good barrels. Their Sharps replicas have been used to win BPCR matches and their MLs have won all kinds of international shoots. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

Thanks Pappy.

And I just noticed CO ML elk season opens tomorrow. Replies to this thread may be slow a comin'.

Killed a lot of elk with a 50 cal . My wife still uses a 50 . But I use a 54 .
Myself I like it better as an all around big game caliber
As to Pedersoli .
IMO they are over priced . Then if you need repairs your really going to see that all over again .
Simply put , the price for parts exceeds the cost charged for full custom parts . Locks , stock and barrel .

So in this case , what I would consider as the best choice of the two rifles is going to run you right at 1000.00 . that�s within a few hundred of a semi custom , where you could chose your caliber , barrel manufacture , length of barrel , radius rifling or square , swaged or drawn , triggers , grade of stock , patch box � all the fooferaaaa plus things like drop , length of pull , drop , cast , sight distances��..

You say you have Cabela�s bucks , so that�s going to save you some money . But how much money ?.
Frankly if its not going to be cheaper then the cost of a Lyman GPR . I personally wouldn�t fork out the money .
Does Pedersoli make good rifles , yes. Though over the last few years, � 10-15 � IMO not a good as they used to and frankly no better then the work put out by their subsidiaries like Investment Arms

I do not think Cabela's sells Investarms rifles any more. I would probably call around and see if any of the stores have one in stock. They are dang good rifles.

They probably are priced a bit high, but I'll have right at a grand of funny money to spend at cabelas. Tell me more about your move from .50 to .54. Do you shoot round ball?

I hear more people being upset with quality issues on those because they spent more, but really didn't get higher quality.

For the prices listed (close to or at $1,000) for those Pedersoli's, I'd look for a good used, custom-made rifle in excellent condition made with high-quality locks and nice "furniture and "tiger-maple" wood. That's just too much to pay for a factory-made, mass-produced and plain-looking muzzle loader.

A good custom-made rifle, made by a good builder, will give you a life-time of good service, very little or possibly may never require repair... and give you a lotta pride in owning such a rifle. And, if you shop carefully, you may even find a used rifle in excellent condition and get beautiful wood and nice brass "furniture" as well.

I have three .50 caliber rifles, 2 cap-locks and a flinter... and if I were considering hunting elk, I'd go with the .54 caliber cap-lock for greater power and effect on elk. However, for deer, the .50 caliber is more than "adequate".

Jus' my 2�...


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

If you have the Cabela's dollars that can't be used anywhere else, the Pedersoli rifles would be fine. I have a "Kentucky" (Pennsylvania)style flintlock Pedersoli and the workmanship is excellent. I have never had any problem shooting it, as well.

I can't speak for the long-term dependability of the "Hawken" style Pedersoli rifles, but I have shot a Rocky Mountain in 54. It was accurate and comfortable for me, but that was only for 3 or 4 shots.

The wood of the Rocky Mountain, striped maple, was very attractive, much more so than the Missouri version in walnut. With the sale that is on right now for the Rocky Mountain, it looks very interesting. If I had a few extra $$, I would be interested in buying one.

I find that I use much less powder shooting my 50 cal Pedersoli than I do with my 54 cal Lyman GPR. Shooting over a year and with the difficulty of finding real black powder locally, that makes a difference. Just for a few hunting trips, it isn't a big deal.

One of those Pedersoli rifles is going to find its way to my gun rack one of these days.

My bias for elk, and it is just a bias, is for the 54 cal. I can't justify it by data or testing, but I feel more comfortable with the 530 ball.
Ron

Yes I shoot mostly round balls . But at times I also use a conical in the same rifle .
Weight wise there�s only 40 grains difference between the 50 and 54 cal RB . Even with conical , they can over lap .
Myself I just find the 54 to be a little more impressive .
I have never owned a 58 . But I have owned and taken elk with a 62 which is even more impressive then the 54 . But it also takes more lead .
I would agree with Ron . If you cant use the money anywhere else . Then , I would go with the Pedersoli
IMO It would be a crying shame however as your not going to get anything more then you would in a lower cost investment arms or Lyman rifle . In which case you could come out with a very nice rifle and a nice pistol like a 1851 or 1860 in a conversion model shooting 45 LC , 38 LC or Special

Yep, I'm stuck with Cabela's this time. I do like the looks of the maple stocked RM.

I'm guessing the slower twist on the .54 listed would mean round ball only, which I'd be ok with.

Anyone have experience with a faster twist .50, like the Missouri River?

You are a lot better off with the slow twist 54 and a patched round ball.

I think they are on sale at the moment. About $850

While not as traditionally correct as the RM, the Pedersoli Traditional Hawken with it's 1:48 twist in either .50 or .54 gives you a bit of flexibility in bullets. It will shoot round balls well and can stabilize some conicals like the Maxi-Ball, REAL and Great Plains. Plus it's alot cheaper. If you like a more period correct rifle, then I'd go with the RM in .54 with round balls. It'll do anything you'll need.

I know this is an old thread - but do you guys feel the price of the pedersoli Rocky Mountain hawken is Too much for a factory rifle???

Is pedersoli very very good with customer service and repairs?

After this thread I ended up getting the Missouri River Hawken in .50 from Cabela's. I went that route because I had just enough points to cover it. It's nice, reliable, and even shoots PRB well, but looking back I wish I'd gotten the Rocky Mountain .54.

I see that the RM is back up to $1200 now at Cabela's. A month or two ago it was down to $850. I think it's overpriced at the regular price, but a good deal when on sale.

Point of interest...

To the best of my knowledge the original Hawkens were about a 1 in 47" twist, as was the Harper's Ferry 1803.

Only thing I can presume is they used less powder back then in the pre-chronograph age.

Birdwatcher

rifling depth plays a very large roll in PRB shooting. Plus I believe I read the Hawken barrels were "Choked" at the muzzle.

I've always thought that as well. The modern 1-48s have shallow grooves for conicals. Also, and this may just be my silly notion, the old, soft steel may "hang on" better. I doubt that the boys using the originals used patch/ ball combos so tight that they had to hammered down like some do these days. Don't think they had the time.

You bought a great rifle! 50 cal is plenty for any deer that walks and will do a number on elk as well. The fast twist lends itself to conicals and sabots. With conicals you can get a lot of lead on target.

Congrats!