Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Pedersoli Mortimer .54 cal Flintlock

On a whim, I just ordered a Pedersoli Mortimer .54 Cal Flintlock from Midway. They had exactly one and it was on sale for 1,200.00. Dixie Gun Works is asking 1,600 for the same rifle so I think I did alright price wise. The only thing that concerns me is Midway does not offer returns on blackpowder firearms but it was worth a 400 dollar risk I suppose.

I've been wanting a .54 cal flintlock for awhile, and this one looked appealing. It has to be better than the current crop of Lyman Great Plains Rifles. Last fall I had ordered one of those and sent it back due to looking like an angry beaver put it together. Nothing like my old .50GPR that I dolled up with an L&R lock. On the Mortimer, the lack of double set triggers didn't excite me, but we'll see how the trigger is...

I've got everything I need on hand to shoot it so that is always a plus...Any of you guys own one of these things? It looked pretty nice and will be a nice addition for the PA flintlock season. Only drawback might be is that its a little heavy, but it does have sling swivels.

I had one, and it was almost perfect. Lock is the most reliable I ever used. It even has a safety. The color case on most of the parts is beautiful.
The rear sight is not mounted in a standard dovetail, so that is silly. I only sold mine because it was 11 pounds with the sling, and was too heavy to push deer all day.
For 1200 it is a steal.

This man's opinion...the finest production flintlock ever built. The Mortimer design itself, which was copied to the tiniest detail, from an agreement with the Royal Firearms Museum and Pedersoli, was the apogee of the development of the flintlock ignition system. You have bought a rifle to be treasured in your family for generations. I, of course, cannot leave anything alone. So I honed the trigger and peened and dressed out the made in Italy text...just a personal preference. I also have a custom gun built by one of the most respected makers on the west coast, the Mortimer wins easily in fit, finish, grace of line.

You guys have made me feel better about jumping on this rifle at a good price. It seemed almost too good be to true. I definitely didn't wake up this morning with the intention of buying a rifle. Rather, I was looking at a box of .530 balls I had on my dresser and no rifle to launch them out of..so I revisited the Lyman .54 GPR on the web, but couldn't bring myself to buy another one after seeing the quality of the one I had sent back. My brother has an older Pedersoli flint, I forget which one but I recalled that it always worked well and looked good. That being said, I did a Google search on Pedersoli and came across the Mortimer. I must confess, I've never heard of one until today and after poking around a bit and seeing the super good price I couldn't resist. I hope it is all that I expect it to be.

I've got some Tom Fuller real hand knapped 3/4 flints here, and hopefully they fit the lock. I used to be heavily involved in muzzle loading and then drifted away for awhile. At least here in PA a guy can get real black powder and most other things to make these guns work locally. I'll have to check some of my old haunts to see if they still carry real flints etc. If not, I'll order online as Dixon's is about a 4 hour drive one way for me.

Terry, you are not too far way in Centre County...

Flintocke, I know what you mean about removing the lettering stamped in the barrel, I've done similar things myself however I will probably let this one be. I am not above having the trigger worked though if it is too heavy. I can't stand a lousy trigger.

You may need to do some trading with your 3/4" flints...as you know, the Fullers are the best...but I think they will be a little too wide for the Mortimer. The double throat cock is deliberately designed and lightened to use a smaller rock for higher hammer velocity and thusly reduced total lock time. I sort through loose flints and select flints of 9/16 to 5/8. You may be able to knap yours narrower, but it is beyond my ability. Maybe the grain structure is wrong for narrowing or I am just ham fisted.

Ditto on what the others said. Had to sell mine years ago and miss it badly. I paid, brace yourselves, $329 from Cabelas for it.

Hot tip: If ignition on yours is spotty, drill out the liner to .0625 (1/16”) and cone out the inside so the fire has a short jump to the charge. Makes it fast and sure.

Gun came today. Fit and finish is very good but not 100 percent perfect which is to be expected on a production gun these days.. Got her all sighted and will see if I can find a deer tomorrow. Initial shots were about 6 inches low and 6 inches left at 50 yards. Drifted the front sight and filed some off the top and squared things away. Dead on at 50. Shoots good, and will stack the balls nearly on top of each other if I do my part. Very fast lock. A little heavy as noted, but that'll just give me an excuse to get another rifle.

Found some flints locally and got raped at 5 bucks a piece for a couple..will have to order some from Track of the Wolf I guess. Ramrod doesn't seem to sturdy so I will have to get a hickory rod. I have a good range rod and don't use a wooden one unless hunting.

Stock is nice wood..nice figure in the butt. A few gaps here and there and the checkering could be better but I'm really nitpicking. Won't make me feel so bad dragging it through the woods. I really need to figure out how to post pics on here.

Sorry to hear fit and finish was lacking, but as I think about it, mine was bought nearly 20 years ago. You sound as if you are very knowledgeable in the muzzle loading sports, but I would caution you to take it slow and easy with the sight adjustments right now. I put in a lot of bench time developing two loads, one for fun shooting and one for long gong and hunting. After a lot of testing, only then I filed the sights, The folding sight was handy at longer ranges, reducing guessing for holdover. My high velocity load came in a very consistent 1850 fps. Have fun.

Rod is an odd size, it is metric diameter. I shaved a polymer one to fit. My wood one broke pretty quick.

Dixie Gun Works used to sell real hickory ramrod blanks...if you prefer wood (I do, don't ask me to defend my preference). Get a handful, they are dirt cheap, a little too large. Then this winter when the bad weather sets in, select the straightest most uniform grained rod, take a piece of broken glass and hand scrape shave the hickory to fit the ferrules, attach the old ends, soak in kerosene for a day or two....it will never break. The old Dixie catalogs used to have a picture of a gal holding a hickory rod in a full horseshoe bend to show how tough they are.

For $1350.00 this is a 'steal':

Untitled by .com/photos/61286670N08/]Sharps Man, on [bleep]

Good looking Flinter Rick, 50 or 54 cal?

I made a sight for mine by filing down a Ted Cash sight from Dixie to fit the odd dovetail. Replaced the ramrod too, but just how is lost in the mists of time......

Enjoy that great rifle.

Pedersoli does sell a synthetic rod for the mortimer, but naturally it is pricey.
Like I said I shaved down a universal polymer rod from Cabelas, and I sanded down a wood one from Dixons in Kempton PA - for show.

A standard 3/8 hickory rod drops right in my Mortimer...I donno maybe they changed something. I tried a rod from another rifle to check to be sure. Even if I get a rod that is slightly big, chucking it up my wood lathe and running sandpaper up and down the length of the rod will make short work of reducing diameter to fit.

Took it hunting yesterday. Saw deer but none that gave a good shot except for a yearling and I passed. Walked several miles, and yeah, that thing is heavy. What kind of slings did you guys put on yours? I'm thinking cotton jute or a woven strap would be best and look nice?

As for synthetic ramrods I've been down that road in my misspent youth. I shot something like 15 pounds of black powder in one summer out of my GPR when I first got it as a highschooler. Spent all my grass mowing money on powder. Casted my own balls etc. I shot the heads off a few sitting grouse that same fall. I highly doubt I'll ever be that good again with a flintlock, not to mention my eyes aren't what they were.

I used a synthetic rod for all of that shooting , cleaning etc. That rod and all that rubbing eventually damaged the rifling. You could visibly see it at the end of the barrel. I had a green mountain barrel put on and added an L&R lock, but that old rifle doesn't shoot as good as it did with the original barrel I ruined. That is why I shy away from synthetic rods. Not sure what they are made from, but I think the one I had contained fiberglass. I have a steel range rod with a brass guide that I use now unless I am hunting, and in that case a hickory rod works just fine.

As for the sights, I didn't have to file much material off to bring point of impact up. Shooting 90 grains of 2F. Shot 80, 90, and 100 grains and split the difference at 90 grains for hunting. Will do anything I need and was plenty accurate.

.50 caliber! Excellent shooter it is with 100 grains KIK 2F!!

Birdseye Maple Stock

Leman Birdseye by Sharps Man, on [bleep]

This photo was when in Caplock phase!

Nice, LOL, a lock switch away from a flinter to percussion.