Whooo Hooo! New toy

[Pitspitr]

Hi AMAA Sgt. Drydock
I have the Lee M-1873 mould and it has worked well in the past for me when I get good bullets out of it.  Biggest deal with not using them for the muster, was that I didn't have time to cast AND reload both and I had some of the miester bullets on hand.

I had started thinking that the deal about Pedersoli buying the H&R tooling was just "urban legend", but it must not be. When I was having the ejector problems I bought a new Pedersoli ejector spring. The Pedersoli is smaller in dia., longer and lighter and wouldn't work at all. A spring from an original Springfield didn't work either. Fortunately a good cleaning got it working again. Switching parts on the H&R ends up being a trial basis, as some Pedersoli parts work some won't and the same is true with original Springfield parts. Original Springfield parts in most cases seem to be "beefy-er".

[Drydock]

Just FYI, the actual story is this:  back in the Mid 80s, Val Forgett of Navy Arms bought the H&R Tooling.  He had it in storage up in West VA for about 10  years with the idea of producing it himself.  In the late 90s he shopped it around, and Pedersoli bought it.  Pedersoli mostly wanted the stock making equipment.  Pedersoli introduced a number of detail changes in the metalwork, including a reintroduction of the Milspec 3 groove barrel.  (Yours has 8 as I recall)

I've gotten wonderful results with the Lee mold by preheating it on a hot plate before I begin molding.  I do all my molds that way now.

I think I'm a Brevet Lt. Col. now, but I'm waiting on confirmation . . .

[US Scout]

I think I'm a Brevet Lt. Col. now, but I'm waiting on confirmation . . .

As the GAF Battle Rifle Officer you are indeed a Bvt Lt Col and a member of my special staff.  The Battle Rifle and Marksmanship Officers are to keep me appraised on the GAF shooting programs.   You are entitled to be addressed as Bvt Lt Col and Sgt Drydock if you prefer.  You do not need to wear the insignia of a Lt Col but are welcome to do so.

US Scout
GAF, Commanding

[Pitspitr]

Please accept my apologies Col. and Congratulations!

I hadn't seen the new policies yet when I wrote my reply.

You are indeed correct about the H&R having 8 lands and grooves. My Pedersoli has 6 though. Did Pedersoli put a different barrel on the long range than on their standard models? Mine is the Long Range model so maybe they got that part of it right. 

BTW thanks for the nasal spray bottle tip. I used it on the trapdoor as well as the pistols I used during the muster none of them fouled out or bound up. 2 of the pistols are models that are notorious for binding up when BP cartridges are used; the Schofield and the Remington New Model Army with a Kirst conversion.

[Drydock]

Oh excellent!  I was wondering if they would do that.  The original Springield Long Range Rifle had special 6 groove barrels.  Nice to see Pedersoli has duplicated that as well.  The standard rifle and carbine have the 3 groove barrels. ( I have one of the Pedersoli Carbines, a 125th anniversary model from Cherrys.)

You are welcome.  Its a good way to go, never failed me.  My barrels are so well broken in now I just exhale down the muzzle between stages.

One rumour that I cannot confirm, but it sounds good:  It is whispered that H&R used some of the orginal Springfield equipment for stock making, in particular the original stock trace forms.  And that Pedersoli got those as well . . . 

[Pitspitr]

When I first got it I had the opportunity to do a side by side comparrison between it and original Springfield long range model. I found that the 6 groove rifling is one of the few things that is really a copy of the original long range rifle. The butt plate is a standard butt plate instead of the Hotchkiss butt plate. The lock uses a 2 notch tumbler instead of the correct 3 notch and incorperates a "fly". The pistol grip on the original was smooth and on the Pedersoli it is checkered. In it's defense I will say that it is the best shooting trapdoor I've ever shot.

The H&R stocks are quite a bit slimmer than the originals. I bought one of the repro steel pistol grips for mine and it doesn't fit the contour of the stock very well but on my originals it fits perfectly