1886 Pedersoli .45-70

[BrentD]

I stopped at a Cabelas today to stretch my legs and shop for a friend who needs a 94 Marlin. I struck out in that department but i did see a Pedersoli 1886 in .45-70. Now, generally, I don't like new, off the shelf guns, but that was one NICE rifle. Much much nicer than the Miroku/Winchester(?) version.

Does anyone shoot one of these and have an opinion to share? I'm not going to buy one as I'm a sucker for resurrecting old rifles like my square bolt 95 Marlin, but...

It was not cheap $1450 but heck of a nice gun on all counts.

[jmiller]

I purchased two of these rifles last year from Cabela's. I sent the first one back due to it being defective and received another one. It too was defective. Both were defective and would not cycle ammo from the tube onto the carrier. They looked great on the outside but were crudely machined on the inside. I wanted them (well, one of them) pretty bad and went to the trouble to contact the person who does the warranty repair for Pedersoli and found out that there was a production problem at their plant when they were making these guns, and had a known defect and Pedersoli had people working at the end of the production line doing repairs and then packaging them. Apparently the repairs weren't all successful. He stated that he didn't do the repairs on these guns at his location but traveled to another state to visit a return center and work on the guns. He did that a couple of times a year and didn't know how long it would be before he got to go there and work on the guns. He also didn't know what he was going to do to fix them. I contacted Turnbull Mfg. to inquire about having them repair the gun at my cost (I really wanted one of these guns). They said they had a couple of them that they purchased to use for their custom work and they were familiar with the problem I had. They had it on the guns they purchased also. They advised me not to buy one. I sent the second one back and purchased a NIB old stock Win/Miroku 1886 and it has performed flawlessly so far and shoots great. I sent that gun to Turnbull and had it case color hardened finished and had the safety removed and put a half cock hammer on it. My advice to you is run away from any Pedersoli lever gun. FYI...I like Pedersoli's. I have owned three other single shot guns and they functioned and shot great. Just don't buy one of their lever guns.
One other thing....Turnbull can't say enough about how good the Win/Miroku guns are. They are their preferred gun to work off of for customization. Their only comment was that the Win/Miroku guns were getting scarce and hard to get.

[BrentD]

Well, I asked, and now I know. Thanks.

Brent

[.45colt]

Brent, I bought one at the Cabelas in Dundee Michigan a year and a half ago. Mine has a great trigger is finished well and does everything I would expect it to do. these rifles are stocked much like a Model 64 Winchester and are easy to shoot with heavy loads. I don't think they are all problem Guns.

[jmiller]

"Brent, I bought one at the Cabelas in Dundee Michigan a year and a half ago. Mine has a great trigger is finished well and does everything I would expect it to do. these rifles are stocked much like a Model 64 Winchester and are easy to shoot with heavy loads. I don't think they are all problem Guns".

Brent, I'm also sure they aren't all problem guns. However, if you do an internet search there are enough of them with problems to raise a red flag. The only customer review on Cabela's website refers to the feeding problem. I wrote a review, a nice one...not a rant, and they didn't publish it. I believe they don't want to have everyone think that these guns are all problems. I do need to point out that they have NO GOOD REVIEWS on this gun on their site either. I'd strongly suggest you take a few dummy rounds with you to the store and try the gun before you buy it. If it won't feed and cycle don't buy it. The second one I got would feed sometimes but the brass had very deep scratches on it when it did feed. Don't listen to the bull that it'll get better after cycle it very vigorously a hundred times or so it'll start working. That didn't happen on either one of mine. Again, do some more research on the net and if you go, take some dummy rounds to try. If you have a problem with this gun after buying it you will find out your troubles are just beginning. The service for this gun is going to be a slow with the way they have the repair center process set up. Every thing I told you in my above post is factual and not exagerated. In my opinion it's not worth the gamble. At least not to me. Been there, done that with this gun.

[BrentD]

Thanks guys - I'm not looking to buy one. Not even considering it. I'm building a 1899 vintage 1895 .45-70 and it will be far nicer (by my standards) than any new gun. I just was impressed by what I saw. I don't often like new made rifles but this one LOOKED nice. And levering the action FELT nice, but the possibility that there could be big problems is good to know for others.

[Bob Mccarthy]

They are a handsome gun. I had one for a short while. It was flawed in the same way others experienced. The factory (and Cabelas) jumped over backwards to please me, but in the end I didn't have time to wait to have it repaired. I returned it for a Winchester hi-grade and am really pleased with the Win 86.

I really like Petersoli products and have no doubt they put the effort to improve later production. Just jack some rounds through it. If it works as it should, it is a keeper.

Bob

[Bob Mccarthy]

What did they charge to convert the Win to the old style half cock and eliminate the tang safety/rebound hammer? I'm thinking of doing the same to mine.

Bob

I sent the second one back and purchased a NIB old stock Win/Miroku 1886 and it has performed flawlessly so far and shoots great. I sent that gun to Turnbull and had it case color hardened finished and had the safety removed and put a half cock hammer on it. My advice to you is run away from any Pedersoli lever gun. FYI...I like Pedersoli's. I have owned three other single shot guns and they functioned and shot great. Just don't buy one of their lever guns.
One other thing....Turnbull can't say enough about how good the Win/Miroku guns are. They are their preferred gun to work off of for customization. Their only comment was that the Win/Miroku guns were getting scarce and hard to get.

[CowboyTutt]

That's too bad about the Pedersoli rifles. They take their products seriously and I can honestly tell you, David P. made it clear they wanted their products to be perfect to my friend Mic McPherson. His son has been a lot more involved with the company in the past few years and for all I know David P. may have retired. Maybe that has something to do with it. -Tutt

[GoatGuy]

What did they charge to convert the Win to the old style half cock and eliminate the tang safety/rebound hammer? I'm thinking of doing the same to mine.

Bob

I sent the second one back and purchased a NIB old stock Win/Miroku 1886 and it has performed flawlessly so far and shoots great. I sent that gun to Turnbull and had it case color hardened finished and had the safety removed and put a half cock hammer on it. My advice to you is run away from any Pedersoli lever gun. FYI...I like Pedersoli's. I have owned three other single shot guns and they functioned and shot great. Just don't buy one of their lever guns.
One other thing....Turnbull can't say enough about how good the Win/Miroku guns are. They are their preferred gun to work off of for customization. Their only comment was that the Win/Miroku guns were getting scarce and hard to get.

Pick up the phone, call and ask for yourself! I really don't type that to hurt your feelings Bob, believe me. But jeez folks, see what I mean?

[vancelw]

Pick up the phone, call and ask for yourself! I really don't type that to hurt your feelings Bob, believe me. But jeez folks, see what I mean?

I'm fixin to show y'all how this "ignore" thing works

[Bob Mccarthy]

What did they charge to convert the Win to the old style half cock and eliminate the tang safety/rebound hammer? I'm thinking of doing the same to mine.

Bob



Pick up the phone, call and ask for yourself! I really don't type that to hurt your feelings Bob, believe me. But jeez folks, see what I mean?

[/quote]

Sorry if I hit your hot button. It was a simple request for a ballpark figure.

[jmiller]

Turnbull Mfg. 585-657-6338

[vancelw]

What did they charge to convert the Win to the old style half cock and eliminate the tang safety/rebound hammer? I'm thinking of doing the same to mine.

Bob

Pick up the phone, call and ask for yourself! I really don't type that to hurt your feelings Bob, believe me. But jeez folks, see what I mean?

Sorry if I hit your hot button. It was a simple request for a ballpark figure.

Don't let one out of hundreds of forum members run you off, Bob. It was a legitimate questions. But I will say I'd be tempted to buy a Browning 1886 where that is already done for you. I had a Win 1895 with a tang safety and I sold it and picked up a Browning 1895 for that reason. I also have a Win 1892 in .45 Colt that has had the tang safety removed but the rebounding hammer is still there. Sometimes it doesn't want to go "bang."

[Bob Mccarthy]

Thanks. So far mine goes bang every time. Trigger pull is kinda heavy for me. If I was gonna get a trigger job, thought I'd go whole way. Anyone know a good Lever smith in North Texas? I have a guy but he doesn't work on lever guns.

Called Turnbull left message and contact info.

Nothing, no call back.

So far anyway...

Bob

[vancelw]

Sent you a PM

[Blaine]

Find a used Marlin 1895 Cowboy....be tickled to death for half the money (or way less)

[BrentD]

The marlin 95 built on the 336 action is not at all interesting to me. But really, that has nothing to do with the Pedersoli 86 anyway.

[jmiller]

Thanks. So far mine goes bang every time. Trigger pull is kinda heavy for me. If I was gonna get a trigger job, thought I'd go whole way. Anyone know a good Lever smith in North Texas? I have a guy but he doesn't work on lever guns.

Called Turnbull left message and contact info.

Nothing, no call back.

So far anyway...

Bob

Every time I called Turnbull during business hours someone answered the phone. You may have called after they closed and they will not return calls until the next day. As far as "so far away" it's no further to you once it goes in the mail. Turnbull is by far the best lever gun restoration company out there and their reputation says so. Their work is flawless. You pay for it but they stand behind it and the work is first rate. You get what you pay for, usually. The Pedersoli is an exception. Why don't you try calling Turnbull during business hours, or if you did that, try calling them again. They aren't at all hard to get a hold of.

[Bob Mccarthy]

Find a used Marlin 1895 Cowboy....be tickled to death for half the money (or way less)

I thought about it (95 cowboy) as I have a 94 cowboy in LC that is a fine firearm.

But honesty the Marlin does not even come close on fit and finish. Plus the super strong 86 action is a thing of wonder. I know I probably should have found a Browning, but this high grade Winchester is just beautiful and came to me at a good price.

To jmiller:

I'll continue to try Turnbull. I did call during work hours.

there website does display some beautiful firearms.

Bob

[Blaine]

The marlin 95 built on the 336 action is not at all interesting to me. But really, that has nothing to do with the Pedersoli 86 anyway.

Thanks guys - I'm not looking to buy one. Not even considering it

Sorry....seemed like you might be looking at different options, and you're rebuilding an old 1895.....

[Leverluver]

As far as getting Turnbull, isn't this Shot Show time. I know he hits every one of them. Plus it is convention time in general. I always saw him at Dallas Safari Club. It's that time of year that business hit the road to drum up more business.

[jmiller]

As far as getting Turnbull, isn't this Shot Show time. I know he hits every one of them. Plus it is convention time in general. I always saw him at Dallas Safari Club. It's that time of year that business hit the road to drum up more business.

I think you might be right. Here's the list from his website for his show schedule. I think he closes shop for these events.
http://www.turnbullmfg.com/store.asp?pi ... atid=19872

[Bob Mccarthy]

Thanks, that makes sense. Shot show, wish I was there. more fun than here

bob