Blue Ridge Percussion

[vthompson]

I have been looking at a percussion rifle that is sold through Cabela's. It is the Blueridge model and I am seriously thinking about getting the 36cal. for small game and plinking.
I was wondering if any of you guys had any experience with these rifles so that you could give me your opinion on them.
I have heard that the barrels are made by Pedersoli but Cabelas stamps their name on them. If anyone can inform me a little bit about these rifles I sure would appreciate it. Thank you for your time.

[Loyalist Dave]

The Blue Ridge Hunter, or BRH is a Pedersoli product entirely, made to Cabela's specs.  It was the same rifle that was used at the end of the life of the Hatfield Rifle Company, and when they sold it Pedersoli did it to their specs.  I think for flintlock longrifles that are mass produced, it was the best bang for the buck....., though now the price increases have made it so close to a semi-custom rifle like those from TVM and other makers, that you might as well get a rifle from TVM "in-the-white" and finish it yourself.  (I know Traditions makes a production longrifle too, and I own one, but the lock on the Traditions is too small and fragile (imho). )  The BRH can be good rifles, though they are not swamped barrels so are a bit heavy.  Mine required lapping of the bore as it was quite sharp and cut patches something fierce, and the front sight needed to be replaced with a thin, silver blade to get all of the accuracy out of it.  

They are not close to being historic looking, with the ramrod tubes doubling as part of the system that holds the barrel into the stock.  I modified mine by adding some better thimbles.  

LD

[Sir Michael]

It seems to be a pretty good squirrel gun, but.

After you get it before you start having trouble take it to a good black powder gun smith or maker and have the touch hole liner and breach removed.  (Be careful that the touch hole liner is not installed in a liner of its own.  If it is remove that liner before trying to remove the breach.)  The channel between the breach and the false breach is too small and needs to be opened up so that powder won't clog up in it and produce miss fires.  

This seems to be an issue with most factory made small bores with patent breaches.  The manufactures don't think of the ramifications of just scaling down their larger caliber gun designs.  By the time they scale down a good .54 cal design to .36 cal things like this channel are just too small.

[Ironwood]

I don't know if this will help you make up your mind or not, but Cabela's have them on sale right now.  Save $100.00.  Look in the Bargin Cave.    http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... 70001&rid=

[Mike R]

if it helps, I have seen these rifles win shootin matches...I never owned one, but know folks who do.  They are happy with theirs.  You shouldn't have any trouble with the percussion version, except for the breech problem some have alluded to, I have never heard a complaint about it shooting reliably.  As for period "looks" they are OK and you can find the general lines on several late flint/early perc era longrifles.

[Happy Hunter]

I have one in 32 percussion and it will handily add a extra hole to a squirrels head. Yet to have an issue with the pantent breech

[IronDawg]

I have one in 32 percussion and it will handily add a extra hole to a squirrels head. Yet to have an issue with the pantent breech

How quick is ignition with the patented breech?? Would it be closer to traditions "CHK-BOOM!" or closer to Lymans almost instant "BOOM!"

[morgan47]

i have one in  the cap lock version.......im going to use for squirrel hunting next fall.......didnt get out this year......i have shot it and it is very accurate..had to file the front sight down quite a bit........sighted it in at about 28 yds.......30grs 3f.......next a pistol wad .....010 patch.......rb..........it will make one enlarged hole in the target......pull the trigger and it goes boom right now........

[Buffler Razz]

My cousin bought one a few years back, it is a good shooter. We had some trouble getting the caps to set off every time. I read somewhere that some of the nipples were a bit oversize and the caps would not seat properly. We chucked it into a drill and sanded it down ever so slightly so the caps would seat better and yet remain tight. Works just fine now. I keep telling him it would be wise to have a spare nipple in his bag, but that's up to him.

[vthompson]

I really appreciate all of the replies to my post. It just makes me want one even more now. Thank's guy's.

[Three Hawks]

I have one in 32 percussion and it will handily add a extra hole to a squirrels head. Yet to have an issue with the pantent breech

How quick is ignition with the patented breech?? Would it be closer to traditions "CHK-BOOM!" or closer to Lyman's almost instant "BOOM!"

I've got a Traditions Crockett .32.   I bought it used for a really good price.  It had some issues that took a while and some effort to sort out, but now it's as good a shooter as one could expect of any muzzleloader.  When the trigger is pulled it just goes "BOOM", no discernable delays or "CHK-Booms"

Three Hawks

[Happy Hunter]

How quick is ignition with the patented breech?? Would it be closer to traditions "CHK-BOOM!" or closer to Lymans almost instant "BOOM!"

    Sorry for the late response, internet has been down. But yes, positive ignition

[shootrj2003]

i have one in .36 cal. and it is every bit a fine rifle right up there with the customs,I never had any issues with the breach[except- I do wish it was a hook breach however] it has a single liner,I love the browning finish and only wish for a nice patch box and wedges,these things may be changed someday.

[markinmi]

I had a 36 in flint and it would get persnickety on a woodswalk sometimes.I also didnt have much experiance with a small bore and would use too much cleaning patch from time to time.There is a leaning curve on a small bore.

[Snydly]

I hunt with my Blue Ridge .54. Never had a problem with it. The fit and finish are very good and it goes boom every time I pull the trigger,...no hangfires or misfires. It has the slow twist and handles the round ball extremely well. I use 90 grains of Goex FFg. When it hits a deer or an antelope they go down and stay down. Love mine, just wish I had one in .32 or .36.