New bullet for the Kodiak

[tarawa]

I finally got a round ball mould for my .72 Pedersoli Kodiak. The balls measure
.705 which is .010 less than what most people shoot from these. I was shooting it with a .015 patch and trhe results were OK. Not spectacular , but OK. I ordered two things for this gun. The first are .020 lubed patches to give me a little tighter fit. I think this will close the groups up a bit. The second thing I ordered is a conical mold from Brooks Moulds. This will give me a solid lead slug that weighs in at 770 grains. This should be punishing at both ends. Conicals get mixed reviews when fired from a Kodiak double. I always thought that for the heavier round, much more powder should be used, but the best results that I have read about have been around 100 grains of BP. I will be using Triple Seven BP substitute. I will be starting with about 80 - 90 grains. This should be a good start.
Wish me luck.

 

[DUGABOY1]

Tarawa, I have a 58 cal Kodiak double rifle that I have had for years, and have never fired it. It is my opinion that the rate of twist in the Pedersoli double muzzeloading rifles is designed for round balls. I think that is why you hear so many getting bad results with conical bullets, especially with the solid type. For a conical bullet for a large bore muzzeloader double rifle, the best choice is slightly oversize, lubed, with a hollow skirt and a felt wad over the powder, and very short for diameter, much like the mini bullets for the old Zoauve caplocks.

I traded for the 58 cal Pedersoli because I like to hunt with my double rifles, and we have a resident public land license in Texas that allowes one to hunt on what little public land there is in Texas, and some private land the TPW has leased for this license. The dig is most of this hunting is shotgun Bow, or Muzzelloader only. So I traded a brand new un-fired Ruger No1 458 Win mag rifle for the Pedersoli, so I could hun these lands with a double rifle.

I guess it is about time I worked up a good load for it, HUH? :hmmmer:

 

[tarawa]

I just sold my spare 58 Kodiak to a friend and he just ordered a bunch of different slug/round balls to try. As for shooting the conicals from my .72 it will just be an (expensive) experiment. I have been watching the youtube videos of the South Africans shooting the heavy conicals from their 72 caliber Kodiaks with good results at 70 to 100 meters. The South Africans must love these guns. One fellow I contacted there said he knows of at least a 100 Kodiak owners. Thats a lot of Pedersolis. Most of them shoot the conicals that are cast in a mould made by this old South African gentleman. I was going to order a mould from him, but payment options were limited. The only thing that would have worked would have been a wire transfer, but the fees on this end were pretty high.
My Kodiak has a 1 in 72" twist, so I don't what the conicals will do. If I can put both bullets in a 6" circle (hog accuracy) at 50 yards, I will call it a success. My conical will have four rings, two of which will be .724 and two of which will be .729. the bullet will be about as long as it is wide with a flat nose.
When are you taking me hog hunting in Texas? I will take you on one of our so called hog hunts here in the Sunshine State next time your here! They are about as cheap as a night on the town.

 

[Paolo Mauritania]

I finally got a round ball mould for my .72 Pedersoli Kodiak. The balls measure
.705 which is .010 less than what most people shoot from these. I was shooting it with a .015 patch and trhe results were OK. Not spectacular , but OK. I ordered two things for this gun. The first are .020 lubed patches to give me a little tighter fit. I think this will close the groups up a bit. The second thing I ordered is a conical mold from Brooks Moulds. This will give me a solid lead slug that weighs in at 770 grains. This should be punishing at both ends. Conicals get mixed reviews when fired from a Kodiak double. I always thought that for the heavier round, much more powder should be used, but the best results that I have read about have been around 100 grains of BP. I will be using Triple Seven BP substitute. I will be starting with about 80 - 90 grains. This should be a good start.
Wish me luck.

I'll bet at that rifling twist, you'll get better accuracy with a moderate load, at hefty loads the conical might strip the rifling. I would check the target to see at what load the holes go from round to oblique. I would go for a conical with the CG forward of the middle, it requires less twist to stabilize.

 

[Velo Dog]

Perhaps someone has already addressed this question but if not, the following is something I have wondered about:

The .72 caliber Kodiak Model is apparently designed for round ball loads.

Presumably a .72 caliber conical could potentially generate noticeably higher recoil, due to its heavier weight, unless of course loaded down in powder charge accordingly.

Therefore, when firing one barrel, is there much risk of the increased recoil lurching the other / unfired projectile, far enough out of battery to leave a dangerous air space between powder and bullet?

 

[Paolo Mauritania]

Pedersoli sells only RB for this rifle @ 1:72" rifling. The properly fitting conical should be slightly over sized as to groove the rifling into the ball while ramming it down, it might be a possibility if using a minie (skirted) type of conical but i wouldn't even consider this selection.
I'm always worried about ramming a conical into a RB shooter, the pressure pattern may just differ too much, not due to the seal of the conical vs. the patched RB, just for the larger inertia of the projectile. As a first experiment I wouldn't touch any skirted conical, just a flat bottomed one and see how it works.
I was looking at a box of Hornady Great Plains that I have and cannot shoot from my flint lock long rifle; the data for larger .58 cal (.588 diameter), SD .217, BC .187, 525 grains, hollow point and skirted (not a very thin one), for these conicals a charge of 90 grains of FFg or equivalent volume of pellets (~ - 25%-30% in volume) yields the following ballistic data:
Muzzle:
V = 1275 fps, E=1895 ft/lbs
100 yards:
V = 1074 fps, E=1344 ft/lbs
200 yards:
V = 958 fps, E=1069 ft/lbs
For this type of conical the charge is relatively mild as compared to what is normally indicated in modern muzzle loaders (100+ grains).

 

[matt85]

while the 58 and 72 Kodiaks are set up for round ball shooting. I believe the 50 and 54 caliber Kodiaks are set up for conical projectiles.

a 54 caliber conical bullet should be suitable for most medium and large game at close range.

-matt

 

[Paolo Mauritania]

Right Matt,
The Kodiak Express Mark III and VI in .50, .54 and .58 have 1:24", 1:24" and 1:48" twist, still Pedersoli only sells RB for them but I believe is an oversight on the website. An e-mail to them would clear any doubt.