Pedersoli Trapdoor Springfield Carbine

[Alex Johnson]

Hi guys, My dad just bought a Pedersoli Trapdoor carbine a few days back. What was the original load for the carbines? I heard that they used a 405 grain bullet backed up by 50 grains of black powder. Is this true? He fired some loads that we had for our Shiloh sharps and these were 500 grain bullets with about 60 grains of powder. I guess the recoil was a bit on the stout side. As always, any info would be appreciated.

 

[Kenneth L. Walters]

Some of the Pedersoli trapdoors have been known to blow the action open when fired. I'd try a mild smokeless load to see if that is going to happen. If it does, send the gun back and have it fixed.

For a blackpowder load just be sure that the case if full. If the load you have kicks too much reduce the powder charge and fill the remaining space with something like oatmeal. You can drop the charge in this manner until the recoil is no longer a problem.