Is Pedersoli Worth It?

[The Warning]

I was originally thinking of getting an Armi Sport Enfield and having it defarbed. I've heard a few people say the Pedersoli shoots live better and is overall more accurate. Is Pedersoli really worth the extra $170? What on the armi sport needs defarbing and what on the Pedersoli (if anything) needs defarbing?

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Is Pedersoli worth it?

50 cent answer: The Pedersoli is quite good right out of the box, just remove the modern markings and reblue the barrel. The barrel is .577 and the overall quality is much better. The hammer is closer in size and appearance to the original P53 as well. The Armi Sport will require a lot more work to defarb (probably $200) and then you still have the much smaller hammer about which not much can be done.

[NMVolunteer]

Re: Is Pedersoli worth it?

Oh good, you mentioned Armisport so my question won't be completely off topic. I lost the front sight on my Armisport Enfield (thanks to a musket stacking drill mishap). Should I buy a replacement sight and find someone to attach it, or should I just do nothing and get that musket defarbed in a few years, and just ask the defarber to add a new sight to the defarbing invoice?

I have never heard of the front sights popping off of Pedersoli muskets, for what it's worth. And although I have experienced the rear leaf sight falling apart and pieces disappearing in tall grass, I have not heard of that happening with a Pedersoli. You get what you pay for.

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Is Pedersoli worth it?

The front sight can be reattached pretty easily...I believe they are silver soldered to the barrel. It certainly could be easily done while you were having the other details addressed with defarbing. The front sight coming off happens quite often with Armi Sport but it is certainly not unique to that manufacturer. I loaned my Miroku US 1861 (back when such things existed) for someone to carry in a parade and the knucklehead managed to knock the front sight off the barrel taking the bayonet on and off. Those Japanese Miroku US 1861 kits were very high quality.

Just in general, the quality of the Pedersoli P53 is higher than Armi Sport. The barrel is better quality and the right .577 diameter. The bands are better, the walnut gunstock is the "short butt" variety. The weight is more or less dead-on correct. It has the BSAT roundel on the stock flat and TOWER 1861 marked on the lock. There was an attempt to mimic period proof marks near the bolster (they are close to correct...you have to look very closely but they put DP--for Davide Pedersoli instead of BP). As stated previously, the hammer is closer to the correct size and proportions.

Cabela's carries the Pedersoli P53 and puts them on sale every so often. You wouldn't necessarily have to pay more than the cost of an Armi Sport if you wait for them to go on sale.