by Mike Nesbitt | Contributing Editor
Pedersoli’s fine double, “La Bohemienne,” with 28-inch barrels. (Photo by Mike Nesbitt)
Pedersoli’s “Bohemienne,” or the Bohemian, is a fine side-by-side 12-gauge shotgun with external hammers. Considering the standards of today, this shotgun is a real nonconformist and it is good enough that we can refer to it as being somewhat irregular. Those things make it a bit of a Bohemian. To put it simply, this gun is a cut above many of the others and for me it is delightful in many ways.
The outside hammer system always confers a certain elegance to a hunting shotgun, reminding us of a classic style that should not be forgotten.
One point that should be made: this fine Pedersoli shotgun is available through the Italian Firearms Group, a partnership which supplies the US dealer network with the best of the Italian gunmakers’ products. Dealers who would like to stock these shotguns, or other Pedersoli arms, can do so by contacting the IFG. Italian Firearms Group was established in 2010 and it combines some of Italy’s most highly respected gunmakers: F.A.I.R., Sabatti and Pedersoli. The guns they offer are not all black powder guns, of course, but black powder is most certainly well represented. Take a visit to IFG’s web site simply go to: italianfirearmsgroup.com and see their wide variety of fine guns available.
Finely engraved, color casehardened, with browned barrels and blued trigger guard. (Photo by Mike Nesbitt)
Now, more about this fine shotgun, a striking piece we will all agree. The Pedersoli “La Bohemienne” is a classic styled double barreled 12-gauge shotgun with, as already mentioned, double outside hammers. The 28-inch long browned barrels have 3-inch chambers and they are equipped with interchangeable chokes at their muzzles. Checkering is featured on both the pistol grip and on the fore-end for comfort and a good grip plus simply for the beauty. Adding more beauty, the frame is color casehardened and given hand finished engraving. Overall length of the gun is just under 46-inches and it weighs about 7¾ pounds.
The rebounding hammers don’t have or use half-cock notches, a good safety measure. If the gun is cocked and the hammer needs to be returned to its “down” position, just hold the hammer back, pull the trigger, and slowly ease the hammer forward while releasing the trigger. The hammers cannot go far enough forward to hit the firing pins unless the triggers are held back. This gun is also equipped with a sliding safety, the very same as on a hammerless double, so the gun can be put on safety while the hammers are in the cocked position. The sliding safety does not move to the safe position when the gun is opened.
Blackpowder shotgun loads from Buffalo Arms are shown with the shotgun. (Photo by Mike Nesbitt)
While the Bohemienne is not made as a blackpowder shotgun, being built for the most modern loads, to me it is such a classic that it has blackpowder written all over it. So my choice in ammo for shooting fell to blackpowder loads. That ammunition came from Buffalo Arms Company in northern Idaho. They offer a variety of shotgun loads with blackpowder and the load I selected to use the most contained 3 drams (82 grains) of blackpowder under 1-1/8 ounce of #7½ lead shot.
The blackpowder shotgun shells from Buffalo Arms Company are rather classic themselves. They are loaded in good old fashioned paper hulls, nicely star crimped at the mouth. On the inside, these shells are loaded with what we might call “old style” components. Dave Gullo, owner of Buffalo Arms Company (BACO) had this to say about these black powder loads, “An important feature to our shotgun ammo is that it’s loaded with nitro over-shot wads and fiber over-powder wads, not plastic wads, so that the shooter is not needing to scrub plastic out of their barrels when they are done shooting.” To learn more about “BACO’s” black powder shotgun loads in 10 and 12 gauges, take a look at their web site at: buffaloarms.com.
The cloud of blackpowder smoke hides the target but Nesbit had scored a hit. (Photo by Jerry Mayo)
Let me point out, again, that modern smokeless powder loads are actually meant to be used in this shotgun. While using steel shot, however, the changeable chokes should be used with only cylinder or improved-cylinder at the muzzles because the steel shot is simply not as compressible as lead. That must be said to give everyone a clear picture of this fine shotgun.
At first I thought this gun had rather stiff trigger pulls but after a few shots those feelings went away. Now, please bear with me, “rather stiff” is certainly a relative term. I’m mostly at home with the very light set triggers on muzzleloading rifles and my favorite Sharps. This shotgun’s trigger pulls were actually quite fine, breaking very sharp and crisp while still being a bit on the heavy side. One reason for those trigger pulls being on the stiff side is so the gun can be fired while both hammers are cocked. The jar of one barrel going off, with its associated recoil, will not release the second hammer. In other words, this gun will not “double” on you, which could be a memorable experience.
With shells in the chambers, the Pedersoli is just about ready for action. (Photo by Mike Nesbitt)
After I “caught up with this gun,” the good hits began to come one after the other. As you might guess, that’s when the fun really took over and using this shotgun was simply a delight.
At our muzzleloading club we have a target known as the “slice of pie” that we use for a particular match with flintlock smoothbores during our Trade Gun Frolic. The slice of pie is used in a luck shoot where each shooter gets just one shot at 25 yards while using buckshot. It’s hard enough just to get some hits on the paper and a shooter must be very lucky to get any score at all. Just to give this Pedersoli 12-gauge a chance, one shot was taken at the slice of pie while using 00 buckshot. This was done with the Pedersoli’s left barrel, with the modified choke, and six hits were seen on the paper target but with zero for a score. That shot was just another part of the fun.
There isn’t a whole lot more I can tell you about the Pedersoli “La Bohemienne” that wouldn’t simply be repeats of words just said. It is a truly fine classic double barreled 12-gauge and it is priced in the neighborhood of $2100.00. And with the blackpowder loads, it provides for me classic shotgun shooting at its best.
