Author Topic: Kodiak .72 caliber double barrel rifle (Read 2276 times)

coyote trapper1928 · « **on:** May 28, 2003, 08:18:26 AM »

Hi:

Does anyone have this rifle? What is the recoil like on the .72 caliber?

Thanks,

coyote trapper1928

Bob/FLA · « **Reply #1 on:** May 29, 2003, 01:53:31 AM »

I shoot a .72 american smoothrifle. 8 1/2 lbs, 5'4" long. I shoot a round ball over 90 grains of powder...it's not too bad. After about 40 rounds I'm black & blue.

eroyd · « **Reply #2 on:** June 06, 2003, 11:12:10 AM »

I shoot a 58 cal double Kodiak. The rifles heavy enough so that recoil is bearable, even with 530 grain mini's. Having a hard time getting both barrels to hit the same point of aim. They're like two seperate rifles. Other than that it's a fun gun to shoot. Lots of boom, lots of smoke and you can actually watch the large projectiles heading for the gong at 300.

KING · « **Reply #3 on:** June 06, 2003, 07:19:52 PM »

Eroyd......Yes,a interesting gun.I have all the bbl sets. Makes life more interesting but I did get my bbls regulated with Rb out to about 75 yards. They cross at that point. With the conicals in either the .50 or the .58 the will shoot good enough for a deer out to just about 40 yrds. That means they will stay within a 5 inch circle( that is about the best I can do with that rifle). What I have done,and seems to work a little better is to use one of the two sights for the right bbl,and then use the other sight for the left. I also was wondering about the .72 caliber bbl set for it. Stay safe...........King

Oregon Bill · « **Reply #4 on:** June 13, 2003, 06:05:43 AM »

Sir: I had one of these (and miss it terribly). With 120 grains FFg and .715 550-grain round ball, recoil was downright pleasant. Replace the RB with an 840-grain "paradox" conical and it begins to be authoritative, but nothing like the hard sting of a light .338. Heftiest load I shot in mine was 150 grains of FFg under the 840-grain paradox, and that really had some shove to it. But the huge grin on my face more than made up for it. If you intend to shoot your Kodiak with these high-end loads, I have heard from fellows who have taken theirs to Africa that it payes to have the tang area glass bedded to avoid stock splits. Antoher thing to consider is that the RB loads seem easier to get to shoot together than the conicals. These rifles are a darned hoot; I just found a used .58, and will be back in the Kodiak business next week.

bfoster · « **Reply #5 on:** June 16, 2003, 05:36:26 PM »

I have a Pedersoli double in .50 cal.

I had a devil of a time developing a load that it shoots well, but I finally came up with the answer.

It doesn't shoot round balls, common BP sabots or common BP conicals to anywhere close to the same point of impact. Yes, I could have used one of the two sights for each barrel, but that, in part defeats the purpose of a double rifle, at least to my way of thinking, because the second barrel wouldn't be instantly available.

Testing showed that this rifle had the characteristic property of regulating a double: bullet weight is critical. My rifle prefers bullets of 450 grains, and despite the listed twist of 1:48 shoots them well (actual twist appears to be 1: 39.4). Trouble is that there isn't a readily available m/l bullet of this weight available in my area. So I purchased Lyman mould # 515141, listes at 425 grains, nominal, with #2 alloy. It throws bullets alloyed from 1:160 at 451 grains, and produces very consistent bullets. The problems were, unfortunately, not solved in entirety at this point. The bullets were very difficult to load as they were about 0.515" in diameter, and the rifle has groove diameters of 0.5119 and 0.5121". OK, I built a swage to reduce bullet band diameter to 0.5120", and reduce the base diameter to 0.4980" (0.0005" below bore diameter for these tubes) for ease in loading, and decided to add a hollow point to the bullet while I was at it. The bullet was markedly easier to seat, but still too hard to load for a practical field rifle. So I ended up building a second swage to produce rifling grooves on the bullet, these are just 0.001" wider than the corresponding grooves of the barrel.

The second swage did the trick. The successful load is 80 grains of GOEX ffg, topped by a felt wad follwed by a pasteboard wad then the bullet. This combination is easy to load and accurate. It is capable of shooting grapefruit sized groups at 100 yards (off the bench), all that I feel that I should be able to do with my aging eyes.

The sights? Oh yes, I replaced the blade in one of the factory sights with an express type blade I made. Why? I didn't like having my view obscured by what is in effect, if not intention, a buckhorn rear sight. I simply don't use the other sight.

If you like a challange, you may like a Pedersoli. On the other hand, your rifle may shoot some sort of standard bullet well right out of the box.

Bob

Oregon Bill · « **Reply #6 on:** June 18, 2003, 06:20:35 AM »

Bob: Thanks for a most edifying post on getting your Kodiak .50 to shoot. I agree it is easier to get accuracy out of these rifles by using a different rear sight for each barrel, but coming up with a load that converges from both barrels using just one sight can be a challenge, but a welcome one. By the way, grapefruit sized groups at 100 yards from a Kodiak would probably compare favorably with groups from many cartridge doubles that cost 10 to 30 times as much.

bfoster · « **Reply #7 on:** June 18, 2003, 06:12:44 PM »

Yes, Bill.

I agree that this is about as good as many best cartridge double rifles will shoot. I have only one, a Lang in 470- getting it to do this well when Kynoch ammunition became unavailable and forced the development of a handload- this was also a project.

I have seen only two doubles that would consistently produce 6 shot groups, 3 shots from each of both barrels, within a tennis ball sized cluster.

Bob

Oregon Bill · « **Reply #8 on:** June 19, 2003, 06:48:13 AM »

Wow Bob, a Lang .470 double! You must be an attorney or an orthodontist or something. I am hoping Ruger will chamber their affordable No. 1 in .470 so I can at least fool with the caliber.
Just received my "pre-owned" Kodiak .58 this morning, and can't wait to get her in the traces. Hope this one will shoot well at 100 -- and with conicals, too. I have heard the Kodiak .58s often shoot the Lee REAL bullet well. Seems each caliber of the Kodiaks have their quirks, and the .54 is especially so because Pedersoli uses a 1:66 twist in this caliber, but 1:48 in .50 and .58 and now, 1:86 in their .72.

bfoster · « **Reply #9 on:** June 19, 2003, 08:30:53 PM »

Bill,

No I'm not wealthy. I found the Lang mixed in with a lot of 100 2nd and 3rd quality Belgian double shotguns that a dealer had purchased cheap- I picked it up for $1500. The Brazier locks really stood out in that particular pile of guns. :shock: And my wife finds it hard to understand why I'm more than willing to spend a Saturday here and there helping this dealer sort and "book" his acquisitions without pay.

Bob