Lyman Great plains rifle

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  • Last Post 09 March 2017
Longone posted this 17 November 2014

Looking for feedback on this rifle with a 1-60” twist. I have gotten hooked on black powder of late and thinking of getting one of these rifles to shoot RB. Paper hunting only. Longone

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onondaga posted this 17 November 2014

http://castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=6699>Longone

That rifle helped me win 2 second places in the Postal Matches  here.  I have 2 barrels for my GP rifle, It came with the 1:60 and I got the 1:32 barrel as an accessory.  The Lyman Peep sight  accessory for this rifle is a seriously good investment for the rifle.

The Italian made barrel on this rifle is the smoothest loading barrel I have ever had on a ML rifle.

Rifle bench shoots under 1” at 50 Yards for me very reliably with Alliant Black MZ propellant and a spit patched RB.

Triggers on this rifle are top notch, crisp and easily adjustable to very light when double set.

Gary

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Longone posted this 17 November 2014

That's what I was hoping to hear. How is the quality of the wood? Does it at least have some figure to it? I sent some questions off to Lyman last week but have yet to hear from them. I was thinking because Winter is on our door step I might want to buy the kit and assemble it over the “non” shooing time of the year here in the east.

Longone

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onondaga posted this 17 November 2014

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=6699>Longone

The wood on my GP is stained very dark and only has modest figure. Wood is Walnut and American Walnut, I believe. The factory wood finish is not deep and a few applications of Johnson's Paste Wax  brings up the finish very nicely. Barrel and hardware are all blued deep and dark. Finish on barrel and hardware is to about 300 grit and not meant to be a slick shiny metal finish, this is a field grade hunting rifle with low visibility hardware.

I made a field ramrod to replace the pretty factory wood one, I used a dark fiberglass rod and Hawken cartouche hardware from Dixie Gunworks including a removable rod extension handle for bench use that has a drill, patch pullet and ball and jag combination. This set is still available from Dixie.

My GP rifle before I installed the Lyman peep to the tang:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XM48L4/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XM48L4/ref=ohauisearchdetailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This site works fine with the original factory front site for me.

I hope you get a good price, the price has gone up over $500.00 on these now. Mine is so old I got it from Dixie for only $204.00 years ago.

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delmarskid1 posted this 18 November 2014

A good friend of mine has one and it shoots as well or better than the big buck custom guns in “over the log” matches. I wish I had bought one. They are not a short barreled rifle.

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Bud Hyett posted this 18 November 2014

Bought two Lyman Grat Plains many years ago on the recommendation of the salesman, both are .54 caliber and 1 in 60 twist. One shoots 90 grains of FFg and the other shoots 100 grains of FFFg with spit patch round ball. They carry well and point nicely, added venison to the the freezer when I lived in Illinois. 

Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest

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Longone posted this 18 November 2014

Winter is closing in so I ordered a kit to assemble. Thought this would help the winter pass a little quicker. Thanks for the comments, I'll have to post how it comes out.

Longone

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Glenn R. Latham posted this 19 November 2014

Longone, you won't be disappointed.  Like Gary, I have both barrels, and the 1-60 shoots .500 diameter round balls very accurately.  Groove diameter seems a little larger than some 50s, about .527 in mine, but just get a tight patch and ball combo and shoot Xs. Glenn

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Longone posted this 19 November 2014

Now all I have to do is find some #11's to feed it. Should be a fun project in the weeks ahead. For me the idea that there were other barrel options and sights available was most likely what pushed me to order it. I have yet to decide whether the barrel should be plum brown or blued. Most likely that decision will be made after I see the stock and get some stain on it. Does anybody treat the inside of the barrel with blue or plum to help protect it?

Longone

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delmarskid1 posted this 19 November 2014

I've never heard of anyone treating a barrels interior on purpose. I've browned a couple by accident not cleaning/oiling correctly.

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R. Dupraz posted this 19 November 2014

"Does anybody treat the inside of the barrel with blue or plum to help protect it?"   I have never heard of that either. There is no need if they are taken care of like they should be. I have percussion rifles that have been shot a lot over the years and don't have a hint of rust or corrosion. And all with the real black powder.

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Longone posted this 19 November 2014

I have a T/C Hawken flinter that got me started and with a bore scope it looks as if the inside of the barrel is blued. Might just be the “seasoning” from black powder. I was very surprised to see just how smooth the interior of the barrel was, I half expected to see a lot of tool marks. One thing about black powder is it cleans very fast with hot water, not a chore at all.

Longone

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R. Dupraz posted this 19 November 2014

After trying the traditional hot water method as well as all the “magic” expensive cleaners, all I use is 50/50 Ballistol and water to clean. And straight Ballistol to store. Except for the 12 gauge double. Then it's soapy water first for the crud, then the Ballistol treatment.   Just checked one of my Hawkens that hasn't been fired for two yrs. the other day and the bore shines like new. Actually better cause the bore was lapped when I built it.

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admiral posted this 21 November 2014

all my T/C's (1 Hawken, 2 Renegades) look to me to have blued interior barrel surfaces

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Bud Hyett posted this 21 November 2014

Browning or bluing the inside of a barrel might be counter-productive. Both are controlled rust processes and will leave the surface slightly etched. That might not be good on the patch going down the barrel.

I've had a new Colt Combat Commander with a blued interior from the factory. Using a Ransom Rest,the pistol shot five inch groups with jacketed Sierra or Remington bullets. The pistol shot two feet groups at fifty yards with cast bullets (After three ten shot groups, Ed Doonan went back into his shop and got a yard stick to measure the cast bullet groups.) 

I have always felt that the bore was rough from the bluing. Ed and I played with it for an afternoon trying different powders, seating depths, and crimps with similar results. This pistol was accurized by a quick sale.

Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest

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onondaga posted this 21 November 2014

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=6699>Longone

You had questions about the figure of the wood with the GP rifle. You mentioned you will be getting the Kit to build the rifle. I don't know your skill level in applying stain to a stock that you have finished, I can take a plain straight grained stock and daub stain in patterns to make a plain jane stock look silly pretty. This is not hard at all if you have practiced.

I will also recommend Birchwood Casey TruOil for your final finish. I hand rub each coat in small areas and rub hard enough/long enough to drive the TruOil into the wood and make it warm and tacky before moving to the next area. Six coats this way gives  a beautiful deep finish that is much more attractive and durable than a factory finish.Here is my GP rifle next to a stock that was plain jane maple that I finished:

You can also see the mounted Lyman Peep in these pictures. The Maple stocked CVA Mountain Rifle kit rifle was stained with Poision Sumac stain that I make. Metal was plumb browned with Birchwood Casey Plumb Brown and final finish on maple is 10 coats TruOil hand rubbed.

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onondaga posted this 21 November 2014

Blue or brown inside a barrel is non-consequential. If you just have to remove it, a few 10 grain charge  round ball shots with the shooting patch soaked with Turtle Wax Chrome Polish and Rust remover will leave the bore shiny and remove blue/brown in the bore.  After cleaning a ML bore I use a bore mop and apply Johnson's Paste Wax into the bore. Then after dry, buff with a clean mop. No cleaning is necessary before shooting a waxed bore ML. Just pop a couple caps, then load and shoot.

Gary

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 21 November 2014

geeeze guys ... if you keep posting eye candy i might just make it thru this winter ... global warming and all !!!

ken

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Longone posted this 21 November 2014

Thought I posted this but can't find it, this is what I'm up against. Lots of reading to do before I go to it. 

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onondaga posted this 22 November 2014

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=6699>Longone

If you enjoy finishing that kit 1/10 as much as I would, you will have a blast working on it......jealous here!

Gary

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Longone posted this 22 November 2014

Reading through the instructions It is a bit more involved than I thought it might have been, but I'll tackle it slowly and have a lot of questions for sure. Like how does the nose cap attach? And what's the best way to remove the pin, if that is what holds the nose cap in place?

Longone

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onondaga posted this 22 November 2014

The Instructions from Lyman will be very basic as this kit is not a beginner kit and Lyman assumes the builder to have experience. The basics of kit-building will be in other books that hopefully members will recommend. Years ago Lyman had published a pretty thick book for beginner kit builders, I am not sure it is in print now.

Actually the butt plate can be the most difficult part to fit in the kit and requires a lot of spotting in with lipstick and filing.

The nose caps are usually completely fit and pinned but require final metal finish before assembly. After finishing and fitting the nose cap they are taped to protect metal finish while leveling and finishing the wood to the nose cap contours. A piece of piano wire is used to drive the nose cap wire pin in or out. Drive it in from the right and drive out from the left. When nose cap fit is achieved, the nose cap and other hardware you pre-fit is removed for final wood finishing.

All metal parts need to be finished and fit and able to be assembled/dissembled easily to the wood before beginning finishing of the wood.

A call to Dixie Gun Works for a recommendation of a book for the kit is a reasonable path too. These kits take about 100-200 hours work to do an excellent job. I generally take longer, check off accomplishment in the instructions, in order, as they are completed and also keep a separate time/task log.

Bear in mind that these kits aren't bought to save money below a finished rifle price. These kits are bought by people that love to build them.

There is plenty of highly experienced kit builders and even custom rifle builders on this forum. A picture and a specific question on any particular step about kit building will likely be answered very well.

Gary

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Gene posted this 05 December 2014

Gary What class did you shoot in in the Postal Matches with your GPR Thanks Gene

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onondaga posted this 05 December 2014

25 yard offhand ML and 50 yard bench ML

Gary

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Longone posted this 19 December 2014

Well most of the parts have been cold blued at this point, to me I think they are more black than blue but their name is on the bottle and they say it's blue so I'll just have to agree that is blue. Just have to build up some courage to do the real long piece now. Longone

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onondaga posted this 19 December 2014

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=6699>Longone

Parts look great, I hope you have Johnson's Paste Wax, that is all they need next. Your tang in the picture shows that it is tapped for the optional  Lyman peep sight. That is good news and you can add the peep with no difficulty if you choose to do so at some point.

Gary

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Longone posted this 19 December 2014

Gary,

That was the main reason I chose to blue this rifle, I didn't want to have blued sights with a brown barrel. My plan was to put the 57 GPR on the rear and the 17AEU on the front. That's a big no no in black powder circles I've been told. Does the wax keep the parts from oxidizing? How often do you reapply the wax? I have 6 coats of Tru-oil on the stock and while I'm happy with the progress I'm not thrilled with the European hardwood (I think that's what Lyman calls it), It is very grainy and porous. Even after 3 coats of Birchwood Casey sealer filler it looked like a gravel road. As long as it shoots OK that's all that really matters.

Has any snow melted up your way?

Longone

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onondaga posted this 19 December 2014

http://castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=6699>Longone

The wax does keep the parts from oxidizing very well. I even wax the bore after cleaning and this will keep it rust free for years if needed. Polish the applied wax in the bore with a clean bore mop when dry and the bore is protected and ready to load and shoot without a pre-clean.

I apply the Johmson's Paste Wax whenever I put the rifle away. It also protects very well against fingerprints oxidizing on the metal.

The stock on the Lyman is European Walnut (French, I believe) and pretty open grained compared to old growth American Black Walnut. It will likely take 10 or more coats if you wish to fill it completely. Factory finish on these rifles is NOT even near completely filled and is only about 3 coats.

We got more snow so a range trip is still postponed for me. I received the 5/8” Cut Brazilian Agate Gunflints from TheGunWorks. The quality is serviceable for their extremely low price of $1 each. Only one was really bad out of the 20 I ordered and the rest are usable but I may shape up a few of them. ..no big deal at $1 each for Agate. I tried the best one in my flintlock and the shower of sparks is amazingly big and full as expected from Agate. These flints are not for beginners expecting perfectly cut gunflints but I am very pleased with them:

http://www.thegunworks.com/custprodgun.cfm?Cat2Name=Sawed&SubCat2ID=113&do=list&Cat1Name=Flints>http://www.thegunworks.com/custprodgun.cfm?Cat2Name=Sawed&SubCat2ID=113&do=list&Cat1Name=Flints

Thank you again for recommending this supplier.

Gary

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delmarskid1 posted this 20 December 2014

"I'm not thrilled with the European hardwood (I think that's what Lyman calls it), It is very grainy and porous. Even after 3 coats of Birchwood Casey sealer filler it looked like a gravel road. As long as it shoots OK that's all that really matters."

I've had luck rubbing the oil in with fine steel wool. The wool picks up a little saw dust which mixes with the oil and fills the pores.

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Longone posted this 28 December 2014

I rubbed the stock twice with the Birchwood Casey sheen conditioner today and after a coat of wax I think I'll go after it again. But It's close enough at this point for some pics.

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Longone posted this 28 December 2014

From the forend.

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onondaga posted this 28 December 2014

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=6699>Longone

 Your finish  looks excellent and much better than a factory finish. The factory wood finish on my Lyman GP is black, dull and open.

 Glad to see your Peep installed. I like those . Did you try looking through both the small and large peeps that come with the sight? I think Lyman chose good sizes and I like the small for target and the large offhand field shooting.

Gary

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Longone posted this 28 December 2014

Thanks Gary,

I'll have to wait till I get to the range and look at a target to see which aperture will be best, and if neither works, I have an adapter so I can put a Gehmann adjustable on the rear.

Longone

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Dirtybore posted this 03 January 2015

I've taken 5 deer with my .54 Lyman Great Plains rifle. 4 were taken before that with a Sharon Gun Barrel Hawken style rifle.

I had my LGP browned and a homemade peep sight installed. I hunted with those two .54 caplock rifles from 1986 to 2005. Since 2005 I've been hunting with a .54 Pedersoli Blue Ridge flinchlock. I've installed a homemade peep sight on it also.

The LGR was always loaded with 90 gr 2Fg, GOEX under a .530” round ball wrapped in a .015” thick Ox yoke patch.

The Pedersoli is pre-loaded with the same load but I have .526” round balls in the backup loading block. Yes, I know Pedersoli says to use a .535” round ball but two years ago after shooting and missing a deer, I wasn't able to push a second .530” round ball and its .015” patch into the bore. I finally dropped the ball down without a patch. I didn't get a second shot at that deer so after discovering the reloading problem in the field, I switched to the smaller ball. Using the smaller ball for all subsequent shots didn't change the rifles accuracy when tested at the range.

That Sharon Gun Barrel Hawken rifle shoots the same using that 90 gr charge and either a .526” ball with a .020” patch or a .530 ball with a .015” patch. That rifle could turn out 1 3/8” groups at 100 yds with either load. Ol' Sharon was my rendezvous rifle for many years. I stopped using her for hunting when a couple of real bad weather hunts started to compromise her stock. That's when I turned to store bought rifles for hunting. JR

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Dirtybore posted this 28 January 2015

I use my Lyman Great Plains rifle exclusively for hunting providing I'm not packin' my Pedersoli flint long rifle. In any case, I don't mind the Lyman GP stock finish one darn bit on a hunting rifle. It sure doesn't reflect any glossy light refections, just perfect for hunting.

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Dirtybore posted this 09 March 2017

Why do you want to remove the nose cap?  It isn't necessary to do that when cleaning the rifle.  Since the barrel has a hooked breech, it's easily removed from the stock for cleaning.

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