Lyman Great Plains Rifle VS. Great Plains Hunter

[OverMax]

I kinda think many underestimate the capability of a 54s patched ball on big game. From experience more than once. Northern deer shot with a 54s ball anyplace in the rib cage. The shock factor has to be overwhelming. Even if somehow their able to hobble away such deer hardly ever manage to move beyond their shooters line of sight.

[charlie b]

Forgot the other point, left hand. My .50 GPH is a lefty. Probably why I got it cheaper at the local gun shop.

[Good Cheer]

Tried to get a lefty flinter fast twist barrel. But they didn't bother making any for left handed customers.
Got the fifty RB barrel back when they were cheap. What to turn it into is a continuing source of fun speculation.

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Good Cheer,

What caliber is pictured? Where did you get the barrel made? About how much did it run you?

I wouldn't mind doing something like that, but a 15/16 across-the-flats would get mighty heavy in a smaller bore. Maybe an octagon-to-round? I'd like a .40 or .45 with a 1:20 twist. The Whitworth and Volunteer rifles are all so spendy. Seems like you should be able to get a used Hawken as a platform for a custom barrel that could be far less than the grand they want for those Parker-Hales.

[nicholst55]

I bought a .54 GPH, and later added a RB slow-twist barrel. The fast-twist barrel would shoot into about 4" at 100 yards with 80 grains of 2F Goex shooting conicals, with me resting my elbows on the shooting bench. I hunted with that combo one time, but never got a shot. I switched to PRBs after that, and never looked back. I also have what began life as a .54 flinchlock Renegade that I added an L&R replacement lock and a Green Mountain PRB slow-twist barrel to. I shoot it more than the Lyman, although it's been several years since I've fired either rifle.

[jdb3]

My hunting partner hunts exclusively with a 54 muzzle loader here in Alaska. He had two barrels made for it so he could use either a round ball or conical. After a few years he put the conical barrel away and stayed with the round ball barrel. It has killed a whole lot of deer, caribou and moose over the last 25 years or so. You shouldn't be under gunned with the 54 round ball. I've had a Lyman Great Plains for over 30 years and it has always worked as advertised. Jim

[Good Cheer]

Good Cheer,

What caliber is pictured? Where did you get the barrel made? About how much did it run you?

I wouldn't mind doing something like that, but a 15/16 across-the-flats would get mighty heavy in a smaller bore. Maybe an octagon-to-round? I'd like a .40 or .45 with a 1:20 twist. The Whitworth and Volunteer rifles are all so spendy. Seems like you should be able to get a used Hawken as a platform for a custom barrel that could be far less than the grand they want for those Parker-Hales.

Hey there.
That's a forty bore 16" twist made by Ed Rayl.
The extra narrow lands are for using mechanically fitted boolits.
Narrow lands makes it easier to run the boolits through the engraving die.
In retrospect having wider lands and a .41 bore would have been more to my liking.


Then again, maybe it could get rebored to use .410 diameter boolits paper patched!

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

Hey there.
That's a forty bore 16" twist made by Ed Rayl.
The extra narrow lands are for using mechanically fitted boolits.
Narrow lands makes it easier to run the boolits through the engraving die.
In retrospect having wider lands and a .41 bore would have been more to my liking.


Then again, maybe it could get rebored to use .410 diameter boolits paper patched!

Hmm. That might be the way to go. A sort of "poor man's Whitworth". Just a Hawken with a custom fast-twist barrel. Beats the $1300-$1700 price tag on the factory made whitworth/volunteers.

I suppose a .45 with a 30" barrel 15/16" across the flats would be a do-able hunting gun with a fair bit of weight to soak up recoil.

[indian joe]

[QUOTE=charlie b;3952773]Yep, only restriction is you can't change from percussion to flint.

patent breech?.......bummer .. cheap n nasty nipple drum setup (old CVA) has its advantages ----just screw the drum out .....screw in a touch hole liner ..yer in business..!

[Good Cheer]

Hmm. That might be the way to go. A sort of "poor man's Whitworth". Just a Hawken with a custom fast-twist barrel. Beats the $1300-$1700 price tag on the factory made whitworth/volunteers.

I suppose a .45 with a 30" barrel 15/16" across the flats would be a do-able hunting gun with a fair bit of weight to soak up recoil.

A low priced option is to have an old sewer pipe .50 TC Renegade rebored to .52 bore and shoot off the shelf fifty molds paper patched.

What's not to like about shooting a 50-90 with caseless ammo!

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

A low priced option is to have an old sewer pipe .50 TC Renegade rebored to .52 bore and shoot off the shelf fifty molds paper patched.

What's not to like about shooting a 50-90 with caseless ammo!

Well maybe even lower-cost would be to rebore my .45 to .46 or .47 and do the same with off-the-shelf .45 molds (pistol if .46, rifle molds if .47)

My next question is where to find sights for such an animal? I don't know where to look for aftermarket ladder sights.

[rodwha]

Well maybe even lower-cost would be to rebore my .45 to .46 or .47 and do the same with off-the-shelf .45 molds (pistol if .46, rifle molds if .47)

My next question is where to find sights for such an animal? I don't know where to look for aftermarket ladder sights.

Dunno specifically but I do know Track of The Wolf and Dixie Gun Works has all sorts of BP parts.

[Good Cheer]

Well maybe even lower-cost would be to rebore my .45 to .46 or .47 and do the same with off-the-shelf .45 molds (pistol if .46, rifle molds if .47)

My next question is where to find sights for such an animal? I don't know where to look for aftermarket ladder sights.

Once't upon a time I was threatening to use those heavy flat bases like are used in the .476 and .480 revolvers. But went with a .52 bore instead.

[AntiqueSledMan]

Hello All,

I am very satisfied with my .50 GPH shooting my RCBS 45-300-FN in a sabot, so much that when I stumbled across a .54 GPH barrel for a reasonable price I couldn't pass it up. Found a used stock, installed & loaded the same bullet sized to .454 with a sabot. They both shoot fine.
I know some states do not allow sabots, I did shoot Power Belts from the .50 before switching to the 45-300-FN. They seem to shoot well also.

AntiqueSledMan.

[rfd]

all depends on the prime purpose of the gun. a GPR can be barrel swapped and become a GPH, and vice-versa. changing investarms hooked breech barrels can be done in a few minutes, tops. so have as many different barrel calibers and twists as ya like. but what can't change is the type of ignition system. one feller in our club bought a caplock .50 GPR (1:60) and added a .50 GPH barrel (1:32) and then a big ball .54 GPR barrel (1:60). so many choices. geez.

i couldn't find a .54 GPR flint kit so i bought a .50 kit and had bobby hoyt ream it to .54 with .012 radius groove 1:56 rifling ... ah, so much mo' bettah for patched balls! this is a tad better rifling arrangement, considering the short 32" tube, and a slower twist would only be better for a much longer tube.

i do believe that a .530 well greased patched ball, with a hefty charge of swiss 3f can do it all in north america at sane distances to 100 yards. for me, these are all traditional sidelock rifles for patched balls. i like to treat them as that and have no need for a conical. and of course ymmv!