Old eyes

[charlie b]

So, have struggled with my Lyman GPH for a bit over a year now. The tang peep and target front sight were really nice and I could get decent groups, but, not the 1" groups I was looking for. After much deliberation I finally decided to hack up the Lyman with a scope. I considered a Malcolm but since I was not sure this would work did not want to spend a lot of money on it. So, I resorted to my junk box. I had an old 3x T/C pistol scope left over from my Contender days. I milled the Leupold scope base flat and drilled/tapped the barrel for the base. End result will still wait for another day but it is promising. I shot at 50yd just so I could get the thing on target. The good news is I at least got the scope mount aligned properly with the barrel. Windage is just about center of travel.

This is my first group with the scoped rifle. FYI, BACO 450gn PP bullets, 80gn Pyrodes Select, veggie card wad and lubed felt wad. Wrapped bullets sized to .501 with Lee die.



And, yes, next time out will get a pic of the rifle.

The one with the P next to it is the one I pulled. The center dot on the target is 1" so I think I am OK with this. If I can get the same group at 100yd I will be happy.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

That's some really nice shooting. And you're looking for better yet? I'll sure be looking forward to the photos.

[GWarden]

Thanks for sharing the info.
bob

[Good Cheer]

There's a sizeable market for a line of muzzleloading scopes that gives eye relief away from the rear area, gives clamp attachment to octagonal barrels and that looks good on the rifles.

[charlie b]

While I agree, the current trend for sidelocks seems to be the Malcolm scopes that at least look closer to period rather than a modern scope. Clamp on mounts just cannot be made to look good. FWIW, the eyepiece end of the long eye relief scope gets quite dirty after 10 rounds.

My original intent for buying the GPH was to see if I wanted to spend the money on a Gibbs. After my experience that money would be wasted since I cannot do well with open sights. So, now I am just trying to make the Lyman shoot better.

In the 'old days' there were some mounts for TC rifles, but, they went away after a while. Then the inlines came into being and most folks turned to them for a scoped muzzle loader.

[beemer]

Have you ever wondered how the old guys dealt with this ?

My gunsmith knows I like muzzle loaders so he took me back in the shop and handed me a old ML. The rear sight had been moved forward and the slots filled several times. As some guy got older he just moved the sights farther down the barrel, might not work for every situation but they did the best they could.

I am there myself even with new glasses. I like iron sights especially on my milsurps but I finally broke down and scoped a few. We do what we gotta do to keep shooting.

[indian joe]

While I agree, the current trend for sidelocks seems to be the Malcolm scopes that at least look closer to period rather than a modern scope. Clamp on mounts just cannot be made to look good. FWIW, the eyepiece end of the long eye relief scope gets quite dirty after 10 rounds.

My original intent for buying the GPH was to see if I wanted to spend the money on a Gibbs. After my experience that money would be wasted since I cannot do well with open sights. So, now I am just trying to make the Lyman shoot better.

In the 'old days' there were some mounts for TC rifles, but, they went away after a while. Then the inlines came into being and most folks turned to them for a scoped muzzle loader.

Charlie
have you tried peep sights - I mean really tried it - I was in the same place as you two years ago - but in the end most of my problem was I was using old eyes as an excuse for the fact I was not shooting as much as I should have been - had deteriorated some physically - etc etc .
I made new sights for my muzzleloaders - front sight blade on my flinter covers about ten inches at 100yards and I moved the backsight forward some - they look stupid ugly but I can see the sights again! - knuckled down to some serious bench work with my 'uberti 76 with a decent peep sight setup and been really surprised at where It went once I got back in the habit of burning powder ---- yeah we get p!$$ed off when we cant do what we could twenty years ago but some sight adjustment (ours not the gunz) and a bit of old age cunning can fill a big part of the gap.

[charlie b]

Yep, I have tried all sorts of peep sights, including fussing with the aperture size and outer dia and front sight size and shapes. I have a set of Lee Shavers front sight inserts and have tried them all. Thin, narrow, circles, crosses, etc.

I can see and center the sights ok for 'normal' work. I can manage 3-4" groups at 100yds. Just can't see the target and sights better than that. I even changed the size of the bull on the target to 'match' the sights. Still not good enough. I like my rifles to shoot 1" groups or better. Otherwise I lose interest in them.

Hopefully this one will do nice cloverleafs at 100yd.

[Tasbay]

I have found as my eyesight gets a bit older and I get more long sighted, Front sight is still crisp but the back sight is just a haze, If I file out the back sight with a Chainsaw file and use it more as a peep sight the results are much more acceptable. Have a CVA Mountain Rifle with a Buckhorn rear sight and sight it so the front post and target are centred in the middle of the picture of the U . This works well for me after some practice.

[stick]

I just recieved a lyman gp rifle in 50 cal. Came from the previous owner w/ a beaded front sight and an adjustable rear sight. Have had muzzleloaders with scopes before and they did help. Tried this one out and it seems to be ok for me now.

[charlie b]

Recent update.

First, I determined that the BACO swaged 450gn PP bullets are only marginally stabilized with this rifle. Especially on cold days.

What this did was push me over the edge to get a casting setup again. Bought the Lee .500 S&W mold and cast some bullets. PP was the typical double wrap of onion skin (which I also got from BACO). Load was 80gn (by volume) of Pyrodex RS, a veggie card wad and a lubed felt wad. The bullets were cast, wrapped and then sized to .501 with a Lee die. Basically the same as idahoron's setup.

So, went to the range to shoot. I shot one fouling round, then 8 more, WITHOUT any swabbing or cleaning between shots. Results not great but not bad. Shots numbered in order shot (please ignore the small holes from my .223). #6 was a hangfire. #2-5 is a bit less than 2" at 100yd.

The bullet became noticeably harder to seat with each shot and especially with #7 and #8.

Next outing will swab between shots and see what happens.