Lyman Plains Pistol 50 caliber

[Junior1942]

I just ordered one. It's to accompany my Traditions 50 caliber Buckskinner rifle this coming October muzzleloader deer season. I'll use a 320 gr Lee REAL bullet in the rifle and a .490 PRB in the pistol. Thoughts?

[Lonegun1894]

I just got one of these in .54, but haven't had a chance to shoot it yet. My plan is to stick with PRBs, but I have no idea as to what the powder charge will be yet. I figure to start with 20grs of FFFg, which is very light, and work my way up and just see what the accuracy load ends up being. Guess we will both be doing some playing soon. Best of luck.

[Junior1942]

I just got one of these in .54, but haven't had a chance to shoot it yet. My plan is to stick with PRBs, but I have no idea as to what the powder charge will be yet. I figure to start with 20grs of FFFg, which is very light, and work my way up and just see what the accuracy load ends up being. Guess we will both be doing some playing soon. Best of luck.I plan to use Pyrodex RS in both my rifle and pistol for logistic reasons--I won't have to carry two different powder containers in a possibles bag. I don't need great power or accuracy from the pistol. It's for point blank to 25 yards max. Minute of 2 liter Coke bottle @ 25 yards is fine with me. I debated myself over 50 or 54 for the pistol, then I decided one caliber for both would be best.

[Shooter]

I have one in .54. Very accurate.

[Junior1942]

My pistol arrived this afternoon. It is bee-u-tee-full!!!

[Lonegun1894]

Congrats! Let the experimenting begin!

[Sergeant Earthworm]

I've thought many times of bringing my .50 caliber pistol along but the question is whether a PRB from a pistol has enough energy to humanely finish a wounded animal or defend against a predator. In Colorado, the law requires that a handgun projectile produce a minimum of 550 ft/lbs of energy at 50 yards to be legal for big game. Another factor is that sabots are illegal for hunting here.

[Junior1942]

I've thought many times of bringing my .50 caliber pistol along but the question is whether a PRB from a pistol has enough energy to humanely finish a wounded animal or defend against a predator. In Colorado, the law requires that a handgun projectile produce a minimum of 550 ft/lbs of energy at 50 yards to be legal for big game. Another factor is that sabots are illegal for hunting here.A PRB from a .50 caliber pistol won't meet your 550@50 requirements, but from point blank to 5 yards it would be like using a 38 Special for a finisher. It would work fine. Every graveyard contains a dead person killed by a 38 Special or less. Here in Louisiana there's no ft-lbs requirement, and I would have no qualms about shooting an escaping, wounded deer to 50 yards or so with my new pistol.

[Junior1942]

I haven't shot this new pistol yet; I've been improving it.

1. I drilled & tapped the front end of the ramrod 8-32. The rear is 10-32 from Lyman, so with an 8-32 on the other end I'll always have the right swab, etc. I almost changed the wood ramrod to plastic, but the wood one is so short it will be hard to break. However, there's a chip out at the front, and I don't like the way it looks. We shall see.....

2. I drilled out the original M4x.7mm hex cleanout screw hole for 10-32 slotted. Now around a campfire I won't need to find a 2mm hex wrench to remove the cleanout screw. The proper screwdriver bit, an "adjusted" quarter, is now on my nipple pic. As the original cleanout screw touched the bottom of the nipple, I shortened the new 10-32 cleanout screw until it didn't.

3. When inserting the ramrod into the thimble, it would catch on a ledge at the rear edge of the thimble. Imagine trying to re-seat the hung up ramrod for a second shot at ol' Mossy Horns while he's running away. That edge is ground away, and now the ramrod insertion is smooth all the way to the bottom.

I see a potential problem with the two screws holding on the barrel rib/thimble/ferrule asembly. They are M3.5x.6mm, and they look like 6-48 slotted Fillister screws. A 6-48 almost works. Almost. As the assembly weighs 1.4 oz, only two M3.5 screws are, IMHO, borderline on clamping it down after much recoil. I can see one or both of them coming loose and getting lost in the woods or on a shop floor. I can see a handy 6-48 replacement boogering the hole threads. In addition, the two bottom threads of my front M3.5 screw were boogered.... I plan to keep my eyes on those two screws as time and recoil goes by. If one comes loose even once I'll do some drilling & tapping and add a 6-48x3/16" screw, which will give me three clamp down screws.

[Maven]

When you're done with all that, Junior, spend some time polishing the lock innards and the trigger levers, especially where they bear on the sear. Make sure the latter surface is also smooth, then add a touch of lube to keep things that way. The Lyman/Investarms lock is a good one and easily improved.

[Junior1942]

When you're done with all that, Junior, spend some time polishing the lock innards and the trigger levers, especially where they bear on the sear. Make sure the latter surface is also smooth, then add a touch of lube to keep things that way. The Lyman/Investarms lock is a good one and easily improved.I've snapped it against a leather pad several times, and the trigger feels fine to me. However, I might have a looksee at the innards. Thanks!

[Junior1942]

I've had several shooting sessions with my new Lyman Plains Pistol. I'm shooting 2.5cc/~39 gr/by/v of Pyrodex P with .490" Hornady balls and my unknown brand lubed .015" patches. Estimated V = 1100 fps.

My ol' standby pillow ticking patches at .018" are difficult to load for round #1 and very difficult to load for each subsequent round. The .015" patches load easily for round #1 and just beyond easily for each subsequent round.

I'm getting 2" to 3" 3-shot groups @ 25 yards, but I believe the pistol is capable of one ragged hole groups. The problem is 70-year-old eyes. With glasses on, the target is clear and the sights are blurred. With glasses off, the target is blurred and the sights are clear. This is with a 2" black bull. Groups are the same either way, glasses on or off, so subsequent shooting will be the way it will be done in the woods--glasses on.

Strangly, the first group was 5" high and 3" left of bull. Nothing seemed loose, etc., on the pistol, so I kept shooting, after disassembly and cleaning and a close inspection. The very next group was perfect in elevation and maybe 1" off in windage. I tweaked the windage, and all is still well after several groups and disasembly and cleaning. The non-adjustable elevation POI is even with the bottom of the 2" round black bull, which is where I aim as I set the bull on top of the front sight. Have I mentioned that I really like this pistol?

One problem is seating round #2 hurts the palm of my hand due to no knob on the non-cupped ramrod end. As a tree is always handy in the woods I'll simply whack the ramrod end against a tree to start the ball, then push against the tree and finish seating the ball. Here on my front porch range, I use a wall instead of a tree.

I could put a fiber optic front sight and peep rear sight on the pistol, but it would lose its "cool" factor. Every single person who has looked at this pistol has oohed and awed over it. Plus, the left-side, strongly-attached belt clip is handy indeed. In the woods I'll clip it over my right hand pants pocket where it will be an easy draw for shot #2 on Mossy Horns. Different sights might catch on something during the draw. In case I haven't mentioned it, I really like this pistol.

[rodwha]

I was given the advice of drilling a shallow hole in my wooden short starter to use as a palm saver. Nice to have multi use items so as to reduce the amount of stuff you need in the field!

I, too, like the idea of being able to share my supplies between guns.

[TCLouis]

Junior . . .

Not recommending this you understand, but I have heard tell of using Pyrodex P in rifle and pistol.

Heck I , , , Uh I mean sompeople even use FFFg in 50 and 54 caliber rifles.

Course you know about internet advice!

Looks like you have solved half of your powder problem.

[Lonegun1894]

While we're being a bad influence, I have even heard of, um, uh, some people, yeah, that was it, some people making their own powder. And I may even be one of those that use FFFg in everything from a .32 flinter to a .710 SxS cap gun. Works great in all of em.

[Junior1942]

I had to share this with you guys. I took a broken ramrod and made me a short, circa 12" long, range rod for my new Plains Pistol. A fired 357 mag case is a perfect fit on a 50 caliber, 3/8" ramrod. I tapped the primer pocket 10-32. As the pocket is a tad large, the threads aren't deep, but they are plenty deep enough. The case is both epoxied and pinned.

http://www.castbullet.com/shooting/photos/plains/pp013.jpg

[bigted]

Junior ... that's a good idea for a short ramrod end cap. looks downright sexy too. I have heard/read of taking the barrel tenon outta the stock and drilling a 3/8ths hole into the handle/grip area for a reinforcing step to nullify the chance of grip breakage in the future.

dang ... now it looks like I need another kit ... to go with my 54 GPR of course.

[Junior1942]

The brass was soft enough so that I didn't even use oil on the tap. I also tapped from the case mouth end, and it was easy to keep the tap centered.

[Junior1942]

I just shot a 3-shot group @ 25 yds with the Plains Pistol and Pyrodex RS instead of Pyrodex P. I have 3 1/2 lbs of RS on hand and only 14 oz of P, so I'm gonna use RS in both rifle & pistol instead of P in both. Hey, I'm frugal!

I used .490" Hornady RBs and unknown lubed .015" patches. A dry 1/8" recycled felt wad was atop the powder. I used a Lee 2.8cc/41.2 gr/by/volume dipper. Est V = 1100 fps. Group was 3 in 4 1/8" @ 25 yds, which normally is awful. I'm calling it good because I wore my hunting eyeglasses, which means the target was crystal clear and the sights were blurry. The target was a 5 1/2" bull on a B-8C(P) target. All three shots were in the bull. This pistol is ready for October 20!