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Lyman GPR .50cal

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Thomas Theron

32 Cal.
Joined
Feb 18, 2012
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Hi Gents.
On Saturday I took my newly aquired GPR to the range for the first time.
Couldn't find any ffff BP so I took some ff Elephant and carefully ground it finer.Barrel was degreased and dry cleaned, vent cleaned with pipe cleaner
Big learning curve: After 6 strikes a flash..bang!
Seems like I was putting too much primer in the pan. A more experienced shooter told me to keep the primer away from the vent and play with the amount of priming powder, using the minimum that would do the trick.
I had more consistency when I left a vent pick in the vent hole when loading the main charge and seating the PB and only removed the pick when I primed the pan.Barrel was swabbed with a spit patch between shots, right down to the bottom.
Wiped frizzen and flint with alcohol after I was advised to do so after each shot and things improved even more.
A couple of questions:
I notice that the flint strikes the frizzen half way up the frizzen. Flint is mounted bevel down. I've read here on the forum that some shooters replace the hammer with a TC(new style) hammer which is longer and strikes the frizzen higher, giving more sparks. Is this a viable option or should I refer to the saying :"If it aint broke, dont fix it"
After 9 shots I was getting and average of 2 strikes and one kaboom, some with a audible delay.
So I'm thinking not enough spark or incorrect amount of priming powder.
Should the vent hole size be made slightly larger?
Or is my home made/modfied priming powder partly to blame?
And the frizzen? Should it be case hardened or should I leave that for later?
I await your wise replies.
 
The vent hole can be open up to 5/64,3fff will work as a primer,and just cover the bottom of the pan.You can put a piece of leather under the flint to raise it up,don't mess with the frizzen.
 
The flint that came with that lyman is not the best one for sparking good. Get some Rich Pierce or Black English or French Amber flints and open the touch hole up or get an RMC liner and when you load the powder smack the side of the rifle to jar powder into the liner and it will most assuradly go bang all the time as long as the flint is sharp and prime is dry

Bob
 
SRChief, thanks, I'll try the leather spacer under the flint.
Leatherbark, thanks for the info regarding the ventliner and the flints. The problem is availabilty here in South Afica :(
Could you possibly give me some links where I could get these from?
Is the ventliner you mention countersunk on the inside? Is it the same thread pitch & diameter as the GPR ventliner?
 
RMC Vent Liner

I picked up a GPR .50 a month or so back and they are great guns. The RMC liner is a nice upgrade, but if getting one is a problem, drilling your current liner out to 5/16" and coning the outside a bit with a countersink drill will be as, or almost as, good. I did that to the factory liner before my RMC arrived, and it worked just fine.

I was completely new to flintlocks (though not to black powder firearms) when I got this rifle. I followed what was essentially the exact same advice you received above (flint types, vent liner, leather to raise where it strikes the frizzen, etc) and have had no problems at all. These are very knowledgeable people and they like to help new people get into the sport.
 
”¦ drilling your current liner out to 5/16" ”¦

I am sure Cowboy2 means 5/32nd drill bit.

A more experienced shooter told me to keep the primer away from the vent and play with the amount of priming powder, using the minimum that would do the trick.

This is baloney. This guy reads more about flintlocks than he shoots flintlocks.

Fix the touchhole liner and put a thick piece of leather under the REAL hand knapped flint bevel up. Prime against the touch hole!
Take that (flint?) one that came with the rifle and throw it as far as you can. If you want to do more to improve on this rifle just relpy back but these things will get it shooting.
Oh, BTW, stop the swabbing between shots. It hurts way more than it helps. Also, when you fix the liner, you won’t need the touch hole pick either, at least very much. :thumbsup:
 
ebiggs said:
Oh, BTW, stop the swabbing between shots. It hurts way more than it helps. Also, when you fix the liner, you won’t need the touch hole pick either, at least very much. :thumbsup:

If I dont run a patch with some spit on it after each shot I battle to get the PRB down the barrel
(.490" ball with 0.015" patch)
5/32" drill translates to 3,9mm diameter drill - that sounds a bit excessive to me, or do I need a refund on my maths?
 
The max. size you want to consider for your touch hole is 5/64- NOT 5/32"!!! :shocked2:

You want your flint to strike the frizzen 2/3 of the way up from the bottom with it closed over the priming powder.

Position and amount of powder used tends to vary from gun to gun, depending on how the TH is located in relation to the pan. Use your own judgment.

Cleaning between shots depends on using the correctly sized cleaning jag, the correctly size(thickness) cleaning patch, and the correct cleaning technique.

I clean between shots, but I simply wipe the new, clean patch on my tongue, to get it dam, then pinch the patch over like a "taco" and rub the spittle into the fabric. I run the patch down the bore to within ONE INCH of the breech face, then pull the crud out. I then follow with a second DRY patch, to soak up any crude and moisture at the last 1 inch of bore. I follow with one or two clean dry patchs to make sure the bore is dry, reading the patches as they come out to decide if the relative humidity is high enough to require extra drying.

Your gun has a powder chamber, of a size that is smaller than your bore size. What the diameter it varies with the caliber of the gun. If you don't know the size, find out!

1. You don't want to be shoving wet crud into the powder chamber, and worse, let liquid crud enter the flash channel at the back/bottom of the powder chamber( too wet a patch; wrong sized cleaning jag; poor cleaning technique.) That is the reason people like Ernie Biggs argue Not to clean between shots.

2. Allowing crud to build up in the bore, and breech, changes the dimensions of the bore, so that the same amount of powder occupies a different amount of space in the barrel, and usually results in subsequent shots shooting higher. Once the bore cruds up in its grooves, these guns settle down to shooting fairly consistently, and that is why some shooters think there is no adverse price to pay for not cleaning.

BUT, the subsequent shots shoot to a different point of impact than that first shot out of a clean bore. Many hunters understand that they may not get a second shot, or at most, 2 shots at a deer, and choose to clean their barrels between shots so that each ball fired shoots to the same POI as did the first shot. Match target shooters tend to do the same thing.

Off-hand target shooters and plinkers tend to skip the cleaning until they stick a ball or it take real work to seat a ball. They figure " minute of pie plate" is " good enough" accuracy for then to kill a deer.

If swabbing for you works, stick to your decision.
Personally, I have spent far too much time at my club range pulling stuck balls from my gun and from other shooter's guns. It tires me out, and ruins my concentration, resulting in poorer scores than I know I can shoot. So, I clean between shots, as described.

Technique( How you do it) is as important as What you do. Reading about how to do something simply doesn't teach you much, compared to having someone show you, and then guide you as you learn to do the technique yourself. Find an experienced MLer to show you how to do these things. :thumbsup:
 
ThomasT said:
ebiggs said:
Oh, BTW, stop the swabbing between shots. It hurts way more than it helps. Also, when you fix the liner, you won’t need the touch hole pick either, at least very much. :thumbsup:

If I dont run a patch with some spit on it after each shot I battle to get the PRB down the barrel
(.490" ball with 0.015" patch)
5/32" drill translates to 3,9mm diameter drill - that sounds a bit excessive to me, or do I need a refund on my maths?

Along with the RMC vent-liner, get ahold of some Hoppe's #9 Plus Black Powder solvent and patch lube. Put some in a little squirt bottle, and use it as your patch lube. This will completely eliminate the need to swab between shots. The bore will be cleaned each time you ram the patch/ball down. You will be able to shoot very long shot strings this way without swabbing, and ease of loading will be consistent from shot to shot.
:thumbsup:
 
As noted above, I gave the wrong bit size. These things happen when I haven't had my second cup of coffee yet.
 
Cowboy2 said:
As noted above, I gave the wrong bit size. These things happen when I haven't had my second cup of coffee yet.

The shame and heartbreak of a typo! :rotf:

But I bet you're over it now. :wink:

I have to add that after comparing the Alaska price of a good drill bit and a replacement liner, I'm miles ahead just buying a replacement. Toss the old liner in a drawer in case you need one, and get on with the shooting fun. Having dropped more than one liner or screw down the kitchen drain when cleaning muzzleloaders, it's mandatory for me to keep a stock of spares. :grin:
 
Thanks all!
I managed to get some English black flints from a fellow FL shooter.
Tried a couple of pan fires today after squaring things up and had a flash every time.Used some lead to set the flint.
Off to the range on Wednesday with a pocket full of balls and a grin on my face.
 
The max. size you want to consider for your touch hole is 5/64- NOT 5/32"!!!

Paul,
I need a new keyboard. This one just makes too many typo's! :shocked2:

5/64" is, indeed, correct. :thumbsup:
EB
 
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