Shooting the Lyman Great Plains Hunter

I was shooting the Lyman Great Plains hunter four days ago, with 315 grain hollow point bullets :shocked2:
With 70 grains of 2f :shocked2: That got my attention.
And the bad part......couldn't keep bullets on paper.
Bullets were a snug fit with good lubricant.
On six shots, not one key holed, but were shooting a two foot pattern at fifty yards.
Loaded a round ball, and less than an inch from center.
Next I will try a REAL cast bullet, to see if it performs better.
Bottom line is I really do like round ball shooting.
Fred

Try an over powder wad. That usually helps.

Old Ford said:

Loaded a round ball, and less than an inch from center. ..........
Bottom line is I really do like round ball shooting.

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Sounds like your problem is solved! :wink: :thumbsup:

Mooman76 said:

Try an over powder wad. That usually helps.

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Hi, Thank you for your input.
I did in fact use a 1/8" felt wad soaked in a mix of bees wax & olive oil, my favorite go to fix anything. Still bullet anywhere
I also tried 3F...same poor results.
I am new to the Great Plains Hunter, but not impressed with bullet accuracy.
I will have to see how it shoots with the REAL cast bullet.
Fred

Old Ford said:

I am new to the Great Plains Hunter, but not impressed with bullet accuracy.
I will have to see how it shoots with the REAL cast bullet.

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Huh.... Sumpin goin on there.... The Hornady GP is the most accurate bullet for me in array of rifles in 50, 54 and 58 caliber. The REAL's are good too in all those calibers, but the GP always seems to edge them out.

2nd the geat plains by hornady. Shoot best in all mine. When I used to shoot em alot I could get sub 2" groups at 90 yds easily (and back then I could see too)

Old Ford said:

I was shooting the Lyman Great Plains hunter four days ago, with 315 grain hollow point bullets :shocked2:
With 70 grains of 2f :shocked2: That got my attention.
And the bad part......couldn't keep bullets on paper.
Bullets were a snug fit with good lubricant.
On six shots, not one key holed, but were shooting a two foot pattern at fifty yards.
Loaded a round ball, and less than an inch from center.
Fred

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So what's the twist ratio? SOunds like you should stay with round ball.....

Sounds like it's a round ball twist ratio. :idunno:

Looked up the stats on the "Great Plains Hunter" and it is listed as 1/32" twist, which is a fast twist for shooting modern sabot type bullets.
Strange it won't handle a GP bullet?
Might try the modern stuff and see how it performs.....Just don't tell anyone! :nono:

Sounds like you have the Great Plains Rifle not the Great Plains Hunter. Read what is written on your barrel on the breach end. It should tell you the rate of twist. It could be you don't have what you think you do. DANNY

Danny Ross said:

Sounds like you have the Great Plains Rifle not the Great Plains Hunter. Read what is written on your barrel on the breach end. It should tell you the rate of twist. It could be you don't have what you think you do. DANNY

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That's the only possible explanation I can see for the poor results. Hopefully it's that simple!

Old Ford,
Did you ever determine the twist ratio on this rifle? I finally managed to get mine out to the range, and it is putting strings of balls through a single hole at 50 meters, and holding less than 1.5" at 75 meters (if I do my part). These rifles seem to shoot very well when everything is right with the load (and the shooter).

Danny Ross said:

Sounds like you have the Great Plains Rifle not the Great Plains Hunter. Read what is written on your barrel on the breach end. It should tell you the rate of twist. It could be you don't have what you think you do. DANNY

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Hi Danny,
Thank you for your suggestion, and my doubting my sanity.
But for certain it is a Lyman Great Plains Hunter
I have checked my inventory, but do not have any .50 cal. REAL bullets.
I will have to cast some, to see if this rifle shoots as good with the REAL bullets or the round ball.
Shooting the round ball is not a problem, as the recoil with the crescent but plate, was not nasty.
Have a great day!
Fred

That's why these guns are so much fun!
You have to find the load that works, and some are easy, and some, not so much! :thumbsup:

BrownBear said:

Old Ford said:

I am new to the Great Plains Hunter, but not impressed with bullet accuracy.
I will have to see how it shoots with the REAL cast bullet.

Click to expand...

Huh.... Sumpin goin on there.... The Hornady GP is the most accurate bullet for me in array of rifles in 50, 54 and 58 caliber. The REAL's are good too in all those calibers, but the GP always seems to edge them out.

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:metoo: The GP outshoots the REAL in every gun that I have.

What we have here is a failure to communicate.

Old Ford said he was shooting a Lyman Great Plains Hunter which is the name of the rifle. Lyman offers their venerable Great Plains Rifle in a version with a fast twist (1:32") and they call it the Great Plains Hunter.

Hornady sells a hollow point muzzle loader conical that they call the Great Plains Bullet. I do not believe it is offered in a 315 grain version. It appears many posters are confusing the Hornady Great Plains (which is a bullet) with the Lyman Great Plains (which is a rifle).

To the O.P. You might try going up the powder charge scale. Try 80 grains of FFg then 90 grains.

stubshaft said:

:metoo: The GP outshoots the REAL in every gun that I have.

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It's worth noting that Lyman has molds in 50 and 54 caliber that pretty much duplicate the shape and performance of the Hornady Great Plains bullet. I can't tell them apart coming out the bore. Sad to note that they don't offer it in 58 caliber. Sad that is, because Hornady quit making the 58 caliber Great Plains Bullet a number of years back and my stock is getting real skimpy.

My GPH is most accurate with MaxiBalls. I tried a lot of different bullets.

The only bullet that was really accurate through my GPH was the 220 grain REAL bullet, a lubed Wonder Wad (fiber wad) over 95 grains of FFFg Goex. No other bullet or load combination worked as well and at 75 yards it would put one ragged hole in the target.