• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Range Report - first trip with Lyman GPR .54

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Griz44Mag

70 Cal.
Joined
Nov 12, 2017
Messages
4,326
Reaction score
4,379
Location
Republic of Texas, District of Krum
I got out early this morning to get the new (to me) Great Plains out and get it sighted in. When the new rifle arrived, I removed the buckhorn and installed a Pedersoli Ghost ring on the tang. The hole in the peep is smooth and measured ~.157. That was way to big for target shooting especially. I drove a roll pin into the hole and cut it flush. After making it black, it's hard to tell that it's been modified. The hole is now .071. That's a decent size for hunting or target shooting. The day was a huge success. My initial setting of the height of the rear post was PDC, just 3" off for a 75 meter shot. All the shots in the photos were .015 pre-lubed patches, .535 cast balls and 80gr of GOEX 2f lit off with CCI #11 standard caps. I shot from the bench to get the sights aligned, and shot at offhand at 100 meters to simulate worst case conditions in hunting. Enjoy the pics (in the link below)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MWuLGRVjwSGto27j7
 
Great news on the Pedersoli sight. Been eyeballing those as replacements for my beloved TC sights. Sounds like you've confirmed it.

Kinda interesting to read your observations about aperture size on the sight. The apertures screw out on my collection of models from Williams, Lyman and Redfield. I leave them in place for load testing and sight-in, then take them out for hunting. Don't know the size of the remaining hole (too big to call and "aperture" perhaps), but I'm betting way bigger than your .157". I never even see the rear sight when shooting, and the larger size lets through lots more light early and late in the day. Truth be known, I can't see any difference in accuracy with or without the aperture, even when shooting bunny heads.
 
That's some good shooting there.
As BrownBear mentioned, once you get used to the sight, your eye just automatically lines up and you only see the front sight.
Can't wait to get mine! I used to be a pretty good shot when I was younger and could still see. :wink:
 
BrownBear said:
Great news on the Pedersoli sight. Been eyeballing those as replacements for my beloved TC sights. Sounds like you've confirmed it.

Kinda interesting to read your observations about aperture size on the sight. The apertures screw out on my collection of models from Williams, Lyman and Redfield. I leave them in place for load testing and sight-in, then take them out for hunting. Don't know the size of the remaining hole (too big to call and "aperture" perhaps), but I'm betting way bigger than your .157". I never even see the rear sight when shooting, and the larger size lets through lots more light early and late in the day. Truth be known, I can't see any difference in accuracy with or without the aperture, even when shooting bunny heads.
The Williams and Lyman sights use a 12-40 thread on the aperture. That makes it ~.216 hole size. I did the same thing when hubting last year with my TC .50. It has a .050 aperature and was way too small for closer range hunting. When you are seeking a 1" dot on a target though, they are great. I found some 12-40 threaded barrel nuts and have ordered them. One of those brazed to the top of the post would accept and Williams or Lyman aperture. I'll post pics when I get it done..
 
Jimbo47 said:
That's some good shooting there.
As BrownBear mentioned, once you get used to the sight, your eye just automatically lines up and you only see the front sight.
Can't wait to get mine! I used to be a pretty good shot when I was younger and could still see. :wink:
I feel that pain Jimbo, and I am a few years younger than you. (But not many) The peep sights have managed to save my shooting with iron sights. And the black powder guns have re-ignited my love for shooting for sole sake of shooting.
 
Griz44Mag said:
The Williams and Lyman sights use a 12-40 thread on the aperture. ”¦”¦”¦”¦.. I found some 12-40 threaded barrel nuts and have ordered them. ”¦”¦”¦”¦.

Hey Griz, where did you find those nuts? I need to order some.
 
For what it's worth, a #12-40 UNS is a special pitch thread.

Its minor diameter for an internal thread is .189-.195 inch, not the .216 mentioned earlier in this topic.

Being a special pitch thread (Note the S in the UNS classification), these nuts and their mating bolts will be somewhat difficult to find.
 
Zonie said:
For what it's worth, a #12-40 UNS is a special pitch thread.

Its minor diameter for an internal thread is .189-.195 inch, not the .216 mentioned earlier in this topic.

Being a special pitch thread (Note the S in the UNS classification), these nuts and their mating bolts will be somewhat difficult to find.
The guy I am getting these from takes a #10 barrel nut, drills them out and re-threads them. He apparently has the correct tap. Hopefully this is the same 12-40 thread that Lyman lists as the thread on the interchangeable apertures. I measured the part to see if I had enough material left on the post eye of the Pedersoli part to drill and thread. It would leave it pretty thin, so I opted to chase both avenues and order the nuts. I found the tap at a specialty machine tool supply called DrillsandCutters. We will see how it all works out. I am by no means a machinist, just a guy that likes to tinker. I have a few machine tools and like to build custom parts.
The Pedersoli Ghost eye peep post with a roll pin inserted to reduce the diameter works very well. I just wanted the convenience to be able to change that when going from range to field.
 
A quick sidenote, don't think I mentioned it, but the Pedersoli Ghost Ring sight is made of all steel. So far, I am impressed with it. At some point in the future, I will round off the tail end of the base and break the 90 degree edges down to a smooth roll. That should make it a bit less "catchy" and blend into the rifle more naturally.
 
Back
Top