Lyman Great Plains Rifle not a review

[Pete Gaimari]

It's fine for a kit ( some of it), but the completed rifle should be done right.

 

[rmonday2]

If im not mistaking Dixon had GPR for less than 6 bills back in july and had plenty to chose from.
Didn't look at them this close but had very nice wood on most all. Just a thought!

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Midsouth seems to have the best prices. $465 for a caplock.

 

[contenderfan]

Ive owned only one GPR, and one was enough for me. Like stated above, the fit and finsh was horrible, triggers didnt work right...at the time I was under the impression they were a decent quality rifle. Ended up trading it for a T/C Hawken at the local shop and never even considered another GPR.

 

[CaptainKirk]

Nice write-up!
I bought Lyman Trade Rifle back in the eighties. The fit and finish are not top-notch, but certainly way better than the photos you showed. I agree that QC has gone the way of the passenger pigeon in our "modern" society.
If you want a job done right, do it yourself.

 

[DanChamberlain]

I bought one from Midway a decade ago and marveled at the workmanship for the price. There wasn't a single issue I could find. Something has changed in the last ten years evidently.

Dan

 

[DarenN]

a rather distressing thread, to say the least. concidering that i ordered a GPR .54 flint a week ago. i'll do a careful inspection at the gun shop when it comes in, and reject it if it isn't up to the $550(Canadian) i paid for it.

JustJ; thanks for the report. at least i know what to look for.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Please give a report. I'm still undecided if I should order another one.

 

[ebiggs1]

"Whether you buy a factory complete gun or a kit gun from Lyman, you get a “kit” gun!"

The only place I had the opportunity to look at several was my local Cabela’s. They used to have a rack full of them. No more. I have three, myself, so it still isn’t a large sample but none of the dozen to 18 guns I looked at were what I consider good workmanship. None, if you happen to have gotten a nice one, great, but I would say the chances are slim.
I don’t mind “detailing” them so it isn’t a big deal to me. The important thing is the barrel. Where can you find a barrel that shoots as good as a GPR for that money? Nowhere! The high dollar barrel makers should take note.

 

[kelleyjk]

After seeing other posts that suggest I was not alone, I was inspired to write Lyman about their quality control, filed one of their little "contact us" forms online, if I get any worthwhile response I will share it here.

 

[Naphtali]

Several years ago, I bought a left-handed flintlock GPR .54-caliber whose condition makes your rifle look good. To make a long story less long, I called Lyman. They had me return the rifle to them at their expense for repair or replacement as needed.

I requested, were the rifle unrepairable, to have it replaced with a left-handed percussion cap lock .54-caliber GPR. And this is what I received by return.

Design and quality control were completely different, metamorphosing from eye sore to a nice unadorned Plains rifle. The only problem was the trigger adjustment screws were so short that they adjust nothing. I queried the forum and discovered this problem is normal for GPR, and the fix for it is to buy a longer screw.

In the intervening years, the rifle has remained in the safe as my interest has moved toward bigger bores and double barreled rifles.

In summary: Lyman shipped a poor product. Lyman made things right without a murmur.

Hope this helps.

 

[BrownBear]

I've seen a stinker, but Lyman was good for it. My hunting pard got a kit that had major stock problems. Lyman instantly replaced the stock, the new one turning out to be one of the nicest pieces of walnut I've ever seen. QC may suck at times, but I've seen that with American made cars, trucks and guns, as well as European and Japanese.

The big distinction is what the company does about it. Thumbs up to Lyman on that account! :thumbsup:

 

[mykeal]

Got two, one factory built percussion and one flint kit I built. Both are fine, well built rifles; the kit is prettier.

 

[starr8719]

I have to agree with you too I have one in .45 the only change i made was buying a green mountain 36 in. barrel my preferance , no fault with the standard barrel . got mine in the mid 80's maybe they were built better then I don't know.

 

[DarenN]

Please give a report. I'm still undecided if I should order another one.

the gun shop says it will be a couple weeks till i see it, but you can bet on a report. good or bad.
if the fit and finish are acceptable, but the mechanics aren't, i'll replace the trigger group with a Davis, and the lock as well (maybe L&R).
it bothers me that i might not get a quality product for my over half a thousand dollars. i paid less than three hundred for my Investarms Hawken, twenty years ago. new in box. it is a quality piece that is nicely finished. the set trigger is easy to pull, and when it's set the trigger pull is under three pounds, and almost zero creep. a nice looking gun that is fun to shoot.
we need to bug the s&%t out of our retailers if our products aren't up to snuff.

 

[BrownBear]

we need to bug the s&%t out of our retailers if our products aren't up to snuff.

That's the bottom line. I'll take service over price any day of the week. That's why Cabelas isn't bothered by my business any more.

 

[Naphtali]

Having migrated to bigger bores and double rifles, my L-H percussion GPR .54-caliber, with its accouterments is available.

When I refer to "bigger bores," my .58-caliber Kodiak double rifle is also available because of my brace of Kodiak Safari 72s.

 

[brubincam]

-----had my gpr for quite a few years---had to put a gasket between lock and barrel--priming was going into the innerds of lock----- :idunno:

 

[Bill Hall]

It's fine for a kit ( some of it), but the completed rifle should be done right.

Exactly! I've never owned a GPR rifle, but it sounds like a crapshoot on the success of getting a good one. Unexeptable. As long as people keep buying and accepting manure, people are going to keep making it and selling it. Bill

 

[ebiggs1]

“Exactly! I've never owned a GPR rifle, but it sounds like a crapshoot on the success of getting a good one.”


They are “good” guns,”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦.. eventually!