Lyman Kit Building Questions

[rwsjr]

I just received my first muzzleloader for Christmas. It’s a Lyman .54 Cal Great Plains Percussion Rifle (1-60” twist) kit and I have a ton of questions that I’m hoping that some of you folks can help me out with.

As instructed I removed all of the “unfinished” metal parts that were attached to stock. Once I remove all of the casting marks, dents nicks and scratches from them they will be shinny raw steel. I’m wondering what is the best way to finish them? Should I blue or brown them, or leave them alone and possibly lacquer them to keep them rusting. I know that a lot of this is a personal preference, but I like to hear your expert opinions. Also if I Blue or Brown how much buffing is required? So far I’ve removed all of the heavy scratches. I plan upon using this gun to hunt, so I’m not sure how to take it. Truthfully I’m leaning towards Browning just to match the already finished Lock assembly, but I just learned if I buy the “hunter” barrel with a 1-30” twist that it only comes Blued.

Also the Forend Cap is held on with a single pin but it is a tad loose. I was wondering if I could use glue or something else to make it more solid? That may make removing it a later date harder. Is that something I should worry about?

So far I’m fairly impressed with the Lyman’s kit. The only issue I have is I think that they took a little too much wood where the Tang sits. There may be a small gap on the end of the Tang that I fill, but I’m not certain since it still needs some adjusting.

You help is appreciated!

 

[Jim Buchholz]

Personaly I like a browning job on a gun like this but stay away from a glossy finish.If you get the blue barrel its easy to remove the blue with Birchwood Casey blue remover.Then knock back the gloss with some fine emery cloth before browning it. I had a loose nose cap too,fixed it with a slightly larger pin. My only gripe I have with these kits is the way the tang fits the stock. On all three of mine the tang fit the inlet OK but the top edge of the tang has a slight bevel which makes it look like there is a gap around the tang. I never tried to fix that as I wasn't sure how. All in all its a great gun, you'll love it.

 

[BadHorse]

you have a lot of good questions. on mine i went with viniger on all the metal parts, if you do this they wont rust. and as far as the lock is concerned thats been "heat blued" dont bother trying to match it. i wouldnt worry about the nose cap, that seems to be a comen issue with the GPR the big issue with the GPR is getting the hooked breach/tang geometery correct. just take your time with it and get it in correctly. leaving the gun in the white, or vinigered is a period correct way of building your gun. look around on this site there is a wealth of information regarding the construction of GPR's

karwelis
p.s. this one is mine

 

[BrownBear]

I'm a browning fan myself, using LMF as described at the top of this section.

I glass bed the forend cap, but use a release agent so I can pop it free as needed.

I also put a dab of epoxy between the breech and tang to lock them up prior to final fitting/inletting of the barrel and tang. You can free it easily with a quick application of heat, but in the meantime it results in a very good lashup in the finished gun.

Search the threads here. There are some excellent threads on building and finishing the GPR. Lots of styles and finished to choose from, along with some invaluable building tips.

 

[AeroncaTAL]

There are several of us here who have built one of these. If you do a search you can find the posts. In the mean time, here's a link to my GPR:
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/199353/post/328689/hl//fromsearch/1/

Scott

 

[rwsjr]

Wow!!!!! 41Aeronca that is one nice piece!! How did you get the steel to look like that? It looks blued, but then not. Was all the steel done the same way? Also where did you get the star from?

That is the best looking GPR I've seen!!!! WOW!!

 

[AeroncaTAL]

I used Birchwood Casey Super Blue. Put it on per instructions, then used 0000 steel wool to rub it back. Gave the look I wanted. I used it on all the metal. The trigger guard was polished when I used the blueing. It came out lighter than the rest. Still looks good.
The hunters star was my own pattern that I cut from German Silver. I don't think I would use that narrow of a pattern again. Kinda hard to inlet, especially for a first one...

Scott

 

[rootsy]

My GPR...

All of the metal was initially browned heavily with LMF and rubbed back with 000 and finally 0000 steel wool to what you see there... Not quite bare metal but a patina of sorts... It has a dull grayish brown coloring on the barrel and the furniture is more grayish.

fullsize images can be found at:
http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n27/jaroot13/

 

[mikemeteor]

I like the looks of the barrel, Rootsy.
for us Pilgrims, can you explain in more detail any pre-treatment (prior to LMF browning) of the barrel flats you did - in terms of draw-filing and/or sanding ? thanks.

 

[rootsy]

I draw filed more or less the top 3 flats at least 3/4 of the length of the barrel to reduce any harsh swamping that may occur in a short area while removing the imprinted warnings, etc.

After I was finished I used silicon carbide sandpaper on a flat piece of hardwood to refine the surfaces. I finished with either 320 or 400 grit. You can still see some fine draw file marks if you look closely enough.

The rest I more or less followed the LMF instructions on this website. Finished by rubbing most of the browning back off with steel wool..

 

[rwsjr]

You have also done a really nice job. Not only on the metal, the wood finish looks great too. It looks very traditional and very close to what I was thinking. Did you finish all of the metal the same way? The metal on the end of the stock seems "whiter" than the barrel.

I ordered the browing/blueing "stuff" that was shown on web page. I'm planning to play with it to find a suitable finish

Also has anyone done a wood inlay? I was thinking of making a star out of venier and enlaying into the stock/ I'm afraid it might not wear well.

 

[Capt. Fred]

I've never done a wood inlay on a rifle but have done several as a carpenter. I think that the right wood would wear fine. I would make sure it is a similar type of wood in terms of density and also in terms of its reaction to moisture (stability). Make sure both the stock and inlay are good and dry. I'm guessing that your stock is some type of walnut? There are tons of tables that will give you info on any given wood's stability and density.

Also, I would seal it quite well on the back and edges. Personally, I would use a penetrating epoxy for this. CPES is the best one I've used.

Sounds like an interesting idea to me.

 

[rootsy]

Some of the steel is a bit "whiter" than the barrel. Different grades of metal I reckon. I browned everything and carded and rubbed it back with steel wool... The vinegar finishing as mentioned previously has me intrigued and I may very well try that route on my current project.

Stock finish is a hand rubbed tung oil over stain finish. Finished with 320 paper, stained with a few different oil based stains (i'd opt for alcohol based stains). Couldn't rightly tell you what color combo at this time but it is a mixture of medium browns and some reds...

Stock is coated with tung oil and rubbed in by hand until it will take no more. Let it dry a day or two and I grab some 400 silicon carbide (steel working) paper and a cup of tung oil, lubricate the paper and wet sand.. keep it and the surface wet and sand to get a slurry to fill the grain. I do this 4 to 6 times until the grain is filled, progressing to a 600 grit paper. I'll finish by rubbing with 0000 steel wool wetted with tung oil. Always wet working the surface. In the later stages of wet sanding, say the 600 grit stage as well as the steel wool stage I wipe all excess tung oil off with a clean paper towel (no lint) and then let it cure. I finish up a month or so later with a couple of coats of wax for added protection.

I only do this sort of finish on walnut...

 

[mykeal]

Rootsy, 41Aeronca and karwelis - each different but all very nice examples of finishing a GPR. Clearly shows the range of what can be done with a little effort. In the end we all go off and do our own thing, though. Here's mine, a .54 flinter:

Stock: Sanded to 360 grit, then Herter's French Red stain and filler, whiskered 4 times, 6 coats of Tru-Oil with each deglossed with 0000 steel wool, then waxed with paste wax.
Metal: draw filed barrel flats. Dry sanded to 220, then wet sanded (using mineral spirits as liquid) to 400 (with hardwood blocks on flat surfaces). Browned with LMF, 3 full coats carded between coats with denim and then smoothed with 00 steel wool, polished final coat with 0000 steel wool and waxed.

 

[mukluk]

Just thought I'd share mine too. :grin:

This is my first kit build. For metal finish I went with a kinda homebrew browning, basically rubbed it down with BP/water mixture and some bleach then let it rust a bit, carded it a bit followed by oil. For the wood I just went with boiled linseed oil, no stain.

 

[BadHorse]

Some of the steel is a bit "whiter" than the barrel. Different grades of metal I reckon. I browned everything and carded and rubbed it back with steel wool... The vinegar finishing as mentioned previously has me intrigued and I may very well try that route on my current project.

I only do this sort of finish on walnut...

well, you'll like the viniger process, it ages nicely! i was looking at pics when my gpr was first done, compared to the way it looks now, they grey is getting darker and darker, and in some ways its starting to look like your gun. which aint bad considering, i saw yours and thought to my self "i want it!"

ok couple of gpr pics! the first one is to show the stock finish. i use LMF stains, it got 2 coats of american maple, and one coat of walnut. then i tru-oiled it till it wouldnt take any more. i thought about knocking the shine down, but,,,my daughter saw it and thought it was pretty. so i guess thats done.

soon as it warms up a bit here i'm gonna do that viniger thing to a green mountian barrel i got, and im gonna use cotten string on it for a few days first. im gonna simulate a damascus barrel. and if you check out this process you'll find they have been doing it for 200+years.