Done with Lyman Guns

I have officially had it with Lyman guns for good. One I built for my buddy the gun shot so far left the sights couldn't be moved over any farther and it was still 6 inches left at 35 yards. The stood by the barrel I sent it in and they sent back a good barrel and no issues other then I had to brown a new barrel no big deal. Now I am building a left handed 50 cal flinter GPR for the neighbor guy and out of the box everything looked fine, decent wood. Then came the parts the tang inlet was over cut by 1/8 inch, the buttstock has at least a 3/16 gap on the top edge of stock again over cut. Now for the kicker once the gun was assembled I went to run an oiled patch down the barrel and around 3-4 inches down the barrel the patch and jag hit on something and catches, I get the rod out and look with a flashlight and there it is they over drilled the top rib bolt hole clean through and into the rifling of the barrel and part of the bolt is sticking through. I kindly sent them a polite email stating the issue and they replied with.
Dear John,
Thank for you most recent email and concerns about the quality control of our products, customer feedback is always appreciated so we can gauge the quality of our product. After discussing your issues with the proper staff member the following recommendation was made. Since the issue is with the top hole closest to the muzzle, barrel pressure is not as important if it were the rear bolt. Please kindly remove the bolt and either install a shorter bolt of the same diameter and thread count, or feel free to grind the appropriate length from the bolt and reinstall. This will not hinder the performance of your Great Plains Rifle in anyways. Thank you for your concerns and have a great day.
Really this is what has become of a great company whose product used to be great. Maybe I am wrong here but I don't feel as a builder this is an appropriate fix in any manner even if the factory feels it will be ok. Maybe since TC isn't making the hawkens anymore Lyman feel is can turn out manure now because theres no more competition. The barrels shooting off center has been reported by a few members on the forum as well. Does anyone else having issues with Lyman quality on newer guns not older ones. Also do you guys think the fix Lyman recommended is safe to do and will hold up.

The "fix" is absolutely unacceptable !!
I'd be on the phone asap, with the email in hand so that you can use the responding persons name.

This site has so whole heartedly supported and recommended the GPR and kit's for so many years it's really sad to hear this kind of news.
And I have several friends that own and shoot these guns successfully.

Flip side:
You waited till everything was assembled before looking in the barrel?

Their quality has gone down hill allot the past few years. Their bullet moulds are hit and miss. They use their cherrys too long which results in too small of bullets which don't work because they cause leading bad. Reports of people returning them and get a replacement that is just as bad or not much better. Pretty bad when someone would take an old mould they made long ago over a new one.

My Lyman Great plains mould was supposed to be .508 and it was .504 so I sent it back. They said it was within spec. I got it back and sold that piece of cr@p. Ron

Sounds like the price of used GPRs is going to go right up. Sad.

That response is insane. They should have begged your forgiveness, sent a shipping label to return the barrel, and assured replacement with a hand picked and inspected barrel.

I have two excellent Great Plains and have always recommended them. I sure can't do that any longer. Too many reports like this one over the last year. Now I'll be saying "don't buy one unless you can inspect it first".

Lyman had better get its act together and save its reputation.

I surely wouldn't settle for that response!

I'm glad I apparently got lucky on the recent purchase of a Lyman mold. Was supposed to be .610 and the balls measure perfectly to that. But with all the quality issues I'm hearing, it might be the only Lyman mold I end up owning, especially if they think 4/1000's off is "within spec." Geez. :shake:

Send the barrel back so they can give it to someone else. :cursing: :youcrazy:

What?! :cursing: :youcrazy: :td: :shocked2: :surrender:

That's a crazy response and I don't believe that he discussed it with anyone. If so they have lost their minds. I would call and raise polite heck!

I hope you get some help! Geo. T.

No the solution they offered is not safe or acceptable. I have several Lyman guns (older) made by DGG (Armi San Paolo) (spelling?) and they are excellent. Do you have any idea who made that barrel?

What baffles me is why the heck Lyman accepts that kind of production from Investarms. They should be looking for a new production facility. CVA is a company that has turned around and is producing excellent (unmentionable) muzzleloaders. Maybe Lyman should go shopping.

Send 'em a link to this thread! :rotf:

Who? Is the Lyman family still involved in the business!?

I have always felt Lyman rifles were a cheap gun with problems. I think this thread proves it!

Glad I have TC rifles. Track of the Wolf sent me an email regarding Lyman pistol kits on sale, I deleted it before I saw this thread.

Too bad. Doesn't seem like there's a whole lot worth buying these days over the counter. Just curious is that the same gun that you have listed for sale?

I have an older GPR.54 Percussion. never any trouble.Bought a Lefty Flinter GPR that has been nothing but trouble. Nope, won`t another Lyman.....

Tommy Bruce said:

Too bad. Doesn't seem like there's a whole lot worth buying these days over the counter. Just curious is that the same gun that you have listed for sale?

Click to expand...

No this is a different gun. The gun I am refering to in this post is a 50 caliber left handed flinter. The gun I have for sale is a 54 cal RH Percussion.

Its sad because for the average consumer in todays market the GPR was about the only decent affordable gun to get into. I will say all these guns were a kit guns, my thinking is they put the defects in the kits and build the good product for their assembled guns. I have built over a dozen of these guns in kits and cannot believe the manure they are turning out anymore. So now my options are to either cut the barrel down and recrown it or tig weld the hole, closed and redrill and tap the hole correctly, since the guy I am building it for wants the 32 inch barrel. He is emailing and calling them as well, so we will see what if anything happens. :idunno:

Update:
Dear John,
I understand and appreciate your concern I can assure you that the barrel will be perfectly safe with the bolt replaced at the appropriate length, as long as its not exposed through the barrel it will be perfectly safe. Consider it equivalent to a front bead on an older shotgun without a vented rib, the front sight was thread into the barrel and made flushed with the inner portion of the bore and worked without fail. The same is true for the barrel in the condition you described. Thank you for your continous support of the Lyman brand.