Got my new for me .54 cal Great Plains Rifle

[John W Hughes]

Based on all the comments on my earlier topic, (Topic#292431) I decided to start looking for a GPR on GunBroker and ended up winning the auction for a .54 cal percussion Great Plains Rifle. I was a little wary bidding but with the help of fellow forum member Jim Bob from Idaho who actually looked at the rifle for me I went ahead and bid and eventually won the auction.

I want to thank Jim Bob again for all his help, and for him taking time out of his busy day to look at this rifle for me. This rifle was listed by the seller as well cared for and not used or shot much. I checked with Lyman and the rifle was built in 2004. Jim Bob told me that it didn’t look like the rifle had ever been fired and when I got it this afternoon I am sure it never has been or maybe only a few times.

I am super happy with the purchase of this rifle. I got a early Christmas present for myself!

I am looking forward to working up a load and may eventually keep both the T/C Hawken with the Green Mountain drop in barrel and the Lyman great plains rifle as many mentioned I should.

 

[Idaho Elk Hunter]

Glad you like it....very nice Lyman GPR for sure! You got yourself a brand new rifle as far as I am concerned.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Congratulations on your new baby! Like all commercial rifles, it may take a bit of finagling with to get teh best out of it but that's just one more good excuse for going to the range! :wink:

 

[Jamie from Alberta]

Hey congrats! Have the kit gpr in the same cal. You will surely enjoy shoosting it. What twist? Now all you'll need is a Plains pistol in 54 to keep it company.
Enjoy.

 

[will5a1]

Good for you, I am sure you will enjoy your new GPR. This hunting season my .54 GPR has been my go to rifle, it shoots were I aim, fits me well and is light enough for me to carry around all day.

 

[Spikebuck]

Congrats on what sounds like a fine buy. That .54 will put the hurt on those NE Minnesota whitetails! That is if you guys have any left up there. Hopefully this winter will be a bit kinder and gentler than the last two.

Good shootin! :thumbsup:

 

[RonRC]

Congratulations on the GPR!
I bought a 54 cal used from a member here. It has proven to be a fine shooter.
Enjoy and a Merry and Fulfilling Christmas.
Ron

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

Good job on the purchase of a great rifle. There is nothing like the boom of a .54 GPR and the satisfying push on the shoulder from 100gr of FFG behind a patched round ball. Just plain fun. I was able to find a pre-owned Lyman Trade Rifle that was built about the same time as my GPR and was never fired but well preserved so I got my Christmas gift in October! :~) Really nice to have the pair! Good luck and good shooting!

 

[BrownBear]

You're set for a whole lot of fun.

Coupla things to be aware of with Lyman's in general- just a practical note, rather than a complaint.

The corners of their rifling and their crowns tend to be sharp, so when the gun is new they tend to cut patches.

Two paths to ponder:

Just go ahead and shoot it 150-200 shots until things smooth out, and don't get too serious about your load development and sight-in until that's past. Whole lotta fun, and a great way to get acquainted with your new gun.

If you're the impatient type, you can always lap the bore and smooth the crown, then get right down to business. Not hard to do and not real technical, but it will get you onto home plate lots quicker.

Coupla three more, while I'm thinking about it:

The set trigger adjustment screw visible right between the two triggers isn't long enough to do anything. If you want to really tune up that trigger, you're going to have to replace it. Cost you about 15 cents, but it takes a particular screw from your hardware store.

Lyman nipples aren't real happy with CCI caps (nipple size just slightly too big), but not a problem with Remington. Trade out to a replacement nipple from TOW or other sources, and you'll be fine. Same if you turn down the Lyman nipple a little. In the meantime, you might get a failure to pop the cap the first time you drop the hammer. Next drop goes bang. You can shortcut that by seating the cap extra firm.

Lyman ramrods have a lot of run-out and break pretty easily, just like every other commercial ramrod on the market. Figure on a replacement.

Lyman bores tend to be a little rough, so with shooting they smooth out and loading gets easier. But you're likely to have to change ball/patch combos as your rifle breaks in. I had to start out with .530 balls and .015 patches in mine. After 100 shots or so, I noticed loading got real easy, so I went to .018 ticking patches with the same ball. Loading got harder, but groups really shrank. At about the 2,000 shot marker I noticed loading was getting awfully easy again, so I went to a .535 ball and the same .018 patch. Loading got pretty tough, but the groups shrank so much it really breathed life into a favorite gun.

The kicker is, when the gun was new, I couldn't even start a .535 ball and .018 patch.

Back of your brain stuff, but you'll find it handy as you get to using that new rifle a lot.

Congratulations! :thumbsup:

 

[maineguy]

I have the lyman great plains in 50 cal shooting 490 balls and .010 patches

 

[Shifty]

Hey I think thats a great choice to keep both,you can always use a spare!

 

[John W Hughes]

Thanks for everyone's responses!

Brownbear, I appreciate all of the thought you put into your post. Very informative.

Two things, I did try out the CCI cap right after your reading your post and sure enough failure, on the first drop of the hammer and on second drop it did go off. I do have a new nipple coming along with some other items from TOW.

Second, I would much rather shoot a 150 to 200 RB's thru the barrel, a lot more fun. I did the same thing with the GM barrel. I am in no hurry, deer season doesn't start till November. And I also have both .530 and .535 round balls and .015 and .018 patches so I will find out which goes best.

Looks like tomorrow no snow so I will get out and shoot!

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!

 

[Zonie]

Using an electric drill to turn it and chucking on the large body of the nipple, a few strokes of a flat file on the cone will reduce its size so the caps will fit like they should.

If you do this, try to keep the angle of the cone the same as it was.

 

[Idaho Elk Hunter]

Brownbear....good post on the Lyman GPR..and you are so correct in how the barrel and rifling is on the sharp side and does cut patches. Mine is nearing 100 rounds shot through it and it still is capable of doing that, but better than when new. LIke you said just a good excuse to go shoot it. Very accurate gun for me. I have same deal on having to use now the .530 size ball with .05 patch as the .535 is very hard to load yet.

 

[Idaho Elk Hunter]

Nipple problem solved for me when I just converted nipple to musket size nipple and use Musket size CCI caps. Easy to get musket size nipples for Lyman. I convert all of my hunting rifles to musket size nipples anyway, a lot better chance to have it go off when weather is very wet and damp too.

 

[RonRC]

Once I saw all the talk about the GPR, I started to get excited and decided to take mine to the range before the predicted snows set in.
Thanks,
Ron

 

[Idaho Elk Hunter]

I am jealous as I am sitting here looking out window at rain, and more rain.....wanting to shoot my Lyman too as I moved my rear sight over to right a tad and that should put me right in the bullseye hopefully as I was shooting about an inch and half to left at 30 yds.

 

[Mad Mucus]

Congrats on the rifle & calibre..... hope you enjoy yours like I do mine.
:thumbsup:
Currently teaching myself to shoot it offhand 25m.

 

[stuartg]

I had to do the same on mine. I was a smidge to the left around 30. Now I just have to figure a way to secure the rear sight elevation. The spring to kind of weak, and I really don't want to file the front sight post.

 

[Idaho Elk Hunter]

I noticed that the spring is kind of weak myself on rear sight, but I am about 80% up on that one and had to file front sight to get it dialed in elevation wise. It is sweet now though. My other barrel I have for it is the fast twist one called the "Hunter" and when I attach it and shoot it is only low a couple inches and I haven't touched the front sight on it. I have only fired that barrel maybe total 10-12 shots is all.