great plains pistol kit

[buttonbuck]

I picked up the great plains pistol kit in 54 cal was wondering any good tricks for a clean assembly the closest thing I did was to fit a stock to my stevens 410-22 so any advice. besides read the directions at least 3 times. before and while doing each step. I hope to deer hunt with it. also plan to tree rat hunt with the new traditions crocket pistol in 32 cal any good ideas for loads.

 

[mastrsgt]

buttonbuck

I did one in 50cal a couple of years ago. Mine went together very easily. The only area that created any problem was the tang screw to the trigger guard. Had to play around a little to get it to thread properly.

Don R

 

[Birddog6]

:hmm: Deer hunt ? :hmm: You may want to check the velocity of the bullet before atempting anything past 20' as you only have 9" of barrel to get that bullet zipping to penetration kill level.......
Just a thought........ :hmm:

 

[buttonbuck]

the 54 cal round ball with 50 grains of 3f is more than adequate for Illinois state hunting regs. and I would not shoot over 25 yards really I do not get much farther shots 15 of 20 deer killed by me were 20 yards and under. so My only hang up with the kit is that the lock as inlaid by the company is off center on the nipple hammer allingment. It will still hit the cap fine but it doesnt look right so do I shim it or what? I am trying the blackening of the hardware method tonight and we will see where the parts lie.

 

[4444]

I had the same problem last year when I built my GP rifle. If the hammer doesn't line up square it won't fire every time, which is good if your working on target panick (flinching), but not when your hunting. I didn't know what to do about it because this was my first attempt at gunsmithing, so I went to a gunsmith and he told me to grind a little off the lock plate. BAD IDEA!! I went home and did just that and the alignment didn't improve, but I did have a gap between the lock plate and the barrel, which now I have to look at every time I shoot it. So what I did was simply unscrewed the hammer screw, took off the hammer put it in a vice. Took the handle end of a cresent wrench and bent it ever so slighty. Being its hard cased the gunsmith didn't think you'd be able to heat it. If you don't have to go a lot I think cold bending it should work, just be careful and don't over do it. If the lock plate isn't sitting flush with the stock you may only have to remove a little wood.
chris

 

[Goldhunter]

You can bend it with heat also. See the below link. I had the same problem with a restocking job I just completed, except my hammer issue was much more severe. I heated it like was talked about in the link, and it worked out just fine. BTW, my lock is case hardened.
[url] http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/195827/post/290049/hl//[/url]

If the nipple is slightly off center but is still contacting the hammer face square (read that as cutting a circle in heavy paper) then the caps will fire just fine. My GPR nipple isn't centered, but I have yet to have a hang fire. When I drop the hammer on a heavy piece of paper or thin leather, it cuts a perfect cirlce, and there is enough room for the thickness of the cap around the nipple.