Greetings from Wisconsin

[Barghest]

Hello everyone, I'm BuckBall from Central Wisconsin and very new to muzzleloading. Give credit to my fiancee for getting my interest started. Currently I'm in the stage of deciding on which .54 to purchase...lyman or go with Cabela's Hawken. .54 because I hunt in Alaska with a friend and need that extra punch. I have plenty of time to decide since it wont be purchased until next year. I've learned much from the forum as is and visit nightly to learn more. Look forward to learning more and making a few friends in the process.

 

[Breakfast Boy]

Welcome, Buckball. I grew up in southern Wisconsin, but have a buddy who owns a cabin in Black River Falls. Now I reside down here in Indiana. Still a Packer fan though! :redthumb:


I've got a Lyman GPR in the .54 and love the way it shoots. I don't think you can go wrong with this gun.

 

[gordy]

BuckBall: welcome to the fire,there are quite a few folks from your neck-of-the-woods on this forum.I've never owned the Lyman or the Cabalas Hawkens.I have handled the Lyman and it is a good looking rifle,also there have been very few complaints by the many on the Forum that own them,or have owned them in the past.There have been several disatified owners of the Cabalas.Most complaints were of a minor nature and easily corrected,some however, were of a more serious nature and Cabalas refused to fully honnor the warranty.The Thompson Center Hawkens may be worth looking into! The TC products are as good or better than any on the market,and TC stands behind their products 100%.I have the TC Renegade in .54cal.and it has given great service.You also need to decide on the twist of rifleing,if Your going to be hunting brown bear, moose and other very large game, conicals will give You the option of a heavy projectile with good knockdown punch.The 1:48 twist will do well with most conicals, and still throw round ball well with light loads.Enough rambling for now.Others here can give You much valuble information.Come set by the fire and relax. :relax: :: :thumbsup:

 

[Liver eatin’ Johnson]

Welcome BuckBall,

By the time you're ready to buy that rifle, you'll have learned enough from these fine folks to not only feel good about your selection but also know how to work up a load to make meat! :thumbsup:

 

[Barghest]

Thanks for the welcome. Cabela's is the only catalog I get so I am limited in resources. From what I have learned of Lymans my interest lies with the Trade Rifle at the moment. I haven't seen many comments on that particular rifle. The Great Plains is very nice, but I doubt it would work in a tree stand for the whitetails. As for twist (still learning about this) I wish to use balls for deer and conicals for the larger game. I have no interest in sabots since to me that's not very traditional and I don't want to use projectiles one uses in centerfires...oh and just because I live in Wisconsin doesn't mean I like the green and gold...I am bronco's fan all the way and my fiancee is raiders...my poor packer fan father ROFL

 

[Breakfast Boy]

:what: Not a Packer fan?!!? I can't talk to you anymore....LOL! Just joking!


I bought my rifle at The Log Cabin Shop in Lodi, Ohio. Check out their website at...

www.logcabinshop.com

Keep looking around and asking questions. I think you'll find more alternatives to the Cabela smokepoles. They might shoot okay, I don't know. Never used one. But there are a lot of good guns out there. After I did my research, I just found the feedback on Lyman rifles too good to ignore. I built mine from a kit and really enjoyed that. I'm fairly new to all of this too, but have loved every minute of it.

You also might want to check the NMLRA's website to see if you can find a local blackpowder club. Even if you just go to watch and meet some people, it's a great way to gather input and learn about the sport. Feel free to e-mail me if ya have any questions (we just won't discuss football)! HA!

-Jameson

[email protected]

 

[shmrck1]

BuckBall,
welcome to forum glad you found us.you will not find any place better to get yourb/p ???? answered than here at this forum. lots of friendly people that won't make your ???? seem stupid. BreakfastBoy is right about finding
a B/P gun club.even if you don't join, just show up and in most cases you will be very welcomed :imo: this is a very friendly and giving fraterity.
again welcome and stay active

I am snake-eyes eace: :thumbsup: :RO: :relax:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Welcome.

Check out the prices at Midsouth Shooters Supply http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/

They don't have much in the way of traditional black powder, but more than Cabela's (18 in-lines vs. 2 traditional in one of Cabela's fliers I recently received :: I'm boycotting them). Midsouth has very good prices ($321.56 vs. $399.99 for the percussion .54 GPR, and $360.33 vs. $429.99 for the flintlock).

If you gun don't work in a tree-stand, get rid of the tree-stand.

 

[musketman]

Currently I'm in the stage of deciding on which .54 to purchase...lyman or go with Cabela's Hawken.

Welcome and let me add another log on your deciding fire...

Percussion or flintlock???

Percussion :shake: (small caps, cold hands, cold Alaska)

Flintlock :thumbsup: (Find sparking stones anywhere)

 

[Mtn-Man2u]

BuckBall: A Big Welcome To The Camp ! !
Glad you found us. There's alot of infor here at this forum. This the best Black Power site that's on the web.I have some web sites that you should check out. They have some great prices on percussion and flintlock rifles.
www.cainsoutdoor.com---Cains Outdoors--1-800-445-1776
www.rmcsports.com---RMC Sports--1-800-326-9113
www.basspro.com---Bass Pro Shops--1-800-227-7776
I hope these companys can help you find the best price on a Black Powder Rifle.
Again, Welcome to the Camp!! Mtn-Man2u

 

[Barghest]

I'm happy to be here. I checked out all the links and bookmarked them for future reference. Thank you all for posting them for me. I don't dare get a flintlock. My fiancee has one and she specifically stated or I should say WARNED..."Don't you dare get a flint"...guess she is afraid I might out shoot her ROFL. I find flintlocks a bit complicated, though I'll assume it's just me and my newness. I'm trying to figure out what is up with 2 triggers which I noticed the GPR to have. I'm guessing one cocks the hammer?

 

[gordy]

BuckBall:What You see are double set triggers,when adjusted properly,the rear most trigger "sets" the front trigger makeing it a "hair trigger".There are different styles and types of set triggers.but none that I know of cock the hammer.Some double set triggers are called single phase,what this means is the cocked hammer will not release with just the front trigger the rear trigger has to be"set" before the front trigger will release the cocked hammer.The other most common type are double set double phase,this means You can release the cocked hammer by just squeezeing the front trigger without first setting the rear trigger,normally the trigger pull preasure is quite stiff without useing the rear or "set" trigger.I have three rifles that have the double set double phase and really like them.I'm quite certain that the triggers on the Lyman are of the double set double phase style.There are a few other types of set triggers but the double set type are the most common.Hope this helps You out. :thumbsup:

 

[Barghest]

Thanks for straighting that out gordy. I am definately safer with a single trigger. Having said that, I am strongly considering the Trade Rifle, though not to sure about that brass. But then there is that little deerstalker...choices, choices, choices :hmm:...LOL Good thing I'm not buying till next year.

 

[Breakfast Boy]

Hey, don't let the double triggers frighten ya on the GPRs (or any other gun). I felt the same way, until I started to shoot my GPR last weekend. I like the double triggers!

However, if you are sure you don't want to use the double trigger, then just ignore the rear trigger and it'll work like a standard gun. Just cock the hammer and pull the front trigger when ya want to shoot. But if you cock the hammer and then pull the rear trigger, this simply "sets" the front trigger as a hair trigger instead of the heavier pull that it would normally have. You don't have to use this feature. This making sense?

It's just my opinion (made from much research prior to purchase), but I feel the Lyman GPR's are one of the best production smokepoles out there.

 

[Barghest]

Well Breakfast Boy and gordy, I checked out the double triggers today at the local Gander Mountain. I shouldered the Trade rifle and the GPR both flintlocks...I found both to be very barrel heavy and a bit too long for any treestand and heavy cover hunting (shooting max of about 65 or so yards) I do on my parents 40 acre woods. I spoke with one of the dealers there and he told me that the deerstalker would be my best bet. He stated that even though lyman states it's a carbine, it's still very much a rifle with a total length of 41 inches. He uses the stalker in .54 as well and hunts regularly up in Alberta for Moose and Elk. Since Lyman doesn't have much information on their site, have either of you heard how the deerstalker handles?

 

[gordy]

BuckBall;The Deerstalker would make a good first gun.The 1:24 twist will stabalize most any conicals,won't be much for round ball, only with really light loads.The short barrel will make it easy to load.Once You get comfortable with it ,You may want to try a longer rifle.Try to check out as many as possible,and good luck. :thumbsup:

 

[Breakfast Boy]

Have heard much on that gun. I would say get whichever gun you are comfortable with, otherwise you'll be sorry later. If you feel the others are too long, then go for it. :m2c:

 

[Claude Mathis]

Let's move this discussion to the appropriate Forum. ::