In praise of the Lyman GPR

[Enfield1]

My club had it's annual fundraising turkey shoot this past weekend. I had never been able to participate until this year due to a crappy work schedule. I brought my Lyman GPR .50 percussion. I was shooting patched round balls that I cast in my garage with a simple bag mould. Until yesterday, I had never shot at a target beyond 50 yards. They had some sporting clays on a conveyor sytem at 75 yards. The clays moved from left to right. Each clay was exposed for only 2 seconds before it went out of sight and the cycle started again. I broke one of these clays shooting from standing position off hand on the first try and took home a 12 pound turkey! I hope everyone has a good holiday week.

 

[playfarmers]

Good for you. I have shot the GPR before, but own the Lyman Trade rifle, because I like carrying an 8 lb rifle more than a 9 lb one, but they are shooters.

 

[Raider2000]

Good for you. I have shot the GPR before, but own the Lyman Trade rifle, because I like carrying an 8 lb rifle more than a 9 lb one, but they are shooters.

+1

Same here I've shot a few friends GPR both Flint & Percussion but opted for the Trade Rifle for the same reason & moma didn't want me to spend no more than I did on mine.

Lyman does make some fine shooting rifles, & good shooting to you. :hatsoff:

 

[cowpoke1955]

I have two .54 GPRs, one percussion and one flint. The percussion I've had for close to 30 years. If you think 75 yards was good, try it at 100 yards. You'll be amazed at how accurate these rifles are. Once you get to know your rifle, they are as good as any modern rifle with open iron sights. Keep up the good work :thumbsup: .

 

[F.G. Ford]

Hey MinnieBall,
Kinda' makes you feel proud walkin' off the range with you're turkey and fine rifle.
A little like Sgt. York
Just wait till you go to a turkey shoot with modern weapons, and you bring your smoke pole and kick ass......that feels good!
Best Regards
Old Ford

 

[Stubert]

A couple of years back, I went to a blackpowder shoot with a 58 cal. Investarms caplock. I was shooting 265 gr. r/b. Most of the other folks had scoped in*&#$es. I won 5 out of 9 rounds using open sights against them. You wanna see some ****** people. They were claiming the ball I was using was to big in diam. and that was why I was closer to the center of the bullseye than they were. It was only a 60 yard range.

 

[tg]

Of all the guns I have had over the years the LGP was one of my favorites.I wish I would have had it a bit longer and I might not have been talked out of.

 

[PreglerD]

Had have GPR's in all cals from .45 to .54. They were all good shooters, but with any rifle I wasn't able to get a deer when hunting. So for me they were badluck rifles for hunting. I gave them away and bought a Traditions Deerhunter with which I had more luck (10 roedeer meanwhile).

Regards

Kirrmeister

 

[BossHoss]

Just got one in 54 myself :thumbsup:

 

[Tom Compton]

Hey, Hoss, where do ya put the flint on that contraption? :hmm: Oh, yea, this is the per-suction forum. You use those little disposable flints in the little brass holders. :rotf:

Good looking rifle! have fun. :thumbsup:
TC

 

[BossHoss]

There ya go- Them rock crusher shootin fellas is always takin jabs at us "Cap Shooters" :cursing:

:blah:
:rotf:

Take care my freind - I mite just "grow" inta one them flinters sumday :thumbsup:

 

[smokeblower]

Jab, "Investarms" Euro, The same gun. Gheese.

 

[BossHoss]

Have no idea wat ya talkin bout but sumhow i doubt it :hmm:

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I don't know what he's talking about either, but I think he mis-spelled cheese. Or maybe geese? Maybe he just started celebrating the holiday a little early...Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!!!

 

[BossHoss]

I don't know what he's talking about either, but I think he mis-spelled cheese. Or maybe geese? Maybe he just started celebrating the holiday a little early...Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!!!

:rotf:

Same to you 'n yours :thumbsup:

 

[traceywalker]

My son and I completed our GPR cap lock kits a few months ago and are in the process of trying to out shoot each other on a weekly basis. The GPR kits and building/learning process are worth far more than the asking price. The wood, metal and all supplied material area great. Like anything, the deal is in the finishing. It is not a plug and play. Some tweaking is necessary.
Accuracy is no problem once you feed your rifle what it likes. Many thanks to Dutch!
Now if I can just figure how to out shoot my kid. Lately he has been kicking my a**! Far more upper body strength (and fewer years) than I have. I can knock out the 3" center out at 50 yards from a bench rest (no big deal). Sean can do that with ease off hand. We're not very accomplished shooters yet but it's easy to see that the GPR offers you potential pin-point accuracy at distance.....as long as you do your part.
No, it's not exactly a Hawken, but...comes damn close and the feeling you get from shooting something very close is again well worth the bucks. With a little work (much like many have shown on this site) you can bring it much closer to a more traditional look and... you get all the positive vibes from doing it yourself!
Anyway, along with just being a ton of fun, it helps to reduce stress..... and in these times, that's not a bad thing!

Rangertrace----

 

[Tom Compton]

Great that you are doing stuff w/ your son, Ranger.

My son, now 27, is pretty busy w/ job and family but we still get to put in some hunting time and a little work on the old cars (55 Chebbie is his and mine is 56 Ford Victoria like I had in high school). He, too, is a great shot. I use a little intimidation and "poor old man can't see" to keep him off center.

Learn to get the forward arm (left if you shoot right handed) under the rifle and have the rifle fully across your chest. This puts weight of the gun on bone instead of muscle. Tinker with an aperture on the shooting glasses - YOU DO WEAR EYE PROTECTION, DON'T YOU? - to clear up the rear sight. Dry fire 10-15 times a night w/ triggers only. Perfect practice makes perfect, do not dry fire unless all is right. Even in informal competition, you don't have to fire just because the gun is on your shoulder.

Let us know how the father/son championship comes out. What load are you using?

Sight picture, trigger control and follow through.
TC

 

[traceywalker]

Thanks, great advice. I'll do just that.

My son's.54 uses 75gr of 2F with a .530 weighed ball and .017 pillow ticking. Currently we're both using 8/1 Ballistol as patch lube. My .54 likes 80gr of 2f everything else is the same.
Rangertrace

 

[Zoar]

My 54 cal prefers .530 round balls too with .010 Wonderpatch.

 

[Mulebrain]

That sounds like a rootin tootin good ole time!

I have the same gun, and love mine!