I'm interested in a Lyman Great Plains or Lyman Great Plains Hunter, I know the first one have a 1:60 barrel twist good for round balls and the second 1:32 good for balls, sabot, etc... but what are the best choice for target shooting. Also which caliber .50 or .54. THANKS.
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Lyman which one
- Thread starter Buster95
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jtmattison
70 Cal.
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If targets are all you plan to shoot then I'd go with the Great Plains in .50. You can shoot patched roundball for a fraction of the cost of bullets/sabots. The .50 is also a great hunting caliber for up to deer size game, larger if you can get close.
If hunting larger game such as elk or moose then go with the .54 Great Plains. The .54 is also cheap to shoot on the range with patched roundballs.
Great Plains Rifles are outstanding shooters. You won't be disappointed.
HD
If hunting larger game such as elk or moose then go with the .54 Great Plains. The .54 is also cheap to shoot on the range with patched roundballs.
Great Plains Rifles are outstanding shooters. You won't be disappointed.
HD
Little Wattsy
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The up size is that you can get MORE than one barrel for the gun :grin:
.54 for hunting
.50 for target plinking targets
Roundball IF your ready for an ultimate hunting challange
Connicals if you want the upperhand in game killing performance.
I have a little bit of everything over a few differant guns....Right Now I am really excited about my .54 RB guns. The one Im building is a Lyman GPR. For hunting. :thumbsup:
Good Luck and MOST Important....Have FUN!
.54 for hunting
.50 for target plinking targets
Roundball IF your ready for an ultimate hunting challange
Connicals if you want the upperhand in game killing performance.
I have a little bit of everything over a few differant guns....Right Now I am really excited about my .54 RB guns. The one Im building is a Lyman GPR. For hunting. :thumbsup:
Good Luck and MOST Important....Have FUN!
I concur with Wattsy.
The GP platform is great! I have a .50 percusion for club shoots, a .50 flintlock barrel with primitive sights for primitive shoots and a .54 GP hunter percussion barrel for Elk.
All equipments perform better than I do.
The GP platform is great! I have a .50 percusion for club shoots, a .50 flintlock barrel with primitive sights for primitive shoots and a .54 GP hunter percussion barrel for Elk.
All equipments perform better than I do.
cowpoke1955
58 Cal.
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Welcome. I have two .54 GPRs, one percussion and one flint I built from a kit. Who needs conicals when you have a .54 ball. As mentioned, a .54 ball is easier to shoot. Easier on the pocket book and easier on your shoulder. I've shot several matches with my .54 and taken it deer and bear hunting. As mentioned, if you feel the need you can always buy a second barrel or even a third one. I just feel that with a .54 ball, nothing else is needed. Good luck :thumbsup:
I've had both and I prefer the .54 Great Plains Rifle. If you find a need to go hunting with it and want to shoot conicles or sabots, go to midsouth shooters supply and buy the Hunter barrel for it. It slips right on. :thumbsup:
If you're mostly interested in target shooting, I'd go with the slow twist. Round balls are quite accurate, and they're a lot cheaper to shoot and easier on your shoulder. They're fine for hunting too, if you shoul decide to. A .50 is a little cheaper to shoot than a .54, but not enough to make much of a difference. A .54 is probably a better choice if you plan to do much hunting too, though many .50 shooters will probably disagree with me.
I'll politely disagree with Wattsy's comparison. I don't find hunting with the roundball any more challenging than hunting with anything else. Unless he means by being limited to 100 yard shots or less. I don't get shots much past 80 yards where I hunt anyway.
As for game killing performance, well, I stopped having to trail animals after I switched to the round ball. They drop elk just as fast as my .338 WinMag used to, and they absolutely hammer deer. I've never had anything go more than 20-30 yards after taking a hit. The only benefit to them that I see is the increased range. In some parts of the country, that might be important.
I'll politely disagree with Wattsy's comparison. I don't find hunting with the roundball any more challenging than hunting with anything else. Unless he means by being limited to 100 yard shots or less. I don't get shots much past 80 yards where I hunt anyway.
As for game killing performance, well, I stopped having to trail animals after I switched to the round ball. They drop elk just as fast as my .338 WinMag used to, and they absolutely hammer deer. I've never had anything go more than 20-30 yards after taking a hit. The only benefit to them that I see is the increased range. In some parts of the country, that might be important.
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Buster95 said:
I've got both a 50 and 54 cal GPR. I much prefer the 54 for hunting because it's balance is not quite so barrel heavy, making for quicker mounting and swinging on game.
The 50 OTOH, is noticeably more barrel-heavy, and I consider it the better truly "target" gun. It just hangs steadier for critical aiming on offhand shots. I've never measured, but my solid impression is that I can cut my offhand groups in half out at 50 and 75 yards by switching from the 54 to the 50, yet both shoot about the same groups off a bench.
As for fast twist versus slow, these guys are using you for their favorite one-legged hop around the old conical/RB fire hydrant. Buy into it or ignore it at your own peril.
The biggest things I notice going back and forth between fast and slow, the fast twist shoots RBs just fine up till you get much past about 60 grains of powder, then groups start to spread. And in my experience anyway, they're also fairly critical about powder charge for optimum accuracy with conicals. You'll hit a "sweet" spot as you go up in charge, but accuracy will suffer on either side of that. Just not real versatile for me.
The slow twist barrels won't shoot long conicals worth a hoot, but all that I own are accurate over a very wide range of powder charges with RBs.
And here's another thought for you. If you get serious about target shooting and more or less traditional offhand matches inside 100 yards, as far as I know they're virtually all RB matches. And I'll tell you for sure that shooting 100 RBs in an afternoon is no big deal, but if you go out and shoot 100 conicals at hunting velocities, you're going to feel like you been rode hard and put away wet. Flinch time, maybe? :hmm:
BadHorse
45 Cal.
you know i have a .50cal great plains rifle, dropped a 600lb black bear i shot from about 50 yards.
I had a LGP for shooting ball, it is very accurate and in the ,54 the PRB will cover anything you will hunt in the lower 48, the expensive modern bullets are not really needed but some of them would likley work in the "Hunter" barrel.
Rollover Jack
36 Cal.
Buster...
Get the Great Plains Rifle, I would recommend the .54. Shoot the heck out of it to work out the bugs. You can always add the Hunter fast twist barrel at a later date, when finances permit, or order them both and save on shipping. I have had no issues with barrel interchangeability. Just start blasting. Burn that powder, Hoss. I can't seem to quit doing it.
"Less powder, more lead.
Shoots further, kills dead."
Get the Great Plains Rifle, I would recommend the .54. Shoot the heck out of it to work out the bugs. You can always add the Hunter fast twist barrel at a later date, when finances permit, or order them both and save on shipping. I have had no issues with barrel interchangeability. Just start blasting. Burn that powder, Hoss. I can't seem to quit doing it.
"Less powder, more lead.
Shoots further, kills dead."
Looking at the Lyman Black Powder Handbook gives the impression that the recoil between the two calibers is somewhat similar for a given powder load.
Most folks use heavier powder loads with the .54 and the recoil rapidly becomes heavier in that caliber.
That said, one of the neat things about muzzleloading is the shooter is in full control of his load. It isn't like being tied to a few loads like the cartridge gun shooters are so, you can make your .54 shoot with less, equal or more recoil than you could with a .50.
Another neat thing about muzzleloading is the way black powder guns recoil.
Rather than the sharp "kick" of a modern cartridge arm the muzzleloader gives a slower push that most shooters find to be a pleasant change.
No, I didn't say there was no kick and with either the .50 or the .54 you will know that you've just shot something that has some serious power.
It is just a bit easier on your body to shoot it.
Most folks use heavier powder loads with the .54 and the recoil rapidly becomes heavier in that caliber.
That said, one of the neat things about muzzleloading is the shooter is in full control of his load. It isn't like being tied to a few loads like the cartridge gun shooters are so, you can make your .54 shoot with less, equal or more recoil than you could with a .50.
Another neat thing about muzzleloading is the way black powder guns recoil.
Rather than the sharp "kick" of a modern cartridge arm the muzzleloader gives a slower push that most shooters find to be a pleasant change.
No, I didn't say there was no kick and with either the .50 or the .54 you will know that you've just shot something that has some serious power.
It is just a bit easier on your body to shoot it.
Rollover Jack
36 Cal.
Buster...
Seeing that the .50 and .54 can use similar powder charges ranging from small plinking to manufacturer's maximum recommended, it is the user who determines this. Smaller charges kick less, obviously, and one could put more powder into the .50 and arrive at a greater kick than a lesser charge in a .54. The .54's round ball being slightly larger has not been a factor in my felt recoil and also if given the same length and width of barrels the .50 would have greater mass to soften the kick due to less metal being removed from the bore.
We strive to develop loads that are the most accurate for each particular gun and use those when accuracy is the prime goal (versus just joy-shooting tin cans). This could vary even between consecutively made guns, thus the kick could also be different between two identical guns should the optimum accuracy load developed for each be significantly different.
To answer your question, I believe that there is little difference between the two calibers' felt recoil (assuming the weight and buttstock shape is similar) to warrant a choice in caliber.
If you ever decide to shoot conicals, though, you will notice a "lively bounce" :wink: compared to round balls regardless of caliber. Perhaps other people could expand on my explanation. :2
"Less powder, more lead.
Shoots further, kills dead."
Seeing that the .50 and .54 can use similar powder charges ranging from small plinking to manufacturer's maximum recommended, it is the user who determines this. Smaller charges kick less, obviously, and one could put more powder into the .50 and arrive at a greater kick than a lesser charge in a .54. The .54's round ball being slightly larger has not been a factor in my felt recoil and also if given the same length and width of barrels the .50 would have greater mass to soften the kick due to less metal being removed from the bore.
We strive to develop loads that are the most accurate for each particular gun and use those when accuracy is the prime goal (versus just joy-shooting tin cans). This could vary even between consecutively made guns, thus the kick could also be different between two identical guns should the optimum accuracy load developed for each be significantly different.
To answer your question, I believe that there is little difference between the two calibers' felt recoil (assuming the weight and buttstock shape is similar) to warrant a choice in caliber.
If you ever decide to shoot conicals, though, you will notice a "lively bounce" :wink: compared to round balls regardless of caliber. Perhaps other people could expand on my explanation. :2
"Less powder, more lead.
Shoots further, kills dead."
Russ T Frizzen
70 Cal.
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Good choice! :thumbsup:
More questions.
Which of the two (GPR or GP Hunter) would have the better long range accuracy?
I've noticed that some civil war rifled muskets had a fairly slow twist yet they shot minie balls?
What about using the GPR with Hornady PA conicals which they claim will work with a slow twist?
I'm a new guy, so be kind.
Which of the two (GPR or GP Hunter) would have the better long range accuracy?
I've noticed that some civil war rifled muskets had a fairly slow twist yet they shot minie balls?
What about using the GPR with Hornady PA conicals which they claim will work with a slow twist?
I'm a new guy, so be kind.
