New Lyman GPR .54 flintlock

[zneufeld]

Hello all, and thanks again for the warm welcome over in the welcome forum.

Got my Lyman GPR .54 flintlock from Track of the Wolf on Friday last week, and I'm pretty thrilled with my first muzzleloader so far. Haven't had a chance to make any smoke yet, but I've been in touch with the kind folks from a local muzzleloading club, and I've received an invitation to shoot with them and learn the ropes.

The fit and finish are overall quite good. The wood to metal fit is fine in most places, and needs a little work in others (especially the tang). I had a small struggle to get the wedge pins to fit properly: I had to loosen the tang screws a couple turns to get the barrel to seat such that the pins would go in, and I still need to do a little filing on the escutcheon plates to ensure the left side plates won't bend when I tap the pins through. The instructions for fitting the wedge pins are completely buried in the manual. A quick Google search turned up a Lyman instruction video on fitting the pins, which I was thankful to find. It would be helpful if Lyman would place them in the first few pages instead. I was very confused for a few minutes!

The lock and agate flint it comes with are sparking just fine. I have some English flints from TOTW that I will try eventually, but I want to learn how to angle them so I don't smash the hell out of a good flint for no reason.

The front trigger is quite stiff, but I'll mostly be using the set trigger, so I'm not concerned. The set trigger itself requires a LOT of weight, so I'll be adjusting that. Probably a factory safety thing.

Friday morning felt like Christmas morning, for sure! My wife took one look at the box and said "you'll shoot your eye out!" I said "this'll take a bit more than an eye!"

(my wife was only kidding...she's a decent shooter herself)

 

[Phil Coffins]

I’m a fan of those rifles and have built a few from kits for other folks. The set triggers I have worked with all could be adjusted by setting the trigger (with the hammer fully down) then screwing the adjusting screw all the way in. Most won’t fire the trigger at that point. If that’s the case pull the front trigger and hear the click. If it did set it off back the screw out a bit till setting the rear trigger holds. Remember you can dry fire the triggers all you like as long as the hammer is down. If you fire the set triggers when the lock is in half cock the sear and or the tumbler will be damaged at some point.

 

[FishnRod]

You'll love the Great Plains Rifle

 

[Justin.44]

Nice rifle! Gonna be fun. Good call on hooking up with a local ML club, that's what I've done and it's been very helpful. (and fun!)

 

[TreeMan]

You’ll love it even more if you drop a “Davis deer slayer” trigger in it. Best extra $50 you’ll spend on it.

 

[zneufeld]

You’ll love it even more if you drop a “Davis deer slayer” trigger in it. Best extra $50 you’ll spend on it.

I just did a forum search for those, and the thread from about 5 years ago confirms this. It's definitely going on the wish list.

 

[firemanjim68]

Congrats on getting your rifle!
I'm on the fence about trading my TC Hawken .50 cal flinter towards a .54 GPR myself.
The TC Hawkens are very nice but there's something about the GPR being such a robust and authentic looking rifle.

 

[Timber Wolf]

Good show, got one myself a couple of months back. My trigger(s) were adjusted fine out of the box. Back sets fine and the front is not bad unset. The wedges were strange, I had to swap them around and flip over to find the combination that worked without them falling out. I have only had it out once but was impressed with the accuracy. Good luck!

 

[SDSmlf]

Congrats on getting your rifle!
I'm on the fence about trading my TC Hawken .50 cal flinter towards a .54 GPR myself.
The TC Hawkens are very nice but there's something about the GPR being such a robust and authentic looking rifle.

I would hang onto the TC and eventually get a GPR when you can. Then make the decision to keep one or both. I happen to have multiples of both, with no real complaints about either. They definitely are different, but in many ways kind of a Ford Chevy thing. Just my opinion.

 

[olskool]

years ago i had a lyman hawken flint in 50, it was a good gun. i killed a doe with it at around 70yds. and it was more than a plenty accurate to boot,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Rum River]

Good for you, you'll like it.

I messed up badly just a couple weeks ago. Went into a gun/pawn shop where they had a new one of these on the wall for only $325. I had already spent roughly $400 on other stuff in the store and hesitated on the rifle. Called early the next day and it was already gone......that'll teach me.

 

[Sidney Smith]

Nice rifle. You will definitely enjoy it. I love mine.

Do I see a cut agate flint in the jaws of the cock? If so toss it and get some good english or french amber flints. Those cut agate flints are pure trash.

 

[zneufeld]

Finally got the GPR out for its first spin a few days ago (photo in a new thread).

Did a thorough cleaning when I got it home (hot water with a little dish soap, then Ballistol and dry). I found a shallow hole on the back of the hooked breech, and I can't seem to find out what it is. It's not indicated on the parts diagram. I can't tell if it is threaded, and it doesn't go through to the bore.

I'm sure someone here knows what it is.

 

[SDSmlf]

It’s a threaded hole likely used in the manufacturing process. I’ve never concerned myself with it. Suggest leaving it alone.

 

[zneufeld]

It’s a threaded hole likely used in the manufacturing process. I’ve never concerned myself with it. Suggest leaving it alone.

Thanks, I appreciate the response. I'm trying to learn all I can about patent breeches, so I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something obvious.

 

[pwbsmokey]

I just give it a little blast of WD 40 when I clean it. Just to displace the water

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Probably used for it up by a screw for bluing the barrel etc

 

[Winterhawk]

When you clean, get a .357 brush to go into the patent breech powder chamber. Wrap a patch around it and shove it all the way in, turn it several times, repeat. Otherwise you will still have powder residue in there.

 

[Grenadier1758]

@zneufeld, the advice for a brush for the chambered breech is good, but you have a hooked breech. It is a simple matter to remove the nipple, pull the barrel wedges and lift the barrel from the stock to set the breech in a pail of soapy water and really flush the barrel and breech really clean. Dump the dirty water and flush with a clean pail of water. A small amount of rubbing alcohol to displace any water after drying the bore, and its time for rust inhibiting lubricant before storing.

 

[zneufeld]

@zneufeld, the advice for a brush for the chambered breech is good, but you have a hooked breech. It is a simple matter to remove the nipple, pull the barrel wedges and lift the barrel from the stock to set the breech in a pail of soapy water and really flush the barrel and breech really clean. Dump the dirty water and flush with a clean pail of water. A small amount of rubbing alcohol to displace any water after drying the bore, and its time for rust inhibiting lubricant before storing.

This is exactly what I did. I also used a slotted tip with a patch to get down into the powder chamber. It was so fouled after fewer than 15 shots that I could see the fouling without a bore light.

I've ordered a smaller brush to get down there, but in the meantime I flushed the barrel about 4 times until it ran clear.