• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Newb unboxing new Lyman GPR .54

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Oct 1, 2020
Messages
824
Reaction score
1,309
Location
Deep South, Y’all
Hi Guys. I surfed in a few days ago and have been lurking old posts since then while waiting on the BBT to bring my new GPR Flintlock. It just showed up and I thought I might post a few thoughts on the unboxing. First a little background on me, I am getting to be an old(er) gent a few short years from retirement. I enjoy most all the shooting sports (modern, Cowboy, BP), but don’t hunt anymore although I might after I retire. I have shot a little BP now and then over the past 45 years but not enough to know what I was doing. I have however collected up a pretty good mess of BP guns and stuff, all factory but I like them. I have rifles from .32 to .58 & 12 Gauge smooth, and pistols from .36 to .54 all percussion. My only flintlock to date had been a .50 T/C Pennsylvania Hunter I bought myself last year. I just recently got it out to work with it and enjoyed it so much I decided I needed another Flintlock. I looked around and liked the looks of the Lyman Great Plains and since I had the .50 T/C I choose to order a .54.

So to the unboxing, I rarely (almost never) buy anything new so this was pretty exciting. Well packed, broken down rifle. No nicks or dings I can tell except the one I put in the barrel right off because the “flint” (sawn agate) was too close to the barrel. Oh well, that is what cold blue is for. Stock is a nice dark color, I kind of like. It stinks though, sure needs some airing out. Barrel went in stick and the wedges pushed in most of the way by hand, I have not driven them home yet. Ramrod looks like a nice clear piece of wood but is rough as a cob, some steel wool of fine sandpaper is called for. It was tough to push into the gun and VERY hard to remove. Better than falling out I suppose and should smooth up and be fine. I will be using a range rod 99% of the time anyway. The cock is not centered on the frizzen, and is slightly inboard. Not a problem, just noted. The touch hole appears to be correct, pretty close to centered on the pan and “sunset” height. I am pleased as my T/C’s hole is a triffle low (but still works). The rifle came with two rear sights, I have not decided which I like better. I tend to prefer a peep but will shoot this as-is until I can’t anymore. I may change to a higher visibility front sight, or at least paint the back of this one. I do think I will widen the rear sight, it is a little narrow by my eye. The rearmost couple of inches of the barrel and the breech plug are a different “sheen” than the rest of the barrel, I don’t know what is up with that. Different hardening or polishing in this area cause color issues maybe?

All in I am pleased, but of course I have not shot it yet. I had been looking at used T/C flinters on gonebroker, but decided for the prices I was seeing (on guns the factory is not making parts for anymore) I would rather buy a new Lyman. The GP was what I wanted, twist, caliber, features, etc. It should do for now for something to make smoke.
 
I will bet the GPR will suit you just fine. They shoot straight and hit hard.
My 54 GPR (but in a cap) has never failed me.
This one was shot with my GPR 2 years ago, 93 yards, round ball, 75gr of 3F.
Complete pass through -
20190105_175914.jpg
 
the ramrod on my deer stalker was the same way... check the screws on it had to buy new ones ... left deep scratches on the ramrod...
 
Congratulations on your new rifle. A Great Plains rifle has been on my want list for years. I have have heard a lot of mostly very good things about them. Really you can't beat them for the price and they are a fairly accurate representation of that type especially for a production gun. Best of luck with yours.
 
I finally got to take the new GPR out last Friday for its’ first range trip. I had replaced the rock that came in it with an English Flint but other than that it was a wipe down, check that the bore was clear, and shoot. All went very well I think, considering it was brand new and I am pretty inexperienced in the way of the flint. All shots were .530 Hornady balls wrapped by .015 precut & lubed patches. First up was various charges of 2f set off by 4f. I had a “flash in the pan” with the 4f, picked the hole and primed with Null b and boom. I then moved on to various charges of Pyrodex RS and P with small kickers of 2f & 3f all sparked by Null b. I was playing with the fake powder because I have a lot of it from the china-mart putting it out on the clearance aisle for $5 a pound.

I am really liking this rifle, and it shot very accurately. All shooting was done standing mostly just to check function and enjoy it. I do think the fixed sights shot more to point of aim with the stiffer charges. I had another pan-flash with the Null b, but then it worked fine after picking the hole and re-priming. I have heard the rifling is sharp on these, but I looked hard and did not find any of the patches down range to check for cut patches. They must have achieved escape velocity. I shot five times, then ran an alcohol patch down the bore a few times and commenced shooting. I shot another 15-20 times without cleaning. There did seem to be a crud ring about 8” down that impeded loading. A little muscle pushed the ball and patch past it. While shooting the GPR was fun, it left a pretty nice bruise on my right shoulder. That crescent buttplate don’t play. I think I have a winner here and plan on working with it a lot more this Fall.
 
I finally got to take the new GPR out last Friday for its’ first range trip. I had replaced the rock that came in it with an English Flint but other than that it was a wipe down, check that the bore was clear, and shoot. All went very well I think, considering it was brand new and I am pretty inexperienced in the way of the flint. All shots were .530 Hornady balls wrapped by .015 precut & lubed patches. First up was various charges of 2f set off by 4f. I had a “flash in the pan” with the 4f, picked the hole and primed with Null b and boom. I then moved on to various charges of Pyrodex RS and P with small kickers of 2f & 3f all sparked by Null b. I was playing with the fake powder because I have a lot of it from the china-mart putting it out on the clearance aisle for $5 a pound.

I am really liking this rifle, and it shot very accurately. All shooting was done standing mostly just to check function and enjoy it. I do think the fixed sights shot more to point of aim with the stiffer charges. I had another pan-flash with the Null b, but then it worked fine after picking the hole and re-priming. I have heard the rifling is sharp on these, but I looked hard and did not find any of the patches down range to check for cut patches. They must have achieved escape velocity. I shot five times, then ran an alcohol patch down the bore a few times and commenced shooting. I shot another 15-20 times without cleaning. There did seem to be a crud ring about 8” down that impeded loading. A little muscle pushed the ball and patch past it. While shooting the GPR was fun, it left a pretty nice bruise on my right shoulder. That crescent buttplate don’t play. I think I have a winner here and plan on working with it a lot more this Fall.
The cresenct buttpalte is designed to fit in the cup between your bicep and your shoulder. The old timers found it better to shoot from the arm instead of the shoulder. Once I got used to that I find it an easier position to use to get good head position and alignment with the sights.
Might give it a try - you may like it. And if it bothers you too much, the butt could be modified to be a bit more comfortable. I fitted a cushioned moose hide butt cover for mine to take some of the pointyness out of the butt.
Congratulations of your new gun, I know you will like it as much as I like mine.
 
Congrats on your purchase. Im sure you will enjoy it. Ive owned a left handed .54 caliber GPR flintlock for many years. They are very nice factory guns. One of the best IMO.
 
Congratulations on the new toy. I don't hunt anymore but my GPR 50 caliber flinter will knock over steel targets at 100 yards when I do my part. Very reliable and with a fast lock time. I use black English flints from Track of the Wolf. The GPR is a good way to get started with flintlocks.

Jeff
 
GPR’s are good guns , expected it to shoot a little low out of the box. It seems that most front sights are too tall..

You may experience some cutting of the patch material due to sharp edges of the rifling , this will go away the more the gun is shot..

Make sure there’s no factory “bore protection “ left in the barrel prior to firing .

Lyman GPR was my first flint gun and a great one to get your feet wet with on the Dark Side....

Let us know how she shoots!
 
GPR’s are good guns , expected it to shoot a little low out of the box....

Make sure there’s no factory “bore protection “ left in the barrel prior to firing ....
Your right about that !!!

The Lyman GPR's bore has a layer of stuff to keep the bore from rusting and it is very difficult to remove. Just wiping the bore with a cleaning patch is not enough to get rid of it and if the protectorate is not removed the gun won't shoot accuretly.

Acetone or a automotive Disk Brake Cleaner will break the protectorate down and allow it to be scrubbed out of the bore with a cleaning patch on a suitable jag.
 
I shot another 15-20 times without cleaning. There did seem to be a crud ring about 8” down that impeded loading.
You may want to consider polishing the bore a bit to ease loading. @duelist1954 has a video out showing the process he used on a difficult to load GPR.

I have used a similar method with Scotch-Brite for some time, but Mike explains his very well. I started doing it after speaking to Don Getz (Getz Barrel) years ago before he past, and he recommended using the green (600 grit) Scotch-Brite for smoothing up barrels that were cutting patches. Said it wouldn’t hurt the barrel.
 
Back
Top