How much difference in recoil between a 50 and 54cal round ball in a Lyman GPR?
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Recoil
- Thread starter Boomerang
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not very much. Recoil is related to power and ejecta. Your only jumping 40 grains in ball wt and your powder charges are about the same. The GPR is a little lighter in the .54 but not much, and 70-90 grains will give you good groups. It can become punishing if you try to top out your loads say 140 grains, but that doesn't give you any better down range results. Its not like going to a .58...100grain bigger ball, or a .62 about 150 more grains, almost twice as heavy. Or going in the opposite direction, say a .50 in a 7/8 barrel shorter barrel. I had a .54 Leman style with a curved narrow butt and light butt stock. it was not plesent to shoot.
Thanks.
I was contemplating between a GPR in 50 or 54, but it would be mostly for target shooting and I didn't know if it would be more punishing going with a 54.
I was contemplating between a GPR in 50 or 54, but it would be mostly for target shooting and I didn't know if it would be more punishing going with a 54.
Not really. A nine & a quarter pound rifle absorbs it pretty well.
But there is some. A .54 ball has 29% more mass than a .50, and you should put in more powder to get it to a similar velocity.
But you can load a .54 down to .50 recoil levels easily and still blow through deer.
But there is some. A .54 ball has 29% more mass than a .50, and you should put in more powder to get it to a similar velocity.
But you can load a .54 down to .50 recoil levels easily and still blow through deer.
Ya, sometime I want to get a 40 cal barrel for it.
Yeah, but nuthin cut's lines as well as a .54 and something about that bigger ball helps with a stiff cross wind too, :wink:cub45 said:
Boomerang;
You get that 54 and don't look back,, you'll have no regrets
Snakebite
45 Cal.
necchi said:
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Boomerang said:
The GPR forty in the same barrel length is just about as much muzzle ponderance as I can comfortably handle.
Well there's recoil....and there is perceived recoil. :wink:
The latter is how you "feel" the recoil on your body. For example, IF I was to take one of the buttplate screws on a rifle, and back it out 1/2 way, and you used the same load in it that you had just fired, you would feel much more pain at the recoil (although the backward thrust would be equal to the previous shot) because a large portion of the recoil would be transmitted to your shoulder by the single screw, backed 1/2 way out. The surface area against your body would have been reduced from the entire surface of the large buttplate...to about 1 inch square. OUCH.
So IF you compared two rifles, and was had a thinner butt plate, or didn't fit you well, or any number of other factors, it would "kick" harder...from what you felt, even if the actual backwards energy was the same.
LD
The latter is how you "feel" the recoil on your body. For example, IF I was to take one of the buttplate screws on a rifle, and back it out 1/2 way, and you used the same load in it that you had just fired, you would feel much more pain at the recoil (although the backward thrust would be equal to the previous shot) because a large portion of the recoil would be transmitted to your shoulder by the single screw, backed 1/2 way out. The surface area against your body would have been reduced from the entire surface of the large buttplate...to about 1 inch square. OUCH.
So IF you compared two rifles, and was had a thinner butt plate, or didn't fit you well, or any number of other factors, it would "kick" harder...from what you felt, even if the actual backwards energy was the same.
LD
Thanks guys!
Well I wouldn't say I'm young. I'm about 50, but I think I can handle the weight for a couple years anyway.LOL I think I will go with the 54 for now and sometime down the road get an extra 40 cal barrel for it. :thumbsup:
Well I wouldn't say I'm young. I'm about 50, but I think I can handle the weight for a couple years anyway.LOL I think I will go with the 54 for now and sometime down the road get an extra 40 cal barrel for it. :thumbsup:
I would say yer young. :wink:
BTW, that .40 barrel will be heavier, if yer worried about age that could be a factor.
Why not plan for a whole new custom rifle? A light fullstock in .40 cal. would be a pleasure to shoot.
Snakebite
45 Cal.
I do have a .40 Southern Mountain Rifle. I got it because I wanted a small caliber flintlock. Nothing says you can't have more than one rifle. I kind of let the style of rifle dictate the caliber. With a GPR which is a "Hawken" or "Plains" style rifle, they tended to be larger caliber.
I don't know where the .40cal actually came in to play in this thread since the original discussion was choosing between a .50 and .54.
I don't think you can go wrong with a .54, the difference in lead and powder isn't that much. Just my opinion.
I don't know where the .40cal actually came in to play in this thread since the original discussion was choosing between a .50 and .54.
I don't think you can go wrong with a .54, the difference in lead and powder isn't that much. Just my opinion.
If i was gonna try to just have one I'd get the .54 for sure. Odd too cuz I only have 3 .54 and like 7-8 .50? Some of the .50 are keepers though (dads, first gun I killed with, gift etc.).
Not much, and all the way to 62 calibre I don't find BP with a round ball to kick very hard. Mostly it is a shove rather than the snap/sharp kick of many large calibre CFs. If you can try one at your local club first I think you will find what all of us are saying is true but if not 54s are pretty easy to resell if we all turn out to be wrong.
I know it isn't an option in the GPR but a 54 with a swamped barrel, properly built can get down to 7-8 lbs and that makes both a nice carrying and nice shooting gun.
I know it isn't an option in the GPR but a 54 with a swamped barrel, properly built can get down to 7-8 lbs and that makes both a nice carrying and nice shooting gun.
Mickc01
45 Cal.
Of all my guns (cal. .40-.75) my .50 percussion GPR kicks the worst. Not sure if it's because of the way I hold it or what. All i know is that my shoulder is black and blue for a week after a shooting session. Don't get me wrong, it is great fun to shoot and accurate as heck but man can that thing kick. From that standpoint I much prefer a wide flat butt. Just my 2 cents on GPR recoil.....Mick C
I grew up shooting a 12ga. pump slug gun for deer hunting. So the recoil from my 54 cal. GPR with a 100 grain load is not bad at all. But I would suggest wearing something heavier than a tee shirt, because that steel, crescent butt plate can bite into your shoulder.
