Stainless Lyman Deer Stalker - Help Needed

[Rob Templer]

I'm needing some help with my Lyman. It doesn't shoot ball accurately due the the rifling twist but it shoots Great Plains Bullets really well. Unfortunately I'm in Australia and cant get any at the moment but have some Lee REAL .50 bullets. Not sure about the accuracy of these yet as they seem quite loose going down the barrel. Should the Lyman shoot these accurately? I'm using 90 grains (measured not weighed) of Pyrodex or 90 grains of FFF.
Should I be using a weighed load of powder or use a measuring tube instead?
90 grains seems quite mild to shoot.

Also I get a lot of hang fires and missfires. I have changed the nipple and this has helped somewhat. I have also changed to Remington #11 caps and this has helped as well, however I still get them.

Can i convert my lyman to top hat Musket caps? or even better to use 209 shotgun primers?
If so can anyone share a link as to where i can get the converter?

Cheers

 

[Grenadier1758]

Pyrodex can be a problem as it requires far more heat to ignite the charge. The nipples designed for hotter fire compatibility should be used. Try Hot Shot, Spitfire or a similar hot firing nipple. Use a volume measure since Pyrodex is a less dense powder than black powder.

The Lee REAL bullet should have the top band measuring bore size so the band can engrave on the rifling. Maybe one wrap of the papers used for women's permanent rollers will fit a REAL better to your barrel.

Yes, you can install a replacement nipple that can accept musket caps or 209 primers, but I much prefer using #11 caps and a Hotshot nipple.

 

[bang]

I use #11 on my Zouave. Only issue is the lock spring is a tad weak and I have to give it a good seating or it can take 2 drops of the hammer but luckily rare. One thing I do in cleaning all my rifles is put a hose on the nipple, other end in a bottle of soapy water and use a tight patch to draw the solution through the nipple and back out. This does a good job of cleaning the channel. IMO better than pipe cleaners. If you are having too many FTFs perhaps you might check there is no areas that some contact in the mechanism causing hammer drag.
As far as real bullets, maxi or mini a -.001/.002 is typical however I seem to remember instances where a rifled guide would be used to aid in starting a full fit bullet. It requires a piece of matching barrel that was indexed by 2 pins in starting aid and 2 holes in muzzle to line up the lands. The aid was long enough and tapered just enough that the bullet could be inserted far enough that the sides held it made contact to hold it square to the bore. A firm strike on a starter with a centering jag would fit the bullet to the barrel. Ram with centering jag to maintain square in bore and seat. If I remember correctlybthis was utilized for sniping quality distance for use of heavier than PRB.Other wise IMO anything less than thumb press to flush is too loose, anything above thumb press too tight. If you can't find a size that provides a workable fit you might consider paper patching.
My Zouave has a slight under size bore. The .577 mini is too tight and the .575 pops in with thumb press. One alternative is a size just a hair big then size down to fit.
At a shoot today we had discussed the probability and cost of getting bullet mold made to make bullets that were prerifled to +.001/.002 full fit.
Minis though the issue is the just right load to seat the skirt without causing blow out at muzzle clear. They do not allow very good at all for higher or lower load than what provides proper skirt fit. Typically 60-70 gns is standard but really depends on skirt strength.
Pyrodex. Some can go on and on about pros and cons. All I know is my experience. For me there was an issue with very periodic ignition hesitation using RS. Happened in 45, 50 and 58 cals. Started using P in everything and that stopped. Been using Pyrodex for 20 years and no problems obtaining accurate performance out of rifles or revolvers.
What is the twist?
I had issue with a Traditions 50 Kentucky. Turned out it has slow twist. I eas using 70 gns. Bumped it up to 85gns and that did the trick. A 1:48 should shoot ball or bullets pretty good with identical charge. 1:60, 1:66 IMO going to be load specific to projectile. Faster than 1:48 generally lesser load for ball than bullet.
Well, enough info over overload.