I'm looking at buying a new rifle for round balls. I have been really wanting a Pedersoli percussion with maple stock. However, at $1300 its hard for me to swallow. So, what about the Lyman Great Plains rifle? I know its only a walnut stock and isn't as accurate of a copy to the actual Hawken rifles, but its less than half price of the Pedersoli. If you have one of these rifles, let me know what kind of accuracy it has and with what load. Hopefully accuracy reports will help me decide.
I don,t own one, but on the forums I visit they have a good reputation. Get on www.muzzleloadingforum.com and you can get a lot of good information about the Lyman.
when you get one tell me and tell me what size you get and i will make you some leather wads to go between powder and patched roundball.
I will send them to you for free.
When i used the leather wads all my muzzleloaders shot groups 1/2 the size of no wad.
Friend in Colorado has a 54cal that nothing would make it group he even tried wads ,, but those were felt and cardboard ones.
I sent him some leather ones and he got a 3" 100 yard.. it was normally 6" at 50 if you were lucky.
Just something to think about.
there are a few of us that quit using the TC1000 bore butter also.. as it was the direct cause of the dreaded carbon ring you encounter when seating the bullet.
I will send them to you for free.
When i used the leather wads all my muzzleloaders shot groups 1/2 the size of no wad.
Friend in Colorado has a 54cal that nothing would make it group he even tried wads ,, but those were felt and cardboard ones.
I sent him some leather ones and he got a 3" 100 yard.. it was normally 6" at 50 if you were lucky.
Just something to think about.
there are a few of us that quit using the TC1000 bore butter also.. as it was the direct cause of the dreaded carbon ring you encounter when seating the bullet.
I used to go around the state shooting in Muzzle-loading matches and Rendezvous. I was in college at the time so didn't have much money to spend on a custom gun. Friend talked me into getting a Lyman Great Plains caplock. Turned out to be an awesome rifle. Only thing I did was get the sights figured out and mill off the excess front sight so they were low profile. Barrel was great, didn't keep fouling. Lock was better than average. Not a custom lock but plenty fast and strong enough. I beat a Lot of people, lots of weekends shooting that rifle, probably put 20 lbs of powder thru it. Once I was tinkering with seeing how much velocity I could get with large loads and I cracked the forearm. Never shot right after that when I fixed it. Never bought another one cause of my schedule.
I never adjusted my sights during matches, just adjusted my powder. I'd shoot 25-30 grains for 25 yards, 35-40 grains for 50 yards and 60-70 grains for 100 yard targets. All using Goex or Elephant Fffg Black powder. .495 round-balls and artist canvas for patch material. It liked to be loaded tight, hence the thick patching. Lube was a mixture of Peroxide, Alcohol and Murphy's Oil Soap. I'd shoot, run a wet patch and 2 dry patches after every shot using the same lube mixture.
Off the bench, if I did my part, it would make one ragged hole about the size of a golf ball at 50 yards. But all my shooting was done offhand, so accuracy was relative.
This was the best target I ever shot in competition, 100 yards off hand. Scored a 42/50.
All these rifles are different so you'll just have to experiment and find out what yours likes.
IMO, the Lyman GPR is a great rifle for starters. Just make sure you get the one with the roundball twist and not the fast twist.
I never adjusted my sights during matches, just adjusted my powder. I'd shoot 25-30 grains for 25 yards, 35-40 grains for 50 yards and 60-70 grains for 100 yard targets. All using Goex or Elephant Fffg Black powder. .495 round-balls and artist canvas for patch material. It liked to be loaded tight, hence the thick patching. Lube was a mixture of Peroxide, Alcohol and Murphy's Oil Soap. I'd shoot, run a wet patch and 2 dry patches after every shot using the same lube mixture.
Off the bench, if I did my part, it would make one ragged hole about the size of a golf ball at 50 yards. But all my shooting was done offhand, so accuracy was relative.
This was the best target I ever shot in competition, 100 yards off hand. Scored a 42/50.
All these rifles are different so you'll just have to experiment and find out what yours likes.
IMO, the Lyman GPR is a great rifle for starters. Just make sure you get the one with the roundball twist and not the fast twist.
I've had a Lyman "Great Plains" rifle in .54cal for about more than 20 years now. I love it. I ordered it by mail order, and lucked out and got a beautiful piece of walnut stock. Have never had any problems with it, the lock functions every time still.
Yes it is not as close a copy of the Hawken as the Pedersoli, but it is closer to the Hawken than any other production rifle I have seen. Good luck with whatever you go with.
Yes it is not as close a copy of the Hawken as the Pedersoli, but it is closer to the Hawken than any other production rifle I have seen. Good luck with whatever you go with.
I hear good things about the Lyman, but have never shot one. The Thompson Center Hawkens and Renegades are real nice rifles too. I have a T/C Hawken that I really like. It doesn't foul very easy and is plenty accurate. I use Hornady Pennsylvania Conicals in it (pretty much a pre-lubed Minie ball), and they give me about fist sized groups at 50 and kill deer. Hopefully TedKennedy will chime in -- he has a Renegade that he has hunted with for 25 years with round balls and is pretty knowledgeable about the various Hawken-type rifles.
I have T/C Renegades in .50 and .54. They are built nicely, very comparable to the Lymans, and have an excellent factory trigger for the money. The .50 was heavily used before I got it (traded a few boxes of .308win for it during the last ammo scare), but still shoots great.
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