Any Lyman Plains Pistol fans here?

Looking through old threads I don't see much. However, I've been quite surprised at the accuracy of my .50 cal Plains Pistol, and wonder if that is typical of this pistol. Another thing is that I made up some paper cartridges with round ball, where you tear off the end, pour in the powder, and then load the ball still in the paper. Expecting these loads to be inaccurate, but good for a fast reload in a close up encounter, I was amazed that they shot about as well as a patched round ball. ?? So, just curious about others experience with this pistol. ? The photo below shows two shots with patched ball, and three with paper cartridge, at 30 yards.

I like mine! Haven't shot it a whole lot. I did shoot in a match that involved 12 charcoal briquettes glued to cardboard. I hit 3 off hand at 40 yards. Not bad since the Sun was in my eyes!

I'm a big fan of them. Fine accuracy and looks good. These are ones I built from kits with a bit of extra fiddling.
IMG_0249 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

Here's one I built from a kit. Changed it a bit to suite me. The kit quality is good.

Wow! Love the half round barrel. What beautiful wood. And wow, love that shorty version too. Those are all great pistols.

denster said:

Here's one I built from a kit. Changed it a bit to suite me. The kit quality is good.View attachment 377 View attachment 378

Click to expand...

Denster,
That one has a shorter barrel, was that a custom or an option?
I just bought a 54, should be here on Saturday.
I wanted a 54 to carry when hunting with my 54 rifle so I can share balls and patches.

No short-barrel/snubby option that I know of. I originally wanted a .54, thinking more power, and a bit lighter with a bigger hole in the barrel, but came upon my .50 for a great price. But I've been pleased with it, accuracy is amazing, and with a stout charge and the 240 grain Hornady PA conical I think it has plenty of power. And the round ball ain't no slouch either when loaded up, and that's what I generally shoot in it. It's still a bit lighter than the .44 mag I carried for years, so I can't complain about the weight, and it's comfortable to carry. I had a saddle maker make me a holster for it, when at half-cock the leather comes between the nipple and hammer, so that I can carry it capped and ready to rock. Denster's snubby would really carry nice in a holster, although I see he uses the belt-hook.

Griz44Mag said:

Denster,
That one has a shorter barrel, was that a custom or an option?
I just bought a 54, should be here on Saturday.
I wanted a 54 to carry when hunting with my 54 rifle so I can share balls and patches.

Click to expand...

I shortened the barrel and rib. I already had a long barrel hawken style pistol and wanted something easier to carry. This was a kit and I shortened the barrel and grip and reshaped the hook breech to suite me.

And a darn fine job of it too.

Love my Plains Pistol. Deadly at 15 yards and a great plinker at 30.

Wow another beauty. I'd have to argue and say deadly at 30!! I've been meaning to see what kind of groups I can get at 50, but like many other things, just haven't got around to it. The picture I posted at the top of this thread is at 30 yards...with two different loads. That day I was in the process of bringing my POI down closer to my POA, you can see in that pic she was shooting a bit high.

I had one that shot well, and it was stolen in a breakin. I'm working on another one from a kit in.54. I think they're great guns.

Yes they are. I used to think they didn't really resemble any original pistols, but then came across some photos of some late percussion era target pistols, and some of them were almost dead-ringers for the Plains Pistol. I am still amazed at the accuracy of mine.

Ah shoot. Shoulda never stopped here to snoop.

What loads are being used?

I use 30gr of fff goex in my .50

I have one in 54. Cast my own balls amd conicals.
I also have 2 Thompson Center Scout pistol frames and 3 barrels.
45/50/54. All excellent shooters with the right loads

I am running 30-35gr FFFg OE in my .54. It will git-er-done!

Griz44Mag said:

I wanted a 54 to carry when hunting with my 54 rifle so I can share balls and patches.

Click to expand...

I did the same. Love my Plains Pistol but don't shoot it nearly much as I'd like to. I use 30gr of 3F Graf's BP, 535 cast PRB, 0.010 patch with mink oil.

Probably should not say, lest I be flamed, and most find 30 grains to be a good load, but in my .50" I find that up to 60-65 grains is still very accurate, with patched round ball or the "PA" bullet, but that is about my limit for recoil. I have fired it with 70 grains, but yeah, it requires such a death-grip that it's hard to get a steady hold for good aim. About the same as a .44 mag with 60-65 grains. The reason I fire that heavy of a load is that when calling cougar, I like to set my handgun on my right, so that if (and when) a cougar comes in from behind and to my right, I can shoot it better with the pistol (it's going to be close) than trying to swing around to my right with the rifle. Too much movement which will spook the kitty cat.

Now, on heavy charges, let me defend myself. Some will say the mfg's max load is 35 (?) grains, and such a charge will blow the gun up. However, the breech and barrel on the Plains Pistol is the same as the rifle.

The other comment is that such loads can crack the stock. Somewhat true. But this usually results from not having a gap between the bolster and the lock plate, in which case the barrel will drive the lock plate back, and the bolt holding the lock plate will tend to split the wood. I think that the mfg holds the load down because of the chance of the stock breaking, and people getting banged on the head when the pistol comes back in recoil. Recoil IS stout with heavy loads, and it recoils differently from a large bore, modern revolver.

Having said all that, and blown all that hot air, 30-40 grains makes a nice handling, accurate, and powerful load. For shooting big kitty cats at short range, I want as much power as I can manage/shoot accurately. The pic at the top of this thread was shot with 65 grain loads.

I shoot 40 grains of 3f in my Plains Pistol. It isw very accurate at 30 yards. Never tried it at longer ranges yet. I use it on our trail walks, where you get extra points on some of the targets if you use a handgun. My only complaint is the sights are hard for these eyes to see. I have been thinking of swapping them out with something more friendly to my eyes,(like a peep sight) but I like the period looks of the gun. I built it from a kit, and browned all of the furniture. I tried to keep it old looking.