any info on the shennadoah by traditions

[ric]

ron, just read your experience with a shenandoah. a while back i picked up a used one in 36 flint. same reaction to yours with the sights and the way the rifle shoulders. replaced the sights, the rear with one intended for a traditions trapper pistol and the front with one for a gpr. both metric and a square sight picture. i also cut a styrofoam filler for the curved butt plate and added a recoil pad to kind of extend the stock. adds about two inches in length and things line up better now. other wise a decent and accurate rifle.......and still cheaper than golf.

 

[Ron_T.]

Ric...

Thanx for the information, but I'm unfamiliar with the term "GPR". What is it?

Ron T.

 

[Zonie]

GPR is what the members call the Lyman Great Plains Rifle.

This shouldn't be confused with the Lyman Great Plains Hunter which looks the same but has a shallow groove fast twist barrel that is made for shooting the modern slugs and sabots.

The Great Plains Rifle has a fairly deep groove slow twist that is excellent for shooting patched roundballs.

The GPR is not supposed to look like a true Hawken Rifle but even so, it does a better job of looking like a true Plains rifle than most of the guns the makers choose to call a Hawken.

 

[ric]

ron, gpr = great plains rifle by lyman. and i need to add a correction. the front sight replacement used was one intended for a lyman pistol. i found the sights at' the gun works'. sorry about the misinformation. ric.

 

[Bear Medicine]

I own this gun in a .50 cal flint. It was the first flintlock I've owned and have found it to be a pretty good gun as an introductory level piece. Once I learned to resist flinching when it sparked off, it became much more fun to shoot. Yeah, I agree it's workmanship leaves a little to be desired. But then again it's not a $2500 custom rifle either. I don't have a lot of issues with it's accuracy either because it's mostly due to operator error. It fits pretty well but I'm a gal with kinda short arms. Overall, it was worth what I paid for it but I picked mine up a few years ago before the prices went up.

 

[buzz]

I never said it was not a good rifle
but I could not stand the palsict feel of the stock and the poor fit and finish
I have some older kit rifles soem i did other not and it did not compare for the feel
Im jsut picky and love the old style fit and finish

 

[Bear Medicine]

I didn't like the finish either so I stripped it off. It's now got an walnut oil finish. I just picked up a Tradition's Hawken that'll get the same thing.

 

[Flinter987]

I have one. So far it has served me well. The shop I bought it from tweaked my gun before I bought it (I think maybe they enlarged the touchhole?) Anyways, it's been super reliable for me. Being new to flintlocks I'm learning to watch for a sharp flint and moisture buildup under the flint and under the frizzen. I'm seriously considering changing the sights out on it because I can't see though them without it being all blurry to me. I'm awfully tempted to brown the barrel For me it's been a great starter gun so far - I need to get out and do some serious shooting with it and see what it likes and what I can get out of accuracy with it. I'm sorry to hear of others misfortunes with them, It must be one of those things where you either swear by them or then you swear at them! Mine only likes the bevel up on the flint - longside down
Flinter

 

[TxRambler]

I bought one in flint for reenactments several years ago and put it away after one year because (A) it was not reliable and (B) I could not make the lock accept a flash guard. Recently my 13 year old girl wanted to try a flint and I started her out on the Shenendoah. I know more now, and the rifle suits the purpose. I changed from wire cut flints to Fuller English and the reliability went way up (near 100%). I took out the frizzen screw and substituted a 1-1/4 #6, had to re-tap the hole though, and added a decorative end cap that, while not traditional, is at least safer than having no flash guard and doesn't look too bad. I also had to do a lot of grinding on the screw head on a belt sander.

The daughter loves the old gun, which I traded to her for a "hello kitty" sewing machine to make some of my own clothes (she wasn't using it), and she named the rifle "Cobalt", but why I do not know.

Others have improved the reliability by drilling the flash hole liner open, but I haven't done that.

It is a fine little starter gun.

 

[Flinter987]

clarification: Mine only likes bevel down.
Flinter