GPR Accuracy

[JamesCordonell]

I'm working on sighting in my .54 Lyman Great Plains rifle. I've put over 300 rounds through it now so it should be broken in. It may be my imagination but it almost seems like it was shooting smaller groups when I first got it than it is now with my High quality bowstrings with no peep rotation . I'm still not sure if it's the sights and my old eyes or something else. It doesn't take a huge amount of force to ram the ball home so I'm wondering if I need a thicker patch or to go from the .530 ball to the .535.

I'm considering removing the buckhorn sight it came with and installing the included primitive sight. Any experiences with that? I'm also thinking about the not so primitive Lyman peep sight although that looks a little more modern than I really like. Thanks!

Doesn't have to be pillow ticking.

 

[Louisk]

Thanks. I finally found some patching that seems to work well with the .530 ball. I originally switched from .018 pillow ticking to some denim that was much too thick. I went to denim around .022 or so and shot some tight groups yesterday with only a moderate amount of force needed to seat the ball rather than the bruising I got previously.

Back to sights: It was recommended here to get the Lyman globe sight to go with the rear peep sight. I'm thinking of that, but how well does the peep sight work with the stock front sight?

 

[Grenadier1758]

With a peep rear sight and the globe front sight, you get these advantages. By looking through the peep sight, you put the front sight in sharper focus. The globe sight helps with the alignment of the sights by having you look at a circle within a circle and the top of the post is at the center of the circles. I found it easier to align circles within circles to get the center of the aim point of the front sight on center. You can do this with the original post. With the globe front sight you get an assortment of inserts to give you several widths of posts and circles on posts.

 

[BrownBear]

Back to sights: It was recommended here to get the Lyman globe sight to go with the rear peep sight. I'm thinking of that, but how well does the peep sight work with the stock front sight?

If I was strictly a target shooter, I'd go to the globe fronts as often as regulations allowed. But they're banned in primitive shoots I know of.

I've used them a whole lot on modern rifles over the years, and when I was looking for the ultimate precision when load testing, I added them to a GPR along with the Lyman receiver sight. Man, did they work well and teach me a lot about which load the rifle really liked when going for highest precision.

But....

As a matter of course I went ahead and tried the globe front in the field for everything from informal targets to snowshoe hare (reduced loads) to deer. Big mistake. The front sight was harder to see against natural backgrounds, whether with a post or globe insert. It was impossible in low light. Worse yet, if you managed to get snow, mud or even vegetation inside the tube, you played holy heck getting it out.

I dumped my globe front, even as I kept the receiver site. A simple blade front works like a champ with the receiver sight in any light, snow, mud or vegetation. The globe sight is sitting in a drawer waiting until I feel the need once again to get super precise on paper. Hasn't happened again in the last 15 years, but it's still there waiting in case it does.

 

[Louisk]

Thanks! Once again, your input was just what was needed. It sounds like I'd best save the globe front sight for a designated target rifle in the future (for when my kids are looking for a nice present for their old man) I'll leave the stock front sight on for hunting. I can definitely see getting snow in it or the other problems you mentioned.