GPR Flintlock .54

[lonehunter]

I have been thinking real hard about a kit. Those of you that have this rifle, what is the rate of twist? have you had any problems? and what kind of groups are you getting? Please dont start the pc, cheap rifle, battle :surrender: its all i can afford at the moment, besides, dont you think it would be wise to build a couple of easy kits before i take on a chambers? :v

 

[BadHorse]

I have been thinking real hard about a kit. Those of you that have this rifle, what is the rate of twist? have you had any problems? and what kind of groups are you getting? Please dont start the pc, cheap rifle, battle :surrender: its all i can afford at the moment, besides, dont you think it would be wise to build a couple of easy kits before i take on a chambers? :v

i built one years ago (50 cal) and i love it! still my "go to" gun, and i own custom guns also. they are dead easy to build and lots of fun to shoot. i do recommend getting the davis deerslayer triggers right of the jump, you will be much happier with them.

 

[R.M.]

The GPR has 1:66 and the GPH has 1:32. I have the GPR and love it, but haven't wrung out the most accuracy that it has the potential for.
You won't be unhappy with one.

 

[Zoar]

GPR in 54 caliber. Excellent! Use the patched round ball and you will NOT need any other fixins or complications or needless accessories.

Terrific Choice!

 

[Dausener]

I have a GPR .54 percussion. Great gun, no problems. Mine was not a kit gun however. I'd say go for it. :thumbsup:

 

[ebiggs1]

I have built many TCs from kits and some just from parts. I haven’t done the Lyman GPR but I do have a factory built gun and I love it. You will too and I am sure the kit will be easy enough for you to be successful on your first attempt. I did not replace the trigger on my GR although I suspect it would be worthwhile. It isn’t quite as smooth as TCs. You could just polish it your self but I didn’t even do that. Now for one other thing I would do without hesitation is replace the cock with a NEW one from TC. It corrects a problematic geometry issue with the stock GPR. The frizzen is fine as is. I also conned the touch hole and drilled it with a #50 drill. Go for it you will love it too.

Other wise you can just add about 1/8” under the lower jaw.

Touch hole drilled with #50 drill and conned.

 

[lonehunter]

Thanks, i plan on nothing but prb, and plan on having to do the usual tuning and tweeking. My big question is about accuracy. What kind of groups are you guys getting? :v

 

[BadHorse]

Thanks, i plan on nothing but prb, and plan on having to do the usual tuning and tweeking. My big question is about accuracy. What kind of groups are you guys getting? :v

well i hit clay pigeons at 75 yards no big deal

 

[ebiggs1]

Well ”˜lonehunter’, you made me go out and shoot mine today. I have been working on a new, to me, TC Hawken in 54 cal and haven’t shot the Lyman GPR for a long time so I just had to.
Here is a typical target. I am a poor shot. I blame it on old age. That’s my story and I’m stickin with it. You will probably do better but this is just go out and shoot. I have not worked on a good accurate load for it yet. 54 cal rocks!

5 shots
65 gr of 3f GOEX
4f GOEX in the pan
.018 pillow patch
Bore Butter
.530 Hornady RB

This is from a rest and 25 yards. I doubt I can hit clay pigeons at 75 yards and it would be a BIG deal if I could. If I could even see one at 75 yards, I imagine the gun could hit it.

 

[ebiggs1]

Oh, one more thing, I had to file the front sight down a lot.

 

[lonehunter]

Thanks fellas, That is what i wanted to hear!
Been wanting a .54 for a long time.
Tired of wanting, it time to start having!
I would also like to hear from the other camp, anybody have major problems with a gpr? or not so good accuracy? :v

 

[mpriester]

they're good shooters, i don't have a target to paste on here but i worked up a load in mine a few days ago and at 50 yds it shot roughly a 1.25" group off a bench using my arms and elbows as a rest. this was with 90gr. of ffg. and a .535 ball with teflon ticking, i offhand shot it today on a 25yd nmlra target at 25yds and scored 49 4x. if you can hold it steady it hits where you aim it.

 

[mykeal]

I have two .54 GPR's, one factory percussion and one kit flintlock. Very, very good guns.

1) Be sure to clean all the factory packing grease from the barrel. Use brake cleaner (NOT brake fluid).

2) Go to the Gun Builder's Bench subforum and search on GPR - lot's of folks have posted their experiences building the kits, and there's excellent information there.

3) The tiny escutcheon screws will break if you look at them crosseyed. Be very careful screwing them in, or better yet, replace them with some steel screws.

4) You will need to fire about 100 rounds through the barrel before you start getting good consistent results. Don't bother trying to shoot for accuracy or adjusting the sights until then.

Edit:
5) Invest $15 in Dutch Schoultz's Black Powder Rifle Accuracy System . It's the best investment in bp rifle shooting in the world.

 

[Ivoryhunter4]

I am real happy with my Great Plains flintlock rifle .54 caliber that I built from a kit about five years ago although I am just starting to get more serious about my flintlock shooting mostly due to being inspired by this site. A couple notes that may help, I replaced the vent liner with one from RMC and have very dependable ignition, I found the primitive sight to be a much better sight picture than the adjustable buckhorn that also comes with it, 3/4 x 3/4 english flints seem to work the best, and has been said, accurracy seems to definitely step up after a 100 or so rounds. I am attempting to post my first picture, I hope it comes through. http://i836.photobucket.com/albums/zz285/ivoryhunter4/IMG_1249.jpg

 

[cowpoke1955]

I had my production.54 GPR percussion fo 30 years and like it so much my wife bought me a .54 GPR flint kit about 3 years ago. Mykeal gave you some good points. The only issue I had was the vent liner. I had a lot of flash in the pan to begin with. I drilled the liner to 1/16th" and that helped, but still had some issues. I drilled the liner to 5/64th" and coned it and that seemed to do the trick. The 1 in 60" twist barrel is very accurate with round balls. I get one ragged hole at 50 yards using .530 ball, pillow ticking patch lubed with Ballistol and 80 grains of FFg Goex from a bench. I once squeezed out a 3/4" group at 100 yards from a bench using the same combonation, except for 90 grains of FFg. I can't do that everytime, but this rifle is very able to. The kit was very easy to build. Make sure you have enough sand papper on hand. There is a lot of wood to remove. I got a real nice piece of walnut. I didn't use any stain, just eight coats of boiled linseed oil. I browned the metal with LMF browing solution and installed the fixed primitive rear sight that is included in the kit. When you order your kit, go ahead and order a dozen of 3/4" square flints. You're going to love this rifle :thumbsup:

 

[ebiggs1]

Do me a favor and possibly yourself and put a 1/8th piece of something under the flint and see if you don’t get a more robust shower of sparks. If you don’t like it or it doesn’t work for you no damage done and you can restore it the way you are shooting now. I am way into the hundreds of shots now without a misfire. It is a wonderful rifle.

See my picture above.

 

[lonehunter]

11 replies nothing neg. one hole group, clay birds a 75 yds. Thats what i wanted to hear!
Thanks for the info. :v

 

[Semisane]

 

[Mr.Brooks]

I haven't shot mine enough to comment on accuracy. I built mine from a kit and was surprised at the effort needed. Considerable bedding was needed, more than I was able to do. Screws were cheap and broke with very little torque applied to them. I had to order more screws, and eventually I raised the white flag and had it finished by someone with more experience than me. It was definitely more than sanding and oiling and recommend you have a mentor if you've not done this before. I will give a thumbs up to browning the stock instead of blueing. When you think you are done with the browning, buff it with steel wool another 3 or 4 times, then it will have a NICE finish.

 

[Old Charlie]

I had one and found the lock to not be what i would call up to standard. It ate flints like crazy! I have a TC and a TVM that will use one flint while the Lyman .54 would use ten.
Old Charlie