GPR Kit Improvements

[phillippeters]

My GPR 54 kit should arrive today. Anyone have any ideas on improvments to the kit? I was thanking of replaceing the sights. I just want it to be a little different than stock.

 

[hhughh]

Phillip,
I built one of these kits a few years ago. I'm not at home right now, and can't properly "credit" this, but maybe someone else on the forum can. I have a book, titled like "The American Frontier". Believe it's edited by Wm. C. Davis, but that could be off. Anyway, there are lots of photographs, mostly of items in the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, and there is a layout on one of those pages that includes two Hawken Rifles, one iron mounted, the other brass. The iron-mounted rifle is very, very close to a GPR, and would probably suggest to you a few modifications. As soon as I'm back near that book--probably tomorrow--I will see if I can get a decent scan of that pic and try to send it to you. My GPR's .54 cal as well, and I truly enjoy it. If you're not aware, it should have two rear sights, a modern adjustable, and a more pc fixed in the kit.

Take care, and I will send as soon as I can.

Hugh

 

[Zonie]

You could install a oval inlay in the wrist behind the barrel tang.

You could put in some simple wire inlay of your initials or other decorative design like scrolls or leafs or waves.

You could put the typical 8 pointed Hunters Star brass or German Silver inlay in the center of the cheek piece.

You could put in a cresent moon inlay anywhere on the butt.
The inlays can be bought from places like Track of the Wolf, Dixie or Muzzleloaders Builders' Supply for a buck or so each.

You could pound in a bunch of brass headed tacks in patterns on the butt like the Indains did.

You could do like someone did to my GPR and make a diamond or similar shape out of a light colored wood like Birch or Oak. They then cut a pocket which is about 1/16 per side larger and Epoxied it in place with some black colored epoxy. This created a black border around the light colored wooden inlay. They then sanded it smooth and applied the finish.

You could carve your initials into the butt using a dull pocket knife like someone did to several of my original 120+ year old rifles. :grin: :grin:

Lots of possibilities.

 

[Bodie]

I put a .54 percussion GPR together a few months back. I draw filed all the writing off the back end off the barrel. I think it looks a lot better that way.

 

[Dave_B]

How about a silver front sight?
Dave

 

OOps, I had a double post

 

Anyone have any ideas on improvments to the kit?

Phillip, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Therefore, whether or not a modification is an "improvement" is an individual thing. However, I put a kit together for my son last summer and made some mods. here's what I did. I made and installed a patchbox. I added a cheek inlay. I made new barrel wedge escutchens, and modified the toe plate (no picture of that). Those are the additions. Then there are the changes I made to the stocks architecture. First, I rasped out the hump in the wrist at the tang and thinned the wrist vertically. I also raised the belly of the entire stock thinning the forestock from the bottom, rasping the wood to the level of the trigger set and reduced the "fish belly" in the butt. All of this gives the gun a sleeker profile and less "clunky" IMO. I also reduced the Squareness from the forestock by rounding the bottom and rounding the top to meet the barrel as a sharp edge rather than the factory flat square. I also re-defined the nose of the comb and reshaped the cheek piece. also reduced the size of the lock panel and offside panel to match. Oh, I also changed the rear sight with one I had in my parts drawer. Here are a few pics of the changes including 2 showing the modified GPR next to my wifes factory GPR for comparison.

Cody

 

[jethro224]

NICE! :thumbsup: :hatsoff: :hatsoff: :thumbsup:

 

[phillippeters]

Thanks, everyone I am really gitting some great advise on improvements. My kit is in and I feel like a kid in a candy store.

 

A couple more things. I also thinned out the triggers a bit to make them look less clunky. One of the more distressing features of the GPR IMO is the tang. With a parallel sided tang, the tang should be the width of the top flat of the barrel. For reasons only known to the GPR designers, the tang is a bit wider and therefore has a bevel running it's length ( a small continuation of the oblique flats). Makes for a pretty lousy looking tang inlet IMO. When I knocked down the hump and thinned out the wrist I took the opportunity to file down the tang and eliminated most of the bevel so the tang fits tight and flush. The first 1/2" or so still has the bevel as to file it out would require fileing down the standing breech :nono:
Also, I don't recommend making the lock moulding so short at the nose of the lock. It should be wider as it curves around the nose then narrow up again. This one ended up short because there was a chip of wood missing from the panel and I had to shorten it to file out the crater left by the missing wood. In hind sight, I think i should have just modeled the moulding properly and left the missing chip. There were 3 rather large chips of wood missing on this kit, one on the butt next to the toe plate, one at the nose cap and the one at the lock panel. The one at the lock panel was the only one that didn't just naturally dissappear in the course of shaping the stock

Cody

 

[Goldhunter]

One thing I did to my GPR was cut the nose cap down by about a half inch. Looking at other examples of plains rifles, the nose cap was short, while the GRP's was something like 1.5-1.75 inches (not sure of actual length but I didn't like it.) I much prefered the shorted cap and I didn't have to try to fit an odd part.