Late to the party ... bought a LH Lyman 54 flintlock I saw that was ”˜used’, but mint ... to replace my RH Austin-Halleck 50-cal mountain rifle, as ... well, the Lyman is a true left-handed arm and I’m a lefty.
Having owned all brands, even an early CVA US-made mountain rifle, here are my thoughts of various arms. Given that these are
factory rifles I will say that I like and prefer the Austin-Halleck mountain rifles over the T/C Hawkens or the Lyman Great Plains Rifle.
Immediate A-H advantages to me are:
- More period correct styling
- Trimmer (less clunkier with less extra wood)
- Better traditional sights
- Full-caliber bore to the breech - NO sub-caliber patent breech
- Better flintlock lock than a T/C, excellent geometry & flint strike angle (no need for a 2nd generation ’fix’) and it is a full-size for caliber lock, unlike the tiny flint cock on the Lyman GPR, with the small lockplate. Plus the A-H lock is sprung by a traditional flat-V mainspring.
- Browned hardware
A-H mtn rifles were only available in 50-caliber with a 32" octagonal browned barrel in 1:28 conicals twist or a 1:66 round ball twist, but available in both flint or percussion ignition. The stocks were also available is ascending grades of maple to OMG gorgeous tiger-striped maple, from plain to
Holy Cow that’s a factory stock?’ in appearance.
Austin & Halleck closed their doors in 2006; with their earlier ones of excellent quality. My early (post-move to Idaho) ”˜late model’ is of excellent quality. There were some build quality issues w/ the late build Idaho ones.
That said, I’d surely go for the Lyman GPR if I didn’t have a chance at a good A-H muzzleloader. But I wish the lock were better and that it was a full-breeched barrel. I do, however, prefer a 54 over a 50 in a Hawken or mountain rifle style MZL’dr.
