Group from the Lyman Plains Pistol

[Bolink654]

Well, I was gonna enter this in the ML pistol-revolver shoot, they werent all in a row though. But they were 3 in a row at 55 grains, my powder measure moved down to 35 grains for 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th shot, which were all over, when I noticed it and set it back at 55, I put the 7th right there with 'em. All at 25 yards, .490 Hornady roundball, .014 wal-mart pillow ticking square cut spit patch (my first time ever spit-patching). And 55 grains of Goex fffg 'Clear shot'. I looked for real BP, cant find it local. But I said what the heck, I want to try somethin other than pyrodex. Come to find out, Goex dont make it anymore. But I like it better than Pyrodex.

Its easily my best group ever standing with a pistol at 25 yards. And I shoot 2 bricks of .22lr a week.

Now if I can do it again tomorow, or even close, I'll be happy. And hopefully I can get a conical to shoot that good too. I plan to carry it deer hunting next year.

I've read the stock-cracking problems here. So far mine is doing fine, I've ran 60 or so of them 55 grain roundball loads through it, as well as up to 65 grains behind a roundball, and 45 and 50 behind Maxi-balls, Buffalo Ball-ets, Hornady Great plains, and saboted 240gr .44 bullets. None of it really feels like enough to crack the wood, IMO.

Anyone know how fast that roundball if going or how many ftlbs it has with 55 grains behind it in a 8" barrel?

 

[CoyoteJoe]

My best "guesstimate" on velocity would be about 1100 fps which would equal 476 ft.lbs.

 

[mec]

I wouldn't argue with that guess. Clear Shot and/or American Pioneer are considerably milder than Black powder or pyrodex so, I wouldn't know for sure. This is what Ive gotten from mine:
Load .490 Ball 175-Grain Velocity Spread
40 Grains Goex 884 fps 24 (5)
40 Grains Swiss FFFG 1040 69
40 Grains/Volume Pyrodex P 934 72

 

[Bolink654]

I noticed that too about the Clear shot. A 40gr load of Pyrodex makes it kick a noticable amount more than 40gr of the clear shot.

I gotta find a place local that sells real BP. I dont shoot enough to warrant ordering enough to make-up the hazard shipping cost.

 

[mec]

If you are near Clarksville, there are a couple of places there. I use Don Eichenberg at Clarksville Rod and Gun. You can also order less than 25 pounds from Graf's and Son and I believe Powder Inc in Clarksville. Don though, has a minimum order of 25 pounds.

Actually the hazmat isn't too bad- about $20, I believe.

The Lymans are super accurate as you demonstrated. The action has a fly- such as is used with set triggers. Although the Plains pistol doenst have a set trigger option, mine will ride up on the fly if I hold the hammer and ease back slightly on the hammer until I feel a "click". After this take-up the pull is light. Of course you have to be very careful about muzzle control if you do this. Let me know if your trigger will do the same thing, if you don't mind.

 

[Pork Chop]

I have not done it, but someone posted that Grafs sells powder in as little as 4 lbs. Their powder is $9.99/lb, so with the hazmat, the price works out to about $15/lb - the same as Pyrodex at WalMart. Once I burn off the mess that I have, I know where I will be buying powder...

 

[mec]

"...slightly on the hammer until I feel a "click"

"Hammer" should read "Trigger."

 

[Bolink654]

When I had it apart to brown the lockplate and hammer I seen the 'fly'. (We wont mention the hour spent hunting for the sear spring & plunger) What is is really for, though? The tumbler looks like some of my other guns... but with the fly added? In fact, I left it out on askident when I was testin to make sure nothing was gonna rub the wood under it, and it seemed to work the same with it in or out...

But gimme 10min and I check on that.

 

[Bolink654]

Yeah, If I ease back lightly so I dont go past it, the sear catches on the fly only.

 

[Zonie]

The reason the fly is in the lock is because set triggers, when used in the "set" mode, do not hold the sear out of engagement with the tumbler for more than a few thousanths of a second.
The fly keeps the sear from engaging the half cock notch as the tumbler and hammer rotate towards the fired position.

If you are not using set triggers, the fly isn't really needed because when your finger pulls the trigger, it keeps it pulled while the hammer falls.

If your gun has set triggers, and you use them without the fly in place, there is a very good chanch that the sear will try to engage the half cock notch while the hammer is falling. This can result in a broken sear or broken tumbler half cock notch.

 

[mec]

Thanks for checking. Proves that the "manual set" is not just a peculiarity of my pistol.