Lyman GPR Kit

Just finished with the kit and fired it today. Never fired a flinter before, 18 shots 1 misfire (vent plugged). Last 5 shots 1 1/4 " group at 35 yds. from bags. .490 PRB 50 gr. GOEX .012 painter pants material. Vent not centered perfectly in pan as I have read in the post here but, ignition seemed decent to me (with my limited knowledge of flinters). 3f on the powder. Over all I'm very happy with the GPR. ::

 

[cayugad]

I thought of getting one of them kits in .54 caliber but to be honest I worry that I would not be able to put the thing together in a nice fashon. How hard was it to assemble the rifle?

A plugged vent hole is the only reason for a misfire... sounds like a good rifle you have there. I hope it was easy to assemble. ::

 

[Liver eatin’ Johnson]

gma -

Be sure to post some pictures of you and your new rifle

 

LEJ Had to be easy, I put it together. Honestly if a person wasn't fussy it could be put together out of the box and used. Hardest thing was finishing the steel hardware to accept bluing and getting it done so that I could shoot it. I sanded the stock with a Makita ROS ,that took about one hour. I just wish I'd have got the 54 cal., would have been a lot lighter offhand. :boohoo:

 

[mark/wi]

I did a GRP 54 flint two years ago. My frist kit and it went well. I plan on doing a GP pistol next. Mark/Wi

 

[tg]

They are an easy kit to work with...I found that with heavier loads a tighter combo held the groups closer with my .54, many flinters work fine without the vent hole being in the "perfect" spot...this is often more critical to the builder than the operstion of the gun.

 

[Zonie]

Cayugad: From what I've seen, GPRs are fairly easy go put together.
IMO the precussion version is actually a little more difficult because some of the kits don't align the hammer with the nipple very well. With a Flintlock this is not an issue.

The comment has been made about the location of the touch hole and I must agree with tg.

Those who know about Flintlocks look at the location of the touch hole on a custom gun as a sign of the builders "craftsmanship" but I seriously doubt that any of them will be checking out this feature on the rifle you build.

As far as the gun is concerned, the touch hole location (within reason) is not critical to the guns functionality. With the hole located within +/- 1/8 inch of the "right" place, it is still going to be so close to the flash from the pan that the gun won't know the difference.

The only real touch hole issue with the gun is its size. IMO it should be resized to 5/64 (.078) diameter to assure a fast ignition.

If you are interested in building a GPR, check out the posts in the Builders Forum which were posted by Spotshooter.
His gun turned out so well I think it amazed him!

 

[bob1961]

i restocked my T/C hawken flinter with a nice figured curly maple and my touch hole is back of center and lower then it was from T/C....

tommorrow i'll get a good pic of it and post it..................bob

 

[Birddog6]

Drilling the vent out to 5/64" as mentioned will help as will coning the inside & outside of the vent on the GPR. Also loading with a vent pick in the vent & then pull it out upon priming the pan will keep the vent hole open. Only us 1/2 pan of powder usually works best also.

Custom Muzzleloaders & Custom Skinning Knives

 

Also polishing the tumbler, sear, main spring, inside of the bridle and lock plate anywhere you will have metal on metal. Also take a good look at and make sure the main spring dose not rub on the stock when the lock is tightened down, many people miss this and it will slow you down with even the slightest rubbing.

The issue with the touchhole is two fold
1) If it

 

[cayugad]

Does the touch hole come pre drilled on the Lyman Great Plains Rifle? I really have been looking at the kits at both D&R and Midsouth Shooter's Supply. I think this is the time to get one as they will only go up in price. Also because I want the .54 caliber I see no reason to even consider a concial shooting Great Plains Hunter (although I thought about it because I like shooting conical bullets). A .54 caliber round ball is plenty for anything I want to hunt. If I need bigger I have the .58 caliber and the .62 caliber smoothbore.

Maybe next month since I just purchased a rifle today, I could be hard pressed to justify another one the same week.. ::

 

[Rebel]

The GPR comes with a removeable vent liner. You can get better igniton with them by opening the hole to 5/64" and coning both the inside and outside of it. At least that has been my experience with them.

 

[jim/wa]

does this kit have a good lock the reason i am asking is there is a replacement lock by l&r for the lyman great plains

 

[Rebel]

The Lyman locks aren't bad with a little tuning. They use a coil mainspring like T/C does, so if you get the L&R replacement lock it will need to be inletted for the leaf mainspring.