LYMAN GPR Users Unite and tell us your story

[Elkhorse]

I love mine & only had it less than a year. Here is some of the fun I've down with it so far.....

Always a great day to watch Mark have fun!

 

[Ferret Master]

Stykbow
I didn't get a manual with mine just a single sheet with an 800 number to call if I had fitting problems with the barrel. Haven't been able to reach them yet. Didn't have a warranty with the first two so the method shown in your book seemed to work.. I guess in the long run I'll install capture pins behind the wedge plate on the left side.

 

[Stykbow]

Stykbow
I didn't get a manual with mine just a single sheet with an 800 number to call if I had fitting problems with the barrel. Haven't been able to reach them yet. Didn't have a warranty with the first two so the method shown in your book seemed to work.. I guess in the long run I'll install capture pins behind the wedge plate on the left side.

I figured you didn’t have one that’s why I put that pic up for you. To be honest it really surprised me that the manual covered it. I haven’t been a heavy traditional ML shooter, but I’ve been around a bunch of them and never had that issue with the wedges. I’m also thinking you could heat up the wedge and tap it a bit on the edge to thicken it up. It would reduce the width a little, but I don’t know if it would be enough to hurt anything. That may be grasping at straws though.

 

[VJM]

I bend my wedges slightly by putting them in a vice and hammer tuning them. Going very slowly I would get just enough bend in them to be a snug fit and then marked them with my dremel F and B and I just keep the marked side up to keep them indexed. Prolly not by the book but seems to work fine.

 

[Ferret Master]

Stykbow
When I get in touch with Lyman support I will post what they say. On the sheet they claim that the barrel was fitted before shipping and should need no fruther attention. When I roll the rifle to the right side the wedges fall out. It will be interesting to see what they come up with.
Thanks for your help.
Ferret Master

 

[Ferret Master]

I bend my wedges slightly by putting them in a vice and hammer tuning them. Going very slowly I would get just enough bend in them to be a snug fit and then marked them with my dremel F and B and I just keep the marked side up to keep them indexed. Prolly not by the book but seems to work fine.

Thanks

 

[poker]

Heres what I did with a kit GPR. I havnt shot it yet as I might sell it. I had the furniture color case hardened by Ed Szanfranski in Lake Mills Wi. He does nice work.

 

[B P Maniac Shooter]

I bend my wedges slightly by putting them in a vice and hammer tuning them. Going very slowly I would get just enough bend in them to be a snug fit and then marked them with my dremel F and B and I just keep the marked side up to keep them indexed. Prolly not by the book but seems to work fine.

That's what I did too. Works well for me.

 

[UndeadPoet]

Heres what I did with a kit GPR. I havnt shot it yet as I might sell it. I had the furniture color case hardened by Ed Szanfranski in Lake Mills Wi. He does nice work.

That looks really nice! My hammer and lock are color case-hardened, but the rest of the furniture is more of an “antique bronze.”

 

[LME]

I have three of them. A .50 caliber Flintlock that I traded for, a .50 caliber percussion I bought for a song at a yard sale. It looked like it had never been cleaned. The barrel had been saved by the previous owner using wonder lube in the barrel. My guess is that it kept the oxygen from getting to the barrel metal to cause corrosion. They are both very accurate with both 50 grains 3f and 70 gr 3f and a .490 ball and a .015 patch. I had to finish the inside of both barrels using 0000 steel wool on the cleaning jag, a hundred strokes of so. It made a huge difference in loading and fouling.
I recently bought an Investarms new rifle in .54. The lighter barrel by 10oz make a big difference in match shooting. Left shoulder is about worn out. It has a problem though. The barrel wedges fall out. The factory says not to hammer the wedges or the wedge staples. Has anyone had this problem and if so what would you propose as a solution? Judging by the scratches on the cleaning patches I will be swabbing this barrel with the 0000 steel as well.

I lost a wedge from my .54 Ithaca hawkin years ago. I would like to replace it but never have yet? It shoots fine with one wedge but it looked better with two. Anyone with an extra one want to make a trade?

 

[markh]

I currently have three of them in the house and I have built another that I donated to a local scouting group. I think the Lyman GPR presents the best value in the traditional muzzleloading world. My daughter wanted her own muzzleloader so she built herself a flintlock version. I have a left handed percussion GPR for myself and we have a spare right handed percussion gun to boot.
Here she is with her finished gun. She wanted a cherry finish with bright steel.

 

[Hatman/2nd line]

Howdy fellas,
I bought my .50 caliber percussion GPR kit sometime around 1979 or 1980, don't recall for sure, and the earliest target I have from it is dated Sept., 1980. I bought it from a guy who had a table at a gun show at the National Guard Armory in Boulder, CO, the town I'm from originally. I paid $160.00 for it out the door. He told me he had to buy three in order to get a best price from his distributor, kept one for himself and was selling the other two at his cost. (Who knows if that was really true, or not!) The AE stamped on the barrel indicates it was proofed in 1979. Being my first 'kit', it took me a while to assemble and finish it up the way I wanted. I had built other stocks before for some 'unmentionables', so this stock was not my first rodeo.

I did not care for the supplied adjustable rear sight, so opted for an adjustable long classic Buck Horn. I cold blued all the metal, so it wouldn't look too good. I favored the worn look of thinning blue that resembled a patina of sorts. I cut a shadow line accent around the cheek piece and both the front and rear of the stock's side flats. I cut round bottomed accent lines all along both sides of the belly of the stock and all along both sides of the forearm just below the top edges of the barrel channel. I know that none of this is period correct, but to me at least, I could care less about that aspect of things because this is how I wanted 'mine' to look. They seemed to have real nice wood back then.

I can't tell you what it prefers to shoot because over all these years I'll bet it hasn't had much over a hundred PRBs through it. Haven't had the time to shoot any of my guns the way I'd like too, so maybe now in semi-retirement I'll find more time to devote to the sport. Great thread! Thanks for sharing!

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I agree, nicely done! I have a .54 that I bought right about the same time as yours, haven't fired more than 30 shots in all this time but now you guys have given me the bug....again!

 

[Stantheman86]

I've always favoured the GPR's appearance & construction (Interarms), & I was able to secure two .54 cal. kits after quite a number of years. One was finished with a vintage look, & the other in a polished in-the-white. The latter will be allowed to develop its own unique patina which, understandably, will take some time. Both barrels needed polishing & coning which has been done, & they've become great shooters – easily grouping within 4" @ 50 & 5" @ 100 yds. I've been using a .530 ball, .010 patch over 65 grains of Goex 2F with № 11 RWS 1075+ percussion caps. I've been using the adjustable semi-buckhorn sights rather than the non-adjustible ones, both of which came with the rifles.

One of the included barrel wedges was incorrect. You can see the more rounded shape in the photo. I've since replaced it with the correct one purchased from TOW, of course.

Also, the photo showing displayed furniture includes an unfinished ramrod tube merely for a before-&-after comlarison.

The fit, weight & balance of both GPRs seems ideal for for me. They'll settle right down after mounting that gorgeous, crescent butt plate to the shoulder. 'Course I've asked myself, "Why did you wait so long!?"

The GPR is a stout half-stock while giving subtle flow with its design. My preference remains for the Interarms version over the Pedersoli due mainly to 3 issues (1) the coil spring lock, the longer nose cap & the more reasonable price. It's just my choice & no reflection in any respect is meant toward that of others.

I'm thinking of doing a kit just to Polish everything up like that

 

[Ballshooter]

Love my flintlock GRP...I cut 1in off the barrel, reshaped the butt curve, so it was not so sharp. Then torched some stripes on the stock. Shoots well four shots @ 50 yards. 85 grains by volume of Goex 3F, Walmart pillow ticking and a .530 RB.

 

[Ferret Master]

Love my flintlock GRP...I cut 1in off the barrel, reshaped the butt curve, so it was not so sharp. Then torched some stripes on the stock. Shoots well four shots @ 50 yards. 85 grains by volume of Goex 3F, Walmart pillow ticking and a .530 RB.

Great job on the stripes

 

[Ferret Master]

I currently have three of them in the house and I have built another that I donated to a local scouting group. I think the Lyman GPR presents the best value in the traditional muzzleloading world. My daughter wanted her own muzzleloader so she built herself a flintlock version. I have a left handed percussion GPR for myself and we have a spare right handed percussion gun to boot.
Here she is with her finished gun. She wanted a cherry finish with bright steel.

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Great job on your rifle.

 

[springfield art]

Love my flintlock GRP...I cut 1in off the barrel, reshaped the butt curve, so it was not so sharp. Then torched some stripes on the stock. Shoots well four shots @ 50 yards. 85 grains by volume of Goex 3F, Walmart pillow ticking and a .530 RB.

Great photo! Thanks!

 

[springfield art]

Great photo! Thanks!

Just wonder why 1"? Did it make that much difference? I cut about 5" off, pretty severe, but I like a shorter gun. Nice job you did.

 

[Ballshooter]

Just wonder why 1"? Did it make that much difference? I cut about 5" off, pretty severe, but I like a shorter gun. Nice job you did.

For some reason it seemed to be cutting the patch bad apon loading, I tried to round the crown but it was still happening so I figured I will cut 1in at a time and see how it shot. 1in seemed to work so I stopped there.

 

[fishmusic]

My first rifle, a .50 cal kit to go along with the .50 cal plains pistol I put together. Did some minor modification of the comb and beaver tail to see if it would look a little more like the Kit Carson Hawken. Not a pretty as some posted here but it's mine, warts and all. Also, I don't have a pretty daughter to show it off. Thank you Markh, that was refreshing.