Lyman Great Plains .54 cal Loads

[vietnam71]

I would be interested in hearing what Target and Hunting loads have been used by those GPR owners out there.

I should be receiving my new .54 cal GPR this week and this would help get me started.

Thanks in advance for your help! :thumbsup:
Vietnam71

 

[laney1566]

I don't hunt these days and never have with BP.
I have a .54 GPR that I built from a kit and have found that an 80 grain charge of Goex with a .530 ball patched with .018 pillow ticking coated with bore butter will shoot nice groups at 100 yards.

If I were to hunt, I would add 20 grains of Powder.

 

[R.M.]

I use 45 for paper, and 80 for meat. Real BP of course.

 

[Tom Compton]

Good numbers above.

Thanks for your service Vietnam71.

TC
Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club '69

 

[vietnam71]

Right back at you 40 Flint Welcome Home!

Danang 71
Gulf of Tonkin Yacht Club 72-73-74-75
Evacuation of Siagon April 75
Mayaguez Recovery May 75

This is a really helpful forum.

Vietnam71 :thumbsup:

 

[jbtusa]

Target: 80 grs. FF GOEX, .530 ball, .18" patch, moose milk.

Hunting: 100 grs. FF GOEX, .530 ball, .18" patch, bore butter.

You will be amazed how accurate the GPR is.

 

[Otter]

Target - 50 gr Goex 3f, .530 RB, .015 tight weave (300 tpi) cotton patch, spit lube.

Hunting - 75 gr Goex 3f, .530 RB, .015 tight weave (300 tpi) cotton patch, spit lube.

I, also, thank you for your service and wish you many joyous hours with your new GPR. You will be pleased.

 

[Tom Compton]

Otter, where do you find the 300 tpi cloth?

Go HOGS!
TC

 

[Otter]

Old, well used Egyptian cotton bed sheets . . .

 

[Tom Compton]

:bow:

 

[BrownBear]

My GPR is real fond of 80-90 grains of Goex 3f under a .530 RB and .018 ticking patch with home lube. That's a big game load.

For knock around and target I use 60 grains of the same.

For mashing heads on snowshoe hares and other lil critters, try 35 grains of the same.

In truth, once I cleaned the shipping gunk from the bore (brake cleaner required) and put a couple of hundred rounds through it to kinda smooth out the barrel, that rifle will shoot well with almost any powder charge you stick in it, long as the patch and ball combo is good.

 

[cowpoke1955]

Always great to see a fellow vet :hatsoff: . I have two .54 GPRs, one flint and one cap. Both will give me one ragged hole at 50 yards using a .530 ball, pillow ticking patch lubed with Ballistol oil and 80 grains of FFg Goex. Once, I squeezed out a 3/4" group at 100 yards with 90 grains of FFg Goex with that flinter. These rifles will shoot better than we can. Great rifle and an excellent caliber

 

[Bearbait2]

Mr. vietnam71,
My ol' hunting partner used to use 110gr of 3F with a PRB lubed with the yellow stuff, which gave him 1" groups at 100yds; around 12 years ago. Worked fine on Caribou and Moose. He burned over a lb of powder at the bench before hitting upon that particular combo. I do remember he was using a folded up thick towel between his shoulder and the rifle butt, before that long day was over. :surrender:
I don't know where that amount of powder stands in relation to a max charge for the .54 GPR. Please review your current owner's manual for safety, before proceeding that far up the powder scale.
Best Wishes

 

[Ken Rummer]

My load is 90 3F, .530 ball w/ .018 ticking patch lubed with either crisco or Hoppe's 9 lube. I use it for everything.

Lyman max loads per their manual are 120 gr 2F or 100 gr 3F.

Have both flint & caplock. Both are great rifles.

 

[MikeChapin]

The first thing you need to do with the new GPR is clean the barrel thoroughly with brake cleaner. The preservative they use in the bore will gunk the barrel up something awful if it is still in the bore when it is fired.

That being said I don't have a GPR but do have a .53 Santa Fe. It uses 50 grains for 25 and 50 yard target load and 80 grains for a 100 yard hunting load. The hunting load will go all the way through an elk's chest at about 60 yards or so.

 

[Bearbait2]

Mr. Mike2005,
If you would not mind my asking, did RB(?) hit any bone on its pass through the Elk's chest?
Best Wishes

 

[adirondack46r]

In truth, once I cleaned the shipping gunk from the bore (brake cleaner required) and put a couple of hundred rounds through it to kinda smooth out the barrel, that rifle will shoot well with almost any powder charge you stick in it, long as the patch and ball combo is good.

Interestingly, I received my first GPR 2 weeks ago and I didn't like the barrel fit so I sent it back. That first rifle had LOTS of gunk on the barrel. I never cleaned it, just sent it back. The second rifle I received had almost no gunk on or in the barrel. I cleaned it with soap and hot water and removed any remnants that were there. So it looks like they don't all necessarily require brake cleaner out of the box. Just an observation.

 

[steve nagy]

I agree with the other posters who have mentioned the 80 grain load under the .53 ball and .015 pillow ticking patch.

I used a Cimarron Hawken in .53 and used the same variables, except I used a .52 ball, as I mention below. I would stick with the .53 ball and .015 pillow ticking patch over 80 grains. I use 777 FFg and could hold a 2" group off of the bench with that rifle. That was a shooting and hunting load that never failed me.

 

[vietnam71]

Adirondack46r,

Where did you purchase the GPR? I've seen several of these same posts about barrel not fitting properly. I'll check mine carefully when it arrives.


Thanks for the information
Vietnam71

 

[MikeChapin]

Mr. Mike2005,
If you would not mind my asking, did RB(?) hit any bone on its pass through the Elk's chest?
Best Wishes

Ribs on both sides. One elk had the rib hit center and smashed it up pretty good. It still broke two on the opposite side. The ball must have passed between them. I was surprised that that one didn't wind up just under the skin on the opposite side. That elk was at about 40-45 yards. The other two were more like 50 - 60 yards but it broke ribs on both sides. These were medium to large cows. All of them went through the lungs with one of them clipping the top of the heart. All were done with a .520 ball.

I did hit a large mulie doe one time with a .50 one time at 75 yards. the doe was quartered towards me and I had to take the shot offhand. I hit her a little high. The ball broke the shoulder blade and a rib. It went through the lungs and clipped the liver, broke a short rib on the opposite side and lodged under the skin. I was using 75 grains with a .490 RB. That hit gave me a great respect for the might round ball.