Lyman Great Plains kit question

[tomykay12]

Hi. Think I've settled on the Lyman Great Plains kit as a first rifle build. Some vendors specify walnut, others "hardwood". Anyone know if Lyman offers two levels of this kit? I am looking at .50 cal, and the stock# seems to be 6031111 at most vendors. Nice quality kit? Thanks everyone, tk

 

[Little Wattsy]

I think all they are all the same, NOT 2 levels. they are a fun kit and a GREAT shooting gun. Would encourage you to consider a .54 but either way you'll be pleased.
Keep us posted with pictures as you go.

 

[54mountain]

Gpr's are all English walnut as far as I know, I just bought a factory made lefthand flinter that has very pretty wood. For a first build you can't go wrong with a lyman kit. :thumbsup:

 

[Zonie]

I suspect the places who say a GPR stock is "hardwood" doesn't know anything about wood so to be on the safe side they said "Hardwood". :hmm:

 

[tomykay12]

Ok, please talk me out of .50. I was thinking .50 would be cheaper to shoot, suitable for any hunting I would do, and less recoil as a first BP rifle introduction. I know how this story goes and only one of these rifles by itself will be all lonely, etc... Appreciate the help, tk

 

[William O.]

I think the difference between the 50 and 54 caliber is pretty small as far as cost goes, you won't be saving much money by choosing the .50 but in my area the .54 is a little more difficult to find components for sometimes. Having said that, I've always been able to get better accuracy from my 54 caliber rifles than my .50's but both are well suited for hunting as well as target shooting. When deciding betwween the two calibers for a GPR kit, I would go with the .54 strictly because the barrel will be slightly lighter and it makes for a less nose heavy rifle. Keep in mind that you can always buy a drop in barrel in case you decide that you need both calibers in either the slow, round ball twist or the fast twist, Great Plains Hunter barrel for shooting conicals.

 

[RADeO]

Ok, please talk me out of .50. I was thinking .50 would be cheaper to shoot, suitable for any hunting I would do, and less recoil as a first BP rifle introduction. I know how this story goes and only one of these rifles by itself will be all lonely, etc... Appreciate the help, tk

Welcome to the forum Tom. :hatsoff:

The .50 GPR is a great rifle. I've shot one for years. Although we all have our preferences, the .50 will be enough medicine for anything (short of moose and grizzly) you are liable to meet in the woods. As stated by many of the guys who hunt, the .54 puts down game with more authority than the .50, and I sure don't dispute that. The .54 has a somewhat lighter barrel too. If you will be primarily target shooting, with some hunting thrown in, then the .50 should serve you well. A .50 will be a bit less expensive to shoot, but if you cast your own balls and have a good source of pure lead the difference in the cost of balls is immaterial. You might be spending a bit more for powder to feed the big 'un though.

Don't know if this helps you any or just confuses you all the more. :haha:

 

[cowpoke1955]

My first muzzle loader was a factory made . 54 GPR percussion I bought about 35 years ago and it's still a great rifle. I liked it so much, my wife bought me a .54 GPR flint kit when I retired. The kit went together rather quick and easy. As mentioned, they come with an English walnut stock, which requires a LOT of sanding. My stock had a nice color and beautiful grains. I used no stain on it. After sanding I just habd rubbed eight coat of boiled lindseed oil on it and it came out great. Stain or no stain, brown or blue, when you are fibished it is your GPR. I had a few questions while building, so I called Lyman customer service. They were friendly and helpful. I would also recommend a .54 caliber. With the 1 in 60" twist barrels these rifles are very accurate out to 100 yards with round balls. You made a great choice :thumbsup: By the way, welcome to the forum :hatsoff:

 

[nmdd]

I don't know if it is walnut, but it is defiantly a lot harder than a TC walnut stock, think rasp if you want to do any reshaping of the stock. :grin: I did one here a while back, most people don't stain the wood, but I like my guns with a darker finish than most. I used Birchwood Casey Walnut stain on mine....

:hatsoff:

 

[tomykay12]

Oh, hadn't thought of the barrel weight; larger drilling equals less metal, duh...Availability of components is a consideration as well. Thankyou all for comments, advice, and the welcome wagon; I forgot to post introductions, exhuberantly asking questions about a newfound interest, lol, tk

 

[cowpoke1955]

Don't worry if you can't find .54 caliber componets locally. There are several venders on line, who'd be glad to serve you. Just another reason to start casting your own. Besides the lighter barrel and better balence, the .54 does pack a little more punch down renge.

 

[Lonegun1894]

Just in case you haven't considered it yet, I would say get the .54 and a Lee mould for it which should set you back an extra $20, but once you have theat, any lead works and you aren't depending on some vendor for your balls. Powder is the same, patching is the same, flints or caps, whichever you end up with are all the same. In fact, even if you stick with the .50, get a mould anyway. It's easy and makes life much easier on you in the long run for supplies.

 

[Little Wattsy]

Ok, please talk me out of .50. I was thinking .50 would be cheaper to shoot, suitable for any hunting I would do, and less recoil as a first BP rifle introduction. I know how this story goes and only one of these rifles by itself will be all lonely, etc... Appreciate the help, tk

I got into MLing buying .50"s on that same premise, its what all the local gun stores told me. As it turns out I pour my own RB's and order everything else from TOW and others. So cost wise they are the same.
Recoil is negligble. In the 50 i was shooting conicals for longer range deer and elk. With the .54 I can just shoot the RB. Recoil is actually LESS in the .54 with a RB - My opinion.
So I think that the .54 gives a decided edge between 75 and 100 yards over the .50 and having shot both I wouldnt consider a .50 again....
:2

 

[tomykay12]

I am definitely listening here, thanks, tk

 

[Flash Pan Dan]

TomyKay12,

The stock wood in the kits is European walnut, not English. There are some components that currently are not even made in anything other than 50. Here in the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia we have lead free zones were we have to hunt without lead. The only option for us who hunt with PRB (Patched Round Ball) only comes in 50. It may not be a consideration for you where you are but it’s an example of how the 50 can be more convenient in certain ways. Mine is in 50 and I had one in 54. And you can always get another barrel in 54 to just drop in later.

 

[F.G. Ford]

A .54 GPR has a better resale interest than a .50
As to Flash Pan Dan's concern about shooting lead in Kalifornia.
You can shoot gold or depleated uranium.
Their weight is better than lead.
Old Ford

 

[Eljay]

re: recoil, one thing that may not be obvious if you're not used to BP is that you have control over that. Yes, for best accuracy to some extent you have to adjust the load to the gun, but there's usually some range where it shoots about the same and if the recoil's bugging you, you can stick to the low end of that range.

I let a kid shoot my .54 the other day, no problem. I just put in less than half the powder as normal.

 

[longcruise]

I don't know if it is walnut, but it is defiantly a lot harder than a TC walnut stock, think rasp if you want to do any reshaping of the stock.

I agree! The last two I built produced a sort of white powder when sanding and the wood was very hard. Made me suspect that investarms is using some kind of hardener/stabilizer on the wood.

 

[cowpoke1955]

Since the GPR is a round ball rifle with the 1 in 60" twist barrel, recoil is not an issue. With a .54 caliber ball, who needs a conical anyway? A .54 ball will easily take deer, pig, elk black bear and moose. Heck, maybe UFOs and Big Foot too :rotf: . It's also good on the target range. I used my .54 GPR percussion in Mountain Man competion for years. FYI, DNR Sports has the GPR percussion kits for $379.99: http://www.dnrsports.com/catalog/product/a0887127143e311d7dad609e98962784 .

 

[tomykay12]

Best price i've seen so far; shipping is a little punitive though @ 25.00 and change. 405.00 shipped. Thanks for the tip as I had not found that place yet, tk