Lyman Greatplains rifle kit

[Paul LaFranco]

I should be getting my Lyman Greatplains rifle kit by the end of this week, in the meantime I downloaded the instruction manual from Lymans site, just to get an idea of whats going to be involved in building this kit. The kit calls for a 10-12 inch mill file, a 1/4 inch wide pillar file, and a 1/4 inch three square file. Are these files something that I should get from Brownells, or can they be gotten at Sears hardware? also for any inletting that might have to be done Lyman recommends carving tools, but would a dremmel tool be easier? Also does anyone know where I can get a bottle of inletting black? I've read that the browning solution made by LMF is pretty good and easy to apply, if any of you guys have ever used it would you recommend it? Any advice on the tools I will need and the proceedure in building this rifle will be greatly appriciated.
Thanks,
Paul

 

[Roy]

The files can be purchased at a hardware, for most of my inletting and carving I use a 3/8ish chisel and a x-acto knife. I would avoid the dremmel unless you feel very confident about using one. Its a good way to get in trouble fast. :v

 

[Zonie]

I should be getting my Lyman Greatplains rifle kit by the end of this week, ...
Are these files something that I should get from Brownells, or can they be gotten at Sears hardware?

Any good hardware store will have the files you need. Just be sure to get the best ones they have.

...also for any inletting that might have to be done Lyman recommends carving tools, but would a dremmel tool be easier?
Under no circumstance should you use a Dremmel tool.
For the kit your building, buy a large handled #2 Exacto-Knife (or equal) and buy some extra pointed #2 blades for it. You might also want to buy a small oil-stone or a piece of 180 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Use this to dull up about 1/4 inch of the blade right adjacent to the handle. That will keep you from wondering "What's this red stuff on the parts? DAMN, I cut myself on the rear part of the blade!"

...Also does anyone know where I can get a bottle of inletting black?
You can get it from Dixie, Track of the Wolf or Muzzleloader Builders' Supply.
Some folks just buy a tube of cheap lipstick and that works too. I suggest getting a color your wife wouldn't be caught dead wearing so she won't suspect that you removed it from her "treasures". :grin:

I've read that the browning solution made by LMF is pretty good and easy to apply, if any of you guys have ever used it would you recommend it?
Highly recommended. Available from the same places I listed above and pretty low cost. You will use much less than one small bottle of it for your gun.

Any advice on the tools I will need and the proceedure in building this rifle will be greatly appriciated.
You will need a good screw driver, a electric drill is nice, some drill bits, LOTS of 180 and 220 grit wet/dry silicone carbide (black) sandpaper, some 80, 120, 220 grit sandpaper (I prefer the red garnet) for the wood, boiled linseed oil or Tru-Oil or Tung Oil for finishing the wood.

Although there are dozens of other tools you might want to get, they are really not necessary for building your Lyman.

zonie

 

[cowpoke1955]

Zonie said it all. Go with the hand tools and go slow. Start going too fast and you'll make mistakes. I got cramps in my arm from all the sanding. Many of times I thought about using a power sander, but kept sanding by hand. Glad I did. I also use lip stick. Works just as good, except for the wife teasing me. I used LMF browning from TOTW. I turned the shower on hot and closed the vents and door. I then applied the solution to the metal. Take the metal into the steamy bathroom, turn the water off, hang up the metal parts, close the door and wait a couple oh hours. It browns real nice. Just follow Zonies lead and you will do well. We are always here if you get in a tight spot. Good luck and have fun :thumbsup: .

 

[AeroncaTAL]

Don't need to add much from what Zonie and the others said, other than I would recommend a wood rasp along with the files. I used a rasp along with some cheap wood chisels to carve the cheekpiece on my stock. I wouldn't recommend cheap chisels, go with some good quality ones. The cheap Harbor Freight ones I had worked, but I kept them darn sharp and worked real slow...
Scott

 

[Paul LaFranco]

All you guys are great, thanks so much for all the advice, Im gonna document all my building steps with my trusty didgital camera and post them here. Im sure when I get into this project I'l have alot more questions, and it's really good to know that I have so many knowledgable friends here that I can count on for help when I need it.
Thanks,
Paul

 

[Old40Rod]

My 2 cents:

You probably won't have to do much inletting on a GPR kit, so you may not need a whole bunch of chisels. A 1/4 straight chisel from the hardware store should be enough, along with a stone to sharpen it with as needed. On my GPR kit, the main wood work was fitting the buttplate. A 4-in-Hand rasp and half-round file worked fine for that. The lock, barrel, trigger, etc., should fit pretty well with just a bit of touch up.

Inletting "black" isn't very good for walnut stocks like the GPR, its very hard to see. Zonie is right, snag some cheap lipstick from your womenfolk or have them buy you some. Or you can buy your own... you might as well get everyone used to the fact that you will be purchasing lipstick for inletting and hanging around fabric stores to buy patch material, etc. I'll leave it up to you whether you want to explain your purchases, and to whom. :grin:

IIRC, most of the holes were predrilled. I just used a standard mill file and various grades of sandpaper on the barrel.

If you have some tools already, it might pay to wait until you get the kit and take a look-see to pickup whatever else you might need. The hardware store is fine... but don't overlook junk stores or pawn shops for smaller things like screw drivers and files... I have picked up some of my best screwdrivers and files from those places... sometimes a handful for a few bucks. I have found several good old wooden handled screwdrivers that clean up nicely and can be easily ground to any size.

Ditto for LMF browning solution. It is very easy to get good results if you FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS. My only common suggestion with LMF browning is don't over finish the metal. 180 or 220 grit is more than enough. It seems that the smoother the finish, the slower things are to brown. This also saves you some work.

Also, search the forum for posts on Great Plains Kits. There are lots of posts and pictures to give you some ideas on things to do and what others have done to customize their GPRs.

Have fun, and post some pictures!

 

[AeroncaTAL]

Do pick up some small files; round, triangular, flat etc. These will come in handy in taking out the casting marks on the iron furniture.
Scott

 

[Birddog6]

They make a small set of Nickolson 6" rasp files in a 5 pack that is at Lowes. They do pretty good but you cannot horse the small round one & small square one as it will break. I use the halfround one allot & have 2 of them, one with the handle heated & turned up & one with it turned down.

 

[d.thomson]

The only thing I might add is scrappers to take down the wood. Its not as agressive as rasps but more agressive than sandpaper. You can realy do so nice molding with a cuved scrapper. I found I only had to do a little inleting on the lock to get it to fit flush to the barrel. I have the flint kit. I have herd of others that had to inlet more but I got lucky. have fun with it F.K.

 

[boar]

Heres what I used a lot on the kits I did, is a broken chainsaw file, it works good around the lock area, and corners. Another handy tool is a diamond file I got at Wallmarts. It is pointed at ons end and has flat and round surfaces, is in a pencel like case, around 8.00 dollars. Real good to work on lock parts to. Dilly

 

[MagKarl]

I just put together a GPR kit this winter. I got it for Xmas and couldn't wait to get started. I couldn't find inletting black anywhere local and didn't want to wait for mail order. I used Prussian Blue ink, you can find it in the Permatex section of most auto parts stores. It's messy, but if you are careful it shows up very well. I used a toothbrush to apply it. Plus theres so much extra wood that any accidental smudges will get taken off anyway once you start shaping the stock. I used it a ton to get my tang and breech area dialed in. I bought the finishing kit from Jim Chambers that has stain, finish, and LMF solution. Inexpensive, very easy for a novice, and turned out great.

 

[Paul LaFranco]

Thanks again for all the great info, Im going to print all of these post and put them with my instructions, there's alot here that the instructions "failed to mention"!
Thanks Again,
Paul

 

[cptleo1]

The only thing I would buy up front would be a set of gunsmith screw drivers.

A pet peeve of mine is boogered screw slots.

I have built a few GPR's, I think all you need to get started are the drivers, a 1/4" chisel, an E-xcto knife, some small files (Sears will work) and some sand/emory paper.

You don't really build the Lyman kit it is more like assembling it.

That being said:

You can do a search on this site and find some neat modifications to the GPR - different cheek pieces, inlays, butt plates and such.

I used scrapers instead of sand paper on the last one and they made a believer out of me. The grain in the wood has a lot more 'pop' to it and you don't have to spend hours chasing sanding scratches and wiskers prior to finishing.

The GPR is a great way to get your feet wet and is a reasonably priced test bed to try different techniques.

Enjoy and post some pictures.

Good Luck