Lyman Plains Pistol .50?

[Pete Gaimari]

What are my options for hunting this pistol? What sort of range. It looks like it can take a pretty good load.

I can't tell what the twist is suited for. Most every review is shooting RB. Can it handle a conical?

I know my GPR is better suited for hunting, but I like a challenge.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Never mind. I don't think I can hunt with it in Colorado.

 

[paulvallandigham]

These pistols, because of their short barrel length, simply don't generate the ball energy to be useful for hunting large game. They can and are used to shoot small game, like rabbits. I would not bother shooting a conical in these guns. Typically, the barrel is simply a section of rifle barrel stock, with the same Rate of Twist and dept of rifling. That usually means that ROT is too slow, and the barrel is too short to generate the MV needed to stabilize conicals well. Some deer hunters carry them, where legal, to allow them a coup d'grace shot with the pistol, rather than having to reload their rifle.

Effective range, however, with this small a caliber pistol is going to be less than 25 yards. If you INSTEAD, have a pistol that is .54, .58, or .69 caliber, then you are throwing a seriously heavy RB that will transmit energy to an animal like a freight car. MV is not so critical with these larger caliber pistols.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Paul....That confuses me a bit. A Walker was used to knock down horses, and it did. The Plains pistol has the same 9" barrel and uses the same load of 60 gr., but has a bigger ball of.50 instead of the Walkers .44

I don't plan on hunting deer with it, but i'm thinking for a shot of less than 50 yds it would kill a deer. I'm sure it would kill a coyote if I could get close enough to one. (pretty hard)

I know my Colt 1860's are pretty accurate to 50 yds. I'm not sure how much power they have at that distance, but they only use 30 gr of powder.

At any rate. I need a 10" barrel in Colorado to hunt. I think so anyway. I'm still researching.

It should make a good target pistol if I can't hunt with it.

 

[BrownBear]

No sweat if you shoot it to it's potential. Legal is another question.

Folks play the keyboard ballistic game all day long, but I'm more of a shooter. I've been whapping deer to 50 yards for over 30 years with 250 grain bullets at 750 fps (44 Special and 45 Colt). Never a second shot required, and they die quick. Those are easy ballistics to come up with in a ML pistol. Revolver or one-shooter has nothing to do with it.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

I've done a lot of research and reading shooting forums about the pistol.

One nut case is using a 350 gr conical and 90 gr of 3F in his Lyman Pistol.

That's a good load for the GPR.

Better him than me. :shake:

 

[BrownBear]

Some guys will do things just so they can talk about it and write about it.

What was that TV show about jackasses? It's not just kids on bicycles.

We have lots of brown bears around here and I watched some tourists last night trying to provoke a sow with cubs into standing up. The genius ran toward her growling and stopped at 20 yards. She had the good sense to run the other way. Meanwhile one of his buddies was running a cheap video camera and the other had a rifle waiting in case the bear objected.

Here's a ballistic question for you: Should there be an open season on tourons? I figure a 1992 Dodge truck at 55mph generates enough fpe to take out three at once.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

55 mph might be too much powder.

I'm thinking 45 mph is good. :thumbsup:

 

[BrownBear]

You're probably right. Even with parts falling off and rust cancer, my old truck has a pretty fair meplat.

 

[paulvallandigham]

The Colt Walker, as well as BB's modern cartridge guns have much faster twist barrels, and shallower grooves, intended to shoot bullets, and stabilize the longer ( heavier weight) bullets better. That CVA pistol, altho .50 cal., --- at least on the ones I have seen other club members own-- has a barrel made from rifle barrel stock, with slow twists(1:48 to 1:66), and deep grooves. They may shoot RBs reasonably accurate out to 50 yds. I would hold my breathe to see how well they shoot various weight, and length conicals. No One in my club tried shooting conicals in their copies of this pistol. The grips are not designed well to take the abuse of the heavy recoil generated by shooting bullets and/or heavy powder charges, unless you have small hands. Even then, the tang and barrel need to be glass bedded well to take that kind of recoil for any length of time.

I don't disagree with BrownBear's comments on killing deer with his .44s and .45s shooting lead bullets. These bullets retain plenty of energy, and their shape and weight insure excellent- if not complete -- penetration in any deer you are likely to shoot.

If you want the same performance shooting a RB, you do need to go to at least a .54 caliber barrel- and a .58, or 62 is better yet-- to get the kind of " whompability factor", that you see using bullets in modern revolvers. ( Consider the weight of the RBs in these various calibers, compared to modern pistol and revolver bullets.

.50 cal RB = 180 grains- about the same as semi-wadcutters in .357 cal. bullets.

.54 cal RB = 230 grains- about the same weight as a .45 cal. hardball round, or a hollow point .44 bullet( and more than 1/2 oz.)

.58 cal RB = 280 grains- a heavy bullet for the .45 colt, or .454 casull, or .44 magnum( and about 2/3 oz.)

.62 Cal RB = 325 grains- a very heavy bullet even in a .50 cal. Smith & Wesson Magnum revolver cartridge( and 3/4 oz. of lead!)

IF I could get enough VELOCITY behind a .50 caliber RB from a pistol, I would not hesitate to take a shot at deer with it out to 50 yds. But that short barrel is simply not going to burn enough BP- even 3Fg to come close to the velocities you can get even from a .44 spl. using factory ammo at 750 fps.

The only saving "grace" in FAVOR OF even a slower Soft, PURE Lead RB is that it flattens out and expands dramatically larger, even at slow velocities, in living tissue, than many of the modern bullets.

I would prefer a MLing pistol with a 10-12 inch barrel, carried on a sling, rather than on a belt, for hunting, and I would choose the .54 caliber, in a specially cut barrel, with shallow grooves, and fast- pistol-- ROT, shooting conical bullets. Then, I would feel comfortable shooting game like deer out to 75 yards- or about the same distance I feel comfortable using my .44 spl. revolver on game. Other opinions may differ. :thumbsup:

 

[Pete Gaimari]

I only mentioned the Walker. It's from the same era as the Plains Pistol. Mid 1800's. It shoots a smaller RB than the Plains. It killed horses.

I haven't seen a Walker kill a deer, but i've read of them doing it.

Anyway, no matter. I have the GPR for deer.

I have a friend who's a retired ranger here in Colorado. I have to ask him if I have any hunting options with my pistol. I'll settle for squirrels, coyote, and rabbits if it's legal.


btw.. I read some tests on the Plains Pistol. Max load is around 850 fps. With up to 1100fps with crazy unsafe loads. The problem with a single shot compared to a revolver is there's no limit on the amount of powder you can use. Very dangerous.

 

[poordevil]

I have the same pistol in .54 cal. You can call your shots all day long with it..

It uses the same outside BBL diameter as the rifle, but with a faster twist, as most pistols do.

It will smoke a deer at pistol ranges, have no fear.

P

 

[tg]

"The problem with a single shot compared to a revolver is there's no limit on the amount of powder you can use. Very dangerous."

What is the limit for a pistol like the plains pistol in .54 before it becomes dangerous? you can shoot any load that the LGP will take if the barrel thickness is the same, it will likely kick like Hell with a heavy load, but a short barrel does not mean rifle loads are dangerous,just hard to handle.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

I don't know what would be dangerous for a pistol? I'm sure it has a limit. The revolver can only hold so much in the chamber, and that's it's limit.

Make sense?

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Sorry for the trouble on this. A pistol is too much of a compromise.

I'm going to get a Deerstalker for my hunting. It's legal and will do a better job.