Lymen 54 Great Planes Hunter

[eaglesnester]

Anybody shoot the Lymen 54 GPR hunter with the 1-32 twist? How do the Lymen Great Planes bullets shoot in this rifle and what load of holy black do ya all use. I know that this twist is too fast for a patched PRB. When you hit a moose or a deer sized animal with the Great Planes Hunter Bullet does the bullet keyhole inside the animal and go higleypigley? Have been told by very knowledgeable shooters that slugs and bullets are no good in loose powder muzzle loaders.

 

[cynthialee]

go look at the hunting threads

I think that this guy would argue with the people who would say the conicals are no good on loose powder: http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/272660/tp/1/

 

[54ball]

I do not shoot conicals as a general rule but that may change as I now have a fast twist longrifle in .45.
You'll just have try different conicals to find the best. Try the PRB too: you may be suprised, especially with lighter charges.

As a general rule heavy conicals shatter bones and penetrate but do not zip around like very light centerfire or rimfire rounds. Heavy conicals were used in elephant guns so they penetrate and pass through.

Who ever told you that conicals will not shoot out of a "loose" powder or traditional sidelock were talking out of their butt, since the mouth knows better.

As a general rule conicals do poorly in slow twist bbls. Even in these slower twists some conicals can do well, like the minnie ball. In a medium twist both conicals and roundballs can do well. You just have try different rounds.
A common CW era minnie ball load was 70grns behind a .58 Minnie.
You'll just have to try differnt rounds and charges.

 

[BrownBear]

Have been told by very knowledgeable shooters that slugs and bullets are no good in loose powder muzzle loaders.

I'd take a hard look at anything else they've told you. I bet their "knowledge" on other topics is equally bad. Holy cow. They couldn't pour water out of a boot if you printed instructions on the heel.

 

[BGRooster1]

They may be very knowledgeable but not about blackpowder,conicals or most likely anything to do with muzzleloading .

Go ahead and use the loose powder, black or a black substitute . Try and get yourself a variety,brands and weights, of conicals .Star at around 65grs., and work yourself up in 5gr. increments to the best you can do with each of your conicals.

 

[James Stella]

Eaglesnester

I am very new to blackpowder hunting so take what I have to say with a grain of salt so to speak. All I can tell you about is the result I have had over the last couple of months.

I purchased a Great Plains Hunter in July. It is .54 Cal. I picked the hunter because some of the areas I want to hunt have lead free restrictions so I will be forced to shoot sabots. I also want to hunt Idaho with my dad so I had to be able to shoot all lead bullets.

I got drawn for a Tule Elk hunt in an area that I could use lead bullets so I started working up a load for the Hornady Great Plains Hunter bullet. The only thing I wish I had done different was buy the 425grn one instead of the 390grn. I like the 390grn but did not realize at the time Hornady had quit making them. So now I have a load that I am not going to be able to get more bullets for.

Anyway, I started with 80grns of Pyrodex Select and worked my way up. I finally settled on 105 grns by volume with a chronographed speed of about 1500fps. I have attached a picture of one of my groups. I got several groups like this from 100 yards until I got to 110 grns and then they opened way up. From 90 grns to 105 grns the groups were almost identical to this.

Anyway the Tule Elk I shot with the load was quartering toward me at 35 yards. I put the bullet through his left front shoulder and it exited just infront of the last rib on the far side. There was no evidence of a keyhole when the bullet left. It looked like a perfectly round, slightly expanded bullet hole. The line of travel was very straight even after going through the shoulder.

Anyway, this is just one animal but I was very happy with the performance both on the range and in the field. Hope this helps.

http://cameron54.webs.com/100_5307[1].JPG

 

[larry wv]

Good shootin. :thumbsup: Larry

 

[eaglesnester]

Appreciate all of the responses from the shooters that follow the old ways.
A little more on the background of the fellow that told me about sabos and slugs in loose powder muzzle loaders and not doing the job on game.
I guess some would call this fellow a purist. He has the skill of an artist. I have seen his rifles, and I have shot with this man at BP shoots, his rifles are jewel like and are something to behold. He has also become sort of a mentor for me as I want to start building my own smoke pols. The balance of his flint locks are better than any modern center fire as they are all swamped barrels with the exceptin of his Hawkens which are tapered barrels. He has also competed with some of the master builders in the United States and has taken first place. (He is from Northern B.C. Canada) He owns some rock locks that museums have wanted in their collections. When he builds a BP shooter he does it lock, stock, and barrel, not from a kit. This fellow has been shooting flinters, both muskets and rifles, to wheel locks for years. He once bagged a Moose with a Brown Bess using a patch RB at 100 meters . He also builds and shoots Sharps 45/100. I guess he is a bit of an ecentric when it comes to shooting PRB and there ante no other way. When U get to his level U become set in your ways I guess.
I listened to this man respectfuly and offored no counter argument to his theory about slugs and sabos in 1 in 32 twist BP Hawkens. However what he was saying made no sense to me as my 1 in 48 50 cal T/C Hawken shoots 370 grain Maxi balls at 100 meters at a 10 inch gong all day long off hand. (if you clean between shots with holy black)
I am also not a new shooter as I spent 20 years in the US military and 5 years with the USMC in forced recon as a hospital corpsman.
My inventory of center fire big game rifles is extensive. I am finding that when I go out the door I am carrying a Hawken 54 more and more and my center fire guns are regulated to the range or the safe. Is there any cure for this?

 

[BrownBear]

Is there any cure for this?

Put all your CF guns in a safe and forget about them, then start another safe for your muzzleloaders. You're going to need it! :rotf:

 

[William O.]

I shoot only round ball now but I did have a Great Plains Hunter barrel in 50 caliber. It was very accurate using a 250 grain Lee REAL bullet, 95 grains of 3f Goex and a lubed Wonder Wad so you might want to try that bullet in your rifle to see if you get acceptable accuracy from them. The bad news about shooting conicals is the recoil, which can be downright brutal depending on bullet weight and powder charge. The good news is that they just don't keyhole and go every which way once you hit your target. More good news is that since you already own the Lyman Great Plains stock you can just get one of the slow twist barrels and drop it right in plus you can choose .50 or .54. A .54 RB is going to be plenty on deer sized critters and larger, as well as having much less recoil. Whichever route you decide to go, start with working up an accurate load in your rifle first, then practice with that load. Good luck, hope this helps.

 

[54mountain]

Repeat after me, I AM AN ADDICT,

Nope ain't no cure Ya' just have to ride it out. :haha:

 

[eaglesnester]

X2 on the recoil. my 50 T/C with 100 gr of trip 7 and a 370gr maxi kicks like a side ways mule, not fun at all but still accurate. I shoot 338/378 Weatherby and 308 Norma and they dont kick a sniff compaired to the Hawken with a 100gr trip 7 load. Something with that much recoil must hit like the hammer of Thor? Any comments?

 

[BrownBear]

In 50 it penetrates well (endo on deer), but the 54 and 58 cals with conicals and hot charges hit lots harder at each end. Try a 560 grain 58 cal conical on top of 140 grains of 2f from an 8# gun. Yeehaw.

 

[FRJ]

The fellow that gave you that info may and probably is one fine man. He may just be a little biased about the subject. Gather all the knowledge you can from him and if some of it doesn't sound right check it out but don't discard this well of knowledge just because of one of his opinions. FRJ

 

[Lorne Johnson]

The 370 grain conical is more like a .415 Rigby than .308 Norma. I'm sure it kicks at both ends.