Morning at the range with .54 GPR

[Bernie Schneider]

I've had this rifle for 4-5 yrs now, hunted with it sparingly the first couple, always going back to my .54 Renegade to kill deer with.
The Lyman has fixed primitive sights, silver blade and buckhorn, I did alright up 50 yards with a 80 gr. load but after that I really didn't know where the gun shot.
Last 2 yrs I was determined to take a deer with it, keeping shots under 50 yards. So with deer pass the magic 50, misfires and misses under the magic 50 no deer the last 2 yrs.
A couple months ago I went to the range and worked with it, loads of 80 grns at 50 yds.
After a few good groups there went to the 100 yrd mark. Tried uping the load with the same hold on sights, tried holding high, no good. Some hi-power guys showed up, so packed it in.
This morning I needed some stress relief, I grabbed the GPR, rb's, assorted patches, lube and a bottle of Pyrodex, clearanced from Walmart, no targets just fiqured I would burn powder and throw lead down range. Also fiqured that the day before turkey opener there would be guys patterning shotguns.
I get to the range, there is NO-ONE there,the 100 yrd. birm had a 3 x 4 pc of OSB with orange sticky bulls that was left by someone.
That is what I needed to find where this gun was hitting, loaded a preload of 80 gr and rb, shot a group of 3 of these aiming at the top of the board with the top of the level with the top of the notch on the rear, found I was shooting 6" low.
Next round of 3 was 100 grs with a slight hold high, these were close to what I wanted, but not consistant because I did not hold the same each time.
Next was 120 grs, rb and back to the original sight picture, other that flinches to the right, this load was on the money at 100 yrs.
What did I learn today?
At 120 grns, I did not have to swab after a few shots like lessers load, which tend to crud up near the muzzle.
The same load is 4"'s high at 50 yds.
I used different patches and lubes, but did not any real difference in accuracy from my shooting abilities.
I used CCI and RWS musket caps, still don't like CCI to many misfires, but did learn, and should have know that if you leave caps in your capper for 2-3 yrs or more, the will not be reliable even if they are RWS, this is most likely what caused my misfires in hunting season
Next time to the range will be with BP and see starting back at 100 grns. and see how it groups.
The Pyrodex ignited consistantly, but defintely is different in sound that Bp
Long winded but I had to tell someone, no-one here care about my BP adventures, Bernie

 

[Swampman]

Try 70-80 grains of 3F Goex if you can.

 

[horsesoldier03]

Sounds like you had a good time as well as learned a few piculularities about your rifle. I pulled out my .50 GPR the other day but never made it out to shoot. I do enjoy burning powder, they are very relaxing to shoot.

 

[renovato]

Moisture can play havock with your caps. Age doesn't bother them if they're kept dry though. I have never had good results with CCI either. I like Remington, but they're getting harder to find at the gun shows. Local shops don't have any.

The misfires might have been due to the Pyrodex. It doesn't age well, and it absorbs moisture from the air like a sponge. It's way more sensitive to age and moisture than the caps are.

If you haven't tried it already, #11 caps and Goex 3F is a pretty hard combo to beat for accuracy. Musket caps can cause erratic pressures and flyers.

 

[Mountainman56]

My GPR is still one of my favourite rifles. I use 3f goex, hot nipples and CCI magnum caps. Can't remember the last time a had a misfire.

 

[50cal.cliff]

Try some real black! I prefer GEOX 2F in my.50. couldn't get good ignition with Pyrodex in my .50 becuase of the crud created by the Pyrodex, I went to Geox and have yet to have a misfire. KNOCK WOOD!
If I am paper punching I have developed a practise of wiping between shots, but one day I decided to try not wiping. After the 20th shot without wiping, I deicded not to push the issue anymore and started to wipe again, but not one misfire in those twenty shots.
Part of that I attribute to my lube, Hoppe's Black Powder Lube and Solvent. When I first started frequenting this site there weere several talking about Hoppe's BP L&S. Tried and I love the results. The fouling is so soft it is easy to wipe out. Which at the end of the day makes for a much simpler clean-up. Now I no alot of the folks say spit patches but do to some meds I take my mouth stay dry all the time anyway and I don't got that much spit to share with my rifle! :rotf: :rotf:
I always load my capper when shooting much but, when through I return any unused to the airtight can. Most of the time I shoot up what I got out.
Good to hear you had a good time at the range and try a few changes and see if your rifle don't llike them. Change one thing at a time so you can shoot enough to clearly evaluate if it was an improvement or not. Black powder guns are like woman, "there ain't no two exactly the same"! :wink:

 

[Otter]

Lyman GPR, CCI caps and 75 gr Goex 3f, .530 or .527 RB and .015 spit patch. 3.25" 3 - shot groups off the bench at 100 yds with factory sights with MY eyes. Been using this setup for 17 years and have no complaints. I've experimented with different brands and grades of black powders and caps but my GPR likes the Goex 3f and CCI's best. Won't use subs. YMMV, obviously.

 

[rice1817]

I like to zero my rifles at 75 yards. I use 90 grains of 3f (probably more powder than I really need)as a hunting load in my GPR and this puts it a couple of inches low at 100, a couple of inches high at 50...so I can hold dead on out to 100 and get a hit in the vitals. Doesn't work so well when shooting bullseye, but this "Point blank range" concept works very well for hunting.

 

[laufer]

in a 32” long barrel you burn effectively only about 85-90gr of 22f (pyrodex rs). the rest is waste. does that help with the cleanliness of the barrel, i do not know, but with using 100gr on mine gpr, i do not have to clean but after every fifth or sixth shot, mostly for my own sake.

 

[Swampman]

Most guns will shoot cleaner when a certain pressure is reached. All will shoot cleaner with 3F.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

My GPR .54 flinter also likes 110g FFg Goex along with a home cast .530ball and .018 pillow ticking.

 

[Swampman]

Man you guys shoot some really heavy loads.

 

[Keppy]

Thats the load I use. :grin:

 

[Keppy]

:2 I agree with you on that. I think a lot unburnt powder is go out the barrel on the ground.
I had bought a 54 cal that had a musket nipple on it. I replaced and never have had misfire with it. Knock on wood :wink: I see no use for musket caps for what I shoot and do. If I do my part it will shoot.

 

[Swampman]

I think I'd consider wrapping the wrist of the stock with rawhide if I were going to shoot that load on a regular basis.

 

[wirehairman]

I like to zero my rifles at 75 yards. I use 90 grains of 3f (probably more powder than I really need)as a hunting load in my GPR and this puts it a couple of inches low at 100, a couple of inches high at 50...so I can hold dead on out to 100 and get a hit in the vitals. Doesn't work so well when shooting bullseye, but this "Point blank range" concept works very well for hunting.

I also zero my rifles at 75 yards for hunting. This method puts me about 1" high at 50 yards and 2" low at 100 yards, shooting 80 grains of 3F Swiss out of my .50 GPR.

 

[Keppy]

I think I'd consider wrapping the wrist of the stock with rawhide if I were going to shoot that load on a regular basis.

:nono: :nono: :nono: Mark I was replying to Otter's load of 75Grs. Not 110 grs :grin:

 

[Swampman]

Sorry, I'm pretty sure T/C finally had to redesign their Hawken due to cracks in the stock was because folks were shooting loads that were way too heavy. 75 grains is a nice stout hunting charge for a .54 IMO.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Mark is right, gentlemen: Most of these Hawken style rifles have barrels that are only 32 inches long. The Davenport formula says that a 32" .54 caliber barrel will burn efficiently only 85 grains of powder. Reducing that charge by 10% will generally give you a fair, accurate, hunting load. You can reduce that charge by 1/3 for target shooting. We all know that Swiss powder is a faster powder, so even 80 grains of Swiss is going to be a bit much. Stick with Mark's recommendation of 75 grains. I recommend using an OP wad( or filler) under the PRB, while Mark does not use them.

My recommendation is based on my re-education when I got my chronograph and found out I got much more consistent velocities and a lower SDV using the fillers, or OP wads in my rifle than using just my PRB. I had used the same PRB load for about 15 years at that point, and it gave me all the accuracy I had come to expect. Then, kicking and screaming, I tried some OP wads and shot test shots over the chronograph for a before and after comparison.I would have lost money if I bet my brother that I would see no substantial improvement.

You guys need to remember that the RB you are shooting weighs 230 grains, which is more than 1/2 oz! That is a huge amount of lead going down range.

Have any of you every done penetration testing with your loads? And compared them to shooting lesser loads?

I did so using a 60 grain charge in a .50 caliber rifle, and then a 100 grain load in the same gun, same Patch and ball, and saw absolutely NO deeper penetration using the heavier charge, out of a 39 inch barrel.

If you do penetration testing, I think you will be impressed at how much penetration you get. You also will find that penetration is related more to the weight of the ball than the Muzzle velocity.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

My deercreek manual says different.

It says it takes a 32" barrel to burn 110g weighed FFg blackpowder.

Great Plains rifles are excellent shooters. I just took my .54 flinter out today and put my last two shots into the same hole @100 yards But its 4" low. I had to widen the rear sight to see clearly.

That 110g ffg goex load shoots nicely.