My Lyman Deerstalker .54 is here

[Howie1968]

i just got my package opened it up, i admit it looks alot better in person, really dark wood dark metal put it in half **** got her assembled went outside shoulder her looked through the sights they are bright, should work great in the hog woods. trigger is much better then i anticipated. after i cleaned her up i snapped a couple caps on her to blow out anything left in the barrel. The trigger isnt bad at all. i still got to get bullets patches cleaning stuff and all that. but here she is

 

[sb 54 cal.]

Look's Good :thumbsup:

 

[Obi-Wan Cannoli]

Nice :hatsoff:

 

[Howie1968]

Thank you men, the Dark wood is a great surprise, im not much on light finishes, personal preferance

 

[rodwha]

Certainly darker than mine. Nice!

 

[Gene L]

Looks great!

 

[Idaho Ron]

:hatsoff:
When is the TC's to arrive?

 

[Cowboy]

Howie, That sure is a nice looking Deerstalker! Thanks for sharing the pic. Looks sharp!

Just a word of warning, Be sure you really clean out the bore really good! Lyman has a habit of really coating the barrel inside and out with a rust preventative. They put the stuff on pretty heavy!

Congrats on your new rifle! Enjoy.

Respectfully, Cowboy :thumbsup:

 

[James Stella]

Cool rifle thanks for sharing

 

[Kapow]

Looks beautiful. Now I want one. What a great rifle for travelling with.

 

[rodwha]

Your reasoning for choosing this rifle is about the same as mine. For my first muzzleloader I wanted something I could carry around through thick stuff all weekend. With a 24" barrel and 7.5 lbs it was what I was looking for.

But now I kind of want a Great Plains Hunter...

 

[Howie1968]

yes sir, i love mine gotta get some bullets and stuff for it i have to order everything online, i was gonna get another lyman but got a great deal on a thompson center renegade in .50 and it will be here this next week. im looking for a .58 now

 

[BrownBear]

...gotta get some bullets and stuff....

Be aware that Lyman rifling and muzzle crowns tend to be a little sharp when new, and prone to cutting patches. That can knock accuracy at first. You can "shoot through" it and let normal shooting wear things a little smoother, with accuracy taking a sudden jump at around 200 shots.

Other approach is to help it along for better accuracy quicker. I've done both with complete happiness, but I'm more prone to shooting through. I always need the extra shooting practice.

For the rifling, lotta guys get one of those green Scotch scrupping pads, cut off a little piece, drape it over their jag and pump it up and down the more a dozen or 2 dozen times. It certainly works, and I don't know of any demerits.

Fix for the sharp crown might sound a little radical on first hearing, but it's in the same league of results without harm. Get yourself a piece of 400 wet/dry, tear of a square a little bigger than the muzzle. Lay the patch over the muzzle and press down firmly with the ball (or pad, if you prefer that word) of your thumb. Rotate it around completely maybe half a dozen turns.

Lyman bores seem to remain a little tight for a few hundred rounds. You're likely to start out with .015 patches and .530 balls for the first 400-500 shots, then notice starting/seating effort getting pretty easy and maybe accuracy falling a little. Bump it up to .018 patches and watch the accuracy jump.

At around the 2k mark I started feeling the same looseness, so went to a .535 ball. Dang near couldn't get the ball started- took a good hard whack on the short starter. Range guys like that, but I don't for hunting. Faced with either going to a .015 patch with the .535 ball or dropping back to the .530, I subbed a .020 patch with the .530 and found happiness. At something north of 4k shots in my most-used rifle, I'm still happy. You're call, but just be aware that you might need to tighten things slightly at the 500 mark or so. If you try to start out with .530 balls and .018 patches, figure on some pretty hard starts/seating.

 

[Howie1968]

Thank you Brown bear, i will do that anything to jump start. ill shoot enough to get proficient but its going to be a tool to kill. ill spend time on the range making sure i come up with a decent load, ive got patches on order in .010 .015 .018 .020. ive got the wool 54-56 wads to try with the 425 gr hornady rounds, im gonna start with .530 balls i placed an order with track of the wolf. right now locally i have one sorce of propellent and they dont carry black powder but they have pyrodex 3F for 18.00 a can pyro 2F for 26.99 a can and tripple 7 for 29.99. for the time being im going to go with whats available im not gonna use triple 7 so its either the 2F or 3f for now, i understand i need to drop the 3f loads by 10%. there is literlly no black powder supplies within 100 miles of me.

 

[Howie1968]

Ideally im hopeing the 425 shoot a good group at 50 yards, if so ill sight 1 inch high and be done. ive ordered some of those wads you suggested ill try it both ways ive got 4 boxes of the Hornady coming

 

[rodwha]

BB is right about the sharp rifling. I tore through patches until about 150-200 shots.

Look around the 5-15 yd mark for your patches. They'll show whether they are getting torn or burnt.

 

[Walks with fire]

The one I have is a good shooter as well but I did 100 stokes with oiled white scotch brite on mine before I even fired it. Using 90 grains 2f in it now with .530/.016 patch lubed with Hoppe #9 BP patch lube. Very accurate little gun.

One thing I would do is take the sling stud out and put some blue Gun-tite on the threads and screw it back on. They have a history of a oversized threaded hole. Mine was loose the first day I put a sling on it. It works loose over time. The blue Gun-tite worked great on mine and on other screws/bolts that have a habit of coming loose on other firearms. Hasn't been a problem since and if you need to take it out the bond will break after putting some heat to it.