New 54 plains pistol

[Millermpls]

All I can say: nice. Tight fit with .53 cal Hornady and a .005 lubed patch. Accurate as all get out. Used both Remington and CCI #11 caps. Started with 30 grains FFFG, and moved up to 35 grains - very mild on the recoil. Since this is just a recreational shooter, I can't see taken it up to 50 grains - no point in spending money on extra powder. I put 20 shots down range without a hitch. Didn't even have to pick the touch hole. Cleaned up easy.

I know the Lymans are farby to the purists, but I would recommend this pistol to any looking for some fun with a single shot percussion.

 

[wayne terry]

Nothing wrong with em there just good ole shooting pistols been shooting them for years and mine are dead on target, ifn you want to make it a little more authentic you can strip the blue off of it and brown it.

 

[Millermpls]

Did you sand all the text prior to refinishing yours?

 

[silly goose]

I have the .50. So far it is a lot of fun, but I'm still trying to dial it in accuracy wise. Overall I like it, but hope to get more accuracy with it at some point. Just need the time.

 

[Zonie]

Just my opinion but if your trying to dial in a handgun for accuracy, rest your wrist on some sandbags, concentrate on the front sight, squeeze the trigger gently and let it fire when the gun wants to. Do not try to force it to the point of aim, tighten your grip or resist the guns recoil.

After getting it dialed in, when you shoot off hand you will know the pistol is capable of holding good groups so any inaccuracy when your shooting the gun is caused by you.

No, I'm not picking on you.
Almost all of us have a number of small things we do when we shoot pistols that cause them to miss the point of aim.
That's why pistol shooting accurately is the hardest thing to learn.

 

[Millermpls]

I was just trying to get a feel for the grip and trigger pull today, so I was shooting off-hand one handed (just seems wrong to shoot this using a two-hand stance). Seemed pretty dead on when I did my part (though I have to cop to that only being about 75% of the shots). First four shots were about 20 ft, then I moved it back to 30 ft (max for the range I was on).

I would need not only sandbags, but a spotting scope to shoot this at 50-75 feet. :surrender: :haha:

 

[silly goose]

No offense taken, I know there are better handgun shots out there. I fancied myself a handgunner at one point, only hunting with them for a few years before catching the black powder bug.

I think this has more to do with a slightly undersize ball, and too thin of patching at this point.

My Lee mold throws pure lead at .486, and ticking at .018 seems a bit loose, easy to load. Next time out I want to try some .024 denim. I'm hoping that will do the trick to at least tighten her up a lil bit.

Right now I can get three out of 5 in the vitals of a whitetail at 20 yards, and thats just plain not good enough. I'd like to get them into the size of a large apple at that range at least. I'll keep trying as time permits and report back. I don't see any reason it shouldn't be an accurate shooter.

 

[Wes/Tex]

You might try picking up a few .490" and .495" balls and see if a slightly larger ball and thinner patch doesn't go some way to improving accuracy. You can hit a "point of diminishing returns" with ever increasing patch thickness. Unless you do a whole lot of shooting, consider leather patches. Anything in the thin leathers from chamois on up will work. Leather compresses much more than cloth in thickness, doesn't smolder and can often be picked up, licked off and reused...about the licked off part.... :wink: :rotf:

 

[wayne terry]

A little its not quite as legable now not to much into removing metal where metal needs to be but thats ok get you some 0000 steel wool some birchwood casey blue and rust remover and some either birchwood casey plum brown which works with heat or some laurel mountain browining soulution it works with humidity pistols are easy to do, and you can lighten up the color of those stocks to with a little mineral spirits and then a good coat of paste hardwood floor wax will protect it against the elements.
good luck to ya
ST

 

[Millermpls]

Thanks for the tips. Not sure that I will proceed, but it is good to have some first steps.

 

[wayne terry]

Wouldn't do it on a new gun myself wear some of the new and blue offn of er first in a couple of years you mite give er a try ifn you want to

 

[Chilidog]

I have one in 50 and have been extremely happy with it over the years. Great piece.

 

[Roguedog]

Shooting handguns accurately is certainly an art form. I have been trying to master it for years. Shooting a handgun accurately is not complex, it's just hard to do.

Jeff

 

[cynthialee]

Shooting handguns accurately is certainly an art form. I have been trying to master it for years. Shooting a handgun accurately is not complex, it's just hard to do.

Jeff

this is soooo true
I love pistols and I have always been a marginal shot at best with one. Rifles I am not so fired up over and I shoot them rather well for a backyard enthusiast.

 

[G.smith]

I hope you are having as much fun with that Plains pistol as I am with my "Kentucky" .54 from pedersoli.
I am still working up the "load", ball, patch, lube combo on mine..

 

[Millermpls]

Thanks, I am. I have got reloading down to a pretty fast routine through a little repetition. I am currently shooting:

35 grains FFFG
.005 inch patch
.53 caliber Hornady ball

I would guess I could go with a much stouter load, but I haven't (yet?).

 

[G.smith]

I'm gonna have to try your load. I have been working patch thickness but not getting the accuracy I want. 40gr fffg, 530 rb, .006 to .007 patch.
The heaviest load I have tried was 60gr. Only once, and never again. :surrender:

 

[rodwha]

I've not seen anything about such thin patches. I always thought 0.010" was a VERY thin patch.

 

[Millermpls]

60 grains? You are a better man than I, sir. That must have been a literal handful.

Have you regularly shot 40-50 grains? The pistol seems to be built like a tank, so I am not terribly apprehensive...

 

[Millermpls]

More my newbie ignorance than anything else. Bought the pistol at an auction for $120. Cabelas had .53 ball and .005 & .015 lubed patches: the math worked on the former. I have been using a bullet starter. Once the ball is a few inches down the barrel, it slides easy with the rammer.

I am going to order a few items from track of the wolf, so I will include some .509 ball to try with thicker patches as a comparison, but I think it will be hard to beat the larger ball and thinner patch.

As a side note: my clumsy fingers cannot grab a single .015 patch, much less a .005, I always get several. It may be farby, but I use a small forceps with thin blades from an old computer repair tool set to separate from the sticky stack.