New GPR - not impressed

[FishDFly]

I bought a Lyman GPR Flintlock 50 cal. 4 or 5 years ago from Mid-South.

I cannot find anything wrong with the rifle. Folks talk about changing the trigger assembly out, nope it is as good as it gets. I have numerous Davis triggers in T/Cs and they are great for line work, the Lyman is just as good. I was lucky it seems.

But with all the reading since I bought the rifle, I feel I was durn lucky to get it.

With the current postings in the last year or so, I would not buy Lyman, I would double my money up and go with Pedersoli.

I bought a Pedersoli Hawken along with a bunch of other Pedersoli products and you pay more and get more.

I do not understand why folks will pay good money and then accept sub-standard workmanship from Lyman.

BBB, seems like the answer to me.

 

[Jamie from Alberta]

My brother bought a GPR flint kit last March. He just finished it. 1st shot, 90gr load of Goex FFG and it split the stock all the way down from the forearm to wrist :cursing:
Not only that, the flash/vent hole was off a 1/4"
This was his first and last Lyman.
He's built TC kits and has a couple Pedersoli's and two custom flints(fowler).
He said he has never seen such poor quality metal.
He told me my wheel weight lead ingots were harder :shocked2:
Looks like now I have some parts for my GPR......

 

[redneck]

I had a lyman tr. loved it it was a 1 hole shooter at 50 yds with rb. I only say 50 because that's my hunting limit range. however I spotted a diixe rade musket 75 cal. it spoke to me take me home. so lyman goes to gunshop trade musket goes home with me.

 

[stinkyfeet]

I will say this much I bought a 54 cal percussion kit in April. It went together fine other than the 1/4 gap on the top of the but plate being 6'6" I need all the stock I can get so shortening wasn't an option, I filled in the gap with some stock steel laying around the house and finished it off nice. Then the rear dovetail on the sights were cut to larger to hold either rear sight in the kit in place. I ended up ordering a adjustable rear sight from TOTW that says it slightly larger than 3/8 and walla it fits great. Now the guns looks very nice and is all browned out. The issue though is at 50 yards it sprays bullets like I am shooting a shotgun with 00 buck. I have over 300 balls through it now so it should be broke in enough that it should produce sub 6 inch groups at 50 off the bench. No matter the load, patch, powder, ball combo it sprays rounds. To make sure it wasn't our shooty shooting (2-trained army snipers granted) we secured it to a lead sled rest and the groups were never under 5 inches. To me I demand precision accuracy from my guns and I am at a lose
I went back to the old standby tc hawkens with a 32 inch mowery barrel custom to the gun and drive 1-1.5 groups at 50 yards all day. Of course the Lyman looks better however I was not convinced they are worth all the hype and high reviews, I may have gotten the one true turd gun of the batch it happens to all companies they will have defects that make it past QC checks. I am not against trying another down the road nor have I wrote them off.

 

[cynthialee]

OMG that is absolutely heart breaking!

 

[tecum-tha]

@2 Tall:
Is the bore rough or smooth?
Did you analyze your patching?
Sounds to me you burn or partly blow patches + pounding the ball?!
That is the main reason when a gun really sprays!
Especially if you shoot 3F in a .54!!
Had that before with a friends .54, almost drove me nuts. When I loaded the gun it was shooting fine. When he loaded the gun it shot like manure.
The specialist shot 3f substitute, although I told him to buy 2F. I was loading 2F black and the patches were fine. The 3F burned and blew them.Do you wipe between shots??
Are you shooting .530 balls or .535?
Did you try .520 with a thicker patch?
If a gun sprays like this, something is not right, but it is most likely not the gun....
Also, since you built the gun:
Are the sights really fixed and don't slightly move because of a shot? Is the barrel correctly seated and tight in the stock? Do the wedge slots allow for barrel expansion?

 

[Jamie from Alberta]

OMG that is absolutely heart breaking!

The barrel has been retired to the local garbage dump too.
Thats how Pi$$ed he is :shake:

 

[stinkyfeet]

@2 Tall:
Is the bore rough or smooth?
Did you analyze your patching?
Sounds to me you burn or partly blow patches + pounding the ball?!
That is the main reason when a gun really sprays!
Especially if you shoot 3F in a .54!!
Had that before with a friends .54, almost drove me nuts. When I loaded the gun it was shooting fine. When he loaded the gun it shot like manure.
The specialist shot 3f substitute, although I told him to buy 2F. I was loading 2F black and the patches were fine. The 3F burned and blew them.Do you wipe between shots??
Are you shooting .530 balls or .535?
Did you try .520 with a thicker patch?
If a gun sprays like this, something is not right, but it is most likely not the gun....
Also, since you built the gun:
Are the sights really fixed and don't slightly move because of a shot? Is the barrel correctly seated and tight in the stock? Do the wedge slots allow for barrel expansion?

I have used 3f and 2f both in goex, and schuetzen, have not tried and synthetic stuff. I have used .530,.532, and .535 balls have not tried .520. I have used .010-.020 patches with many lubes and spit. The sights are tight and have proof marks on them to ensure they are not moving. The barrel is free of snags and i observe no rough patches in the barrel, and the patches are coming our normal black dot on the back with no rips or blow outs. The barrel is a snug tight fit into the breech and fit into channel well, the wedges are tight but not lose. I have built a great many guns and this one truly boggles the mind. All 3 of my TC's I built from kits no issues, restock a pedersoli frontier no issues, crockett rifle fine, double barrel cva good to go and 45 tn mt rifle fires true. The Lyman all over the target, also have tried hand poured balls, swedged balls, and even maxi's. Best group its ever shot is 5 inches off the bench at 50 yards. I am going to swap barrels with my buddies gun on Saturday am and he shoots mine and I shoot his and see if it makes a differnce.

 

[bpd303]

That is one of the first things I do when I can't get a gun to shoot a good group. Hand it off to someone else to shoot and see if it's the barrel or shooter. If it's the barrel I try lapping it, if that doesn't work replace it or lay it in the creek for a couple days to wash away the evil spirits. :youcrazy:

 

[stinkyfeet]

Well being two trained army snipers have fired it with the same results and it locked down into a lead sled to ensure zero movement same results. Its likely not the shooter or the sled throwing it off. Might try laping the barrel if it turns out it shoots bad on his stock than I know its something in the barrel.If that doesn't work an exorcism might be in order.

 

[kingsax26]

I too just recently finished a LYMAN GPR kit...while there are things that I didnt like about it....I kept it and I wish I had returned it. It is still a good gun....however if your not happy with it now...you wont be happy with a year from now either

 

[stinkyfeet]

Well being two trained army snipers have fired it with the same results and it locked down into a lead sled to ensure zero movement same results. Its likely not the shooter or the sled throwing it off. Might try laping the barrel if it turns out it shoots bad on his stock than I know its something in the barrel.If that doesn't work an exorcism might be in order.

Ok heres the update we took the barrel off my gun and put it on his and it shoots like manure his barrel on my stock and it gives 2 inch groups so we determined it to be the barrel. With no obvious obstructions the next plan is to unbreech the barrel and get a better look he is a machinist so he has cool stuff to mic the barrel and inspect it better UPDATE to follow

 

[58CAL]

WOW!!!!!!! YOUR ISSUES ARE JUST THE OPPOSIT OF WHAT MINE HAVE BEEN WITH BOTH THE RIFLE AND THE LYMAN AND MIDSOUTH COMPANIES. I GUESS MY QUESTION IS IF MID SOUTH SAYS SEND IT BACK WHATS THE PROBLEM? THEY ARE A VERY GOOD COMPANY AND EASY TO DEAL WITH.AS FOR LYMAN I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEM GETTING A PERSON TO TALK TO I JUST TEND TO USE MID SOUTH AS THEY SELL LYMAN PRODUCTS CHEAPER THAN LYMAN DOES. ALSO THEY HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO THAN TO SELL RIFLES THEY HAVE PUT TOGETHER FROM KITS!!!!!!

 

[MtnWolf]

Update: Making it Right

As indicated previously my partner ordered a new GPR also. His arrived and it is in better condition, but he also had the "lock" issue. He found that the lock rubbing the barrel was forcing the lock away from where it sits in the stock. This was fixed on both rifles with his milling machine.

We found the inlet where the lock sits needed some leveling and attacked that also.

We now have locks that are fitting flush with the stocks with the hammers centered over the nipple's. No longer do I need to loosen the tang bolts to remove the barrel either.

This winter I'll deal with the rest of the stock issues. Will likely test fire both rifles next week.

 

[stinkyfeet]

I didn't order my kit from Mid-South but have heard they are easy to deal with. I figured I would go directly to Lyman direct instead of the vendor I purchased the kit from. Overall after all the issues the gun came out looking well just shoots like poopy.