Problems with my first flintlock

[Crazy Horse]

Hello,
I finally decide to ge me a flintlock after wanting one for several years.I got the Lyman GPR 50 cal that is rifled for round balls. I shot it for the first time last weekend. And when it sparked enough to go off which was not very often it had a noticable delay. The first problem was the crappy triggers that are installed on the gun. The set trigger is hard to pull and the front trigger has a lot of creep in it. I just figured (hoped) I was doing something wrong so I call my cousin that is a very experienced Flintlocker. He has shot and built them for the last 30 or 40 years. He did everthing he could think of to make the gun spark better but nothing worked. He said the flint on my gun hits the frizzen lower that it should and that the frizzen it's self was softer than it should be. He said the only thing he new to do was sell it or replace the lock with an L&R Lyman replacement lock. The only lock he likes is a Chambers but he said the L&R was pretty good most of the time. I had read a lot of good things about the Lyman rifles on the internet so I was very suprised when I had all these problems. I am open to any ideas you might have in what I need to do.

 

[rabjr]

Sounds like you got a lemon, anyway to take it back? Is it under warranty? Call Lyman!

 

[Flint311]

Be sure the flint is sharp, of course. Maybe, try turning the flint over (bevel up/down). This can make it hit higher on the frizzen, sometimes.

Does a file scrape the frizzen or slide across it?

 

[tiger955]

I assume your friend tried a different flint, and tried adjusting it so it hits higher? I find some flints work better than others in my lock (new style TC), and all will usually work if I fiddle around to get the angle right.

 

[Crazy Horse]

I called Lyman and they acted like they thought I was lying and said I could send it back and they would take a look at if to see if there was really anything wrong with it. It pissed me off when the the lady I was talking too didn't believe what my cousin, that has been shooting and building flintlocks longer than this woman has been alive, said was wrong with the gun.I think I will make it a wall hanger before I go to the trouble and expense of sending it back to CT. Lyman won't have to worry about me running out to buy anything else with their name on it. I just can't decide it is worth another $200 for a new lock and triggers. I do all that and it may or may not shoot better and it's not worth a penny more if I sell it. Has anyone on here used the L&R Lyman replacement lock and had good luck with it?

 

[gl1200a]

Go back about 6 pages and find this thread.
"L&R Lock for Lyman GPR"

Some good suggestions in it.
I put the L+R lock on mine with a white lightning vent liner.
Love it.
But there are other solutions.

 

[Crazy Horse]

We tried 3 different english flints. He had some nice english flints that had flats ground down on top so the flint held better. We also fliped the flints and nothing improved. A file did scratch the frizzen on th Lyman. When you ran it over one of his Chambers frizzens it was quite a difference. It just slid across the chambers frizzen with out scratching it and the metal had a higher pitched sound when the file hit it that when it hit the Lyman. There was not doubt the Lyman frizzen was softer.

 

[inthex]

did cuz say anything about maybe case hardening the frizzen? don't give up to soon I'm sure there is a lot of good advice here abouts.

 

[Flint311]

The frizzen sounds like it's bad. Is the warranty good to have it replaced? Best of luck (and frustrating)

 

[FPDoc]

The GPR is pretty well thought of and worth messing with. Consider sending it back while its still under warranty with complaint about the soft frizzen and the poor trigger, It wont cost them a thing to swap them out. Or search the forum for instructions on rehardening the frizzen. Mine came with a quite acceptable trigger but there is a very affordable replacement trigger available and while the geometry of the lock is not quite right (the flint striking low on the frizzen) mine has worked well with "bevel down" to raise it a bit and I think Ill try a leather spacer under the flint to raise it another 1/8 inch or so and I think you can replace the cock (hammer) with one from a TC to fix the geometry problem. Dont give up on it, its a good rifle.. or send it to me. :wink:

 

[FPDoc]

Davis "Deerslayer" Trigger $41

 

[ebiggs1]

Contrary to what some others say, the Lyman GPR is not a good shooter right out of the box. It can be changed into a really nice gun with little effort. It is a direct copy of a TC Hawken but when they did their copying , they copied the old style TC. It also had problems. The only really good part of a new GPR is the barrel. This is the facts, so deal with it and move on. There is probably nothing wrong with the frizzen and hardening it is a waste of time and money. Here is a very simple cheap way to help correct the flint strike.

Notice the extra added piece of leather under the flint.

The lead flint wrap is not necessary as leather works better but it is an option. Here is a better fix but will cost you $20 bucks or so. It is a new style TC cock to replace the poor Lyman.

This is about 500 shots later! You can see where the Lyman dug into the frizzen but how much better the TC cock is.

Best fix.

This is the L&R lock. It is the ultimate upgrade. It may not be a Chamber's but it's close and works very well.

The biggest and most important upgrade is the touch hole. Drill it with a 5/64” and cone it.

The stock Lyman touch hole sucks. Shown on the bottom.

There is no fix for the GPR trigger except to replace it with the superb Davis.

Do these things I have suggested and you will have a real nice gun and still not have spent a lot of money. :thumbsup:
I have two of these, bought the second one after I knew it wasn't a good rifle from the start but I knew what to do to make it work. You can too. I hope yours is the 54, it is my choice. :grin:
Don't get too down on your GPR because even high dollar custom guns need a "touch up" (even Chamber's) form time to time. :hmm:

 

[cowpoke1955]

I have a .54 GPR flinter. As mentioned, turn the flint over. With the bevel up, which seems natural, the flint will hit the frizzen too low. With the flint turned over, bevel down, the flint hits higher on the frizzen and I have no problems. Another problem was a flash in the pan issue. I drilled the touch hole to 1/16th" and that helped a little. I drilled it again to 5/64th" and coned it and now she goes off every time. See ebiggs pictures. I wish you luck :thumbsup:

 

[rootsy]

You never mentioned what you were using for powder in both the main charge as well as the priming charge.

The Lyman triggers can be worked on and can be made to operate fairly well.

 

[Crazy Horse]

I have got a lot of good ideas from yall. I bet I can get this thing shooting.

I was shooting Goex FF under a patched ball and priming the pan with Goex FFF

 

[cowpoke1955]

You'll get it going. My .54 GPR flinter has become my favorite deer rifle. At the range, I'll use FFFFg for prime. When I go hunting, I'll use FFFg. FFFg is more resistant to moisture in the air. I have shot FFg and FFFg for a main charge. FFg seems to give me a tighter group. Each rifle is different, so try both and see which one your rifle likes best. Enjoy :thumbsup:

 

[Greenjoytj]

I have a GPR 54 flinter, the trigger is hard to pull and the set trigger feature did not work at all right out of the box.
I called Lyman yes you have fight your way past the first girl and to speak to a technician. He helped solve the set trigger problem (the single lock hold down screw was too tight) and wood fibers in the stock lock mortise.

I replaced the vent liner with an RMC metric thread liner for the lyman GPR I had ordered it before the rifle arrived. I haven't had a FTF yet and I'm still using the OEM cut agate flint!
The rifling is very sharp edged some of my recovered patches show a cut mark. I know this will stop when the rifle gets shot a bunch more times.

 

[Lonegun1894]

My first GPR gave me some issues as well, so know the feeling. My fix was to use real flints instead of the agate it came with, and drill and cone the flash hole as has already been said. I am up to three of them now, all flinters, and love them. Dont give up on your rifle just yet. Look at it this way, the more you fiddle with it and finally fix it, the better you know it and its quirks and the more you will trust it in the long run. GPRs are great rifles, but definitely not perfect right out of the box.

I cant remember who first said it here on this forum, but the basic answer I always try to remember is that these were developed and perfected by people who had less education than most of us and much fewer tools, and they made them work. We can figure this out also and make it work as well as it did in the old days. Never give up. :thumbsup:

 

[ODG34]

Is that TC cock a direct replacement for the Lymann cock? I never even tried my GPR with the factory lock for prabably years. I ordered a GPR kit and a L&R RPL lock at the same time. My triger works fine but.... It is no Davis trigger for sure.

 

[ebiggs1]

Is that TC cock a direct replacement for the Lymann cock?

It is close but remember the Lyman is metric and the TC is American. That is the basic difference because Lyman simply copied the TC lock. Unfortunately they copied the wrong one!.