questions on Lyman Great Plains Rifle 50 cal

[The_Question]

This will be my introduction to blackpowder shooting, I've been reading all you have to offer and I thank everyone for the information you provide on this forum.

I have been planning to make my own roundballs but I've been curious about something and wonder if one could elaborate on this for me. Additionally what kind of thickness in the wads should I look into?

in particular I'm planning on getting a Lyman great plains rifle with a 1 in 60 twist rate, I've been gathering up the supplies to cast my own bullets but I'm wondering is there a difference between the 490 and 495 diameter balls? both should work in the 50 caliber no? I'm mainly concerned if it one would be too little, or too snug for shooting in the 50 cal. So what is really the difference between the two? I apologize if this sounds silly but I always want to double check on everything when it comes to firearms.


I just bought my Lee 4-20 melting pot and some lead ingots until I can find a free lead supply so any and all tips or advice would be appreciated, the last thing I will get is my rifle once I got a decent amount of supplies for it.

 

[Maven]

"...but I'm wondering is there a difference between the 490 and 495 diameter balls? both should work in the 50 caliber no? I'm mainly concerned if it one would be too little, or too snug for shooting in the 50 cal. So what is really the difference between the two?"

The difference is .005" if swaged (e.g., Hornady), but only approximately that if cast from pure Pb.* However, you may want to test your rifle with each diameter, holding patch thickness, lube type, and powder charge constant. Btw, I have that rifle and use .490" (actually .492") RB's which I cast from a RCBS mold. The lube is either Stumpy's Moose Snot or 1 Ballistol : 6 water. A pillow ticking patch measuring .018" compressed is a good fit with that ball diameter. Accuracy has been excellent with loads of 40grs. FFg - 90grs. FFg. Hope this helps!


*Assuming pure Pb, you'll find different manufacturers' molds cast a nominal RB diameter, e.g., .490" or .495", but in actuality they may be .488", .492" (my RCBS mold), or even .497" for a Lee .495" RB mold.

 

[Zonie]

Welcome to the Forum.

Both the .490 and the .495 balls will work in your .50 caliber gun. They will need to be loaded with a lubricated thin cotton or linen patch, usually something between .015 and .020 will work nicely.

You do not need a "wad" of any kind to get very good accuracy. Some feel it helps to improve the accuracy but others don't see much difference.

All muzzleloading guns will have one or two loads that are more accurate than others.
That's why the .490 and .495 diameter balls are popular. One usually works better than the other.

Because you can change the ball size, the patch thickness, the lube and the powder charge there are a bunch of different combinations.
The trick is to find which ones work best.

My Lyman GPR seems to like .490 diameter balls patched with a blue and white striped "pillow ticking" that is about .018 thick, lubricated with Stumpkillers Moose Juice (put "moose juice" into the advanced search engine on this forum), over a 80 grain powder charge of 3Fg Swiss black powder.

Yours might like this load too. On the other hand, although it shoots well in my GPR it might not hit the side of a barn in yours.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Welcome to the forum! I find that a 490 bsll and thicker patch makes for easier loading than a 495 ball. But you can use either. The best part of this game is that each rifle is different and the fun is trying to work up the best ball/patch /lube/ powder charge. I strongly suggest you save a lot of time and money and get Dutch Schultz's system to help you along your journey into the dark side! :idunno:

 

[George T.]

I have that rifle. It shoots either .490 with .018 ticking or .495 with .015 very well. I use real black powder and 75 grains is very accurate for target work and 90 to 110 shoot great at longer ranges. I use 2F because it shoots better than 3F.

I did shoot the .495 and the .018 ticking but loading was a chore even when swabbing between shots. By the way I would suggest snugging up the cross keys as per the manual before sighting your rifle in. Mine got loose and I tightened them only to find that the point of impact changed.

Good Luck! Geo. T.

 

[necchi]

What it boils down to Question is a few techniques developed by the loader and/or minor characteristics of each individual rifle that can lead to a rifle finding it's best accuracy with either 490 or 495,, :idunno:
It's a good bet to start with 490's and experiment with a few different patch thickness and lube properties. As you shoot, your rifle barrel will "break in" in the range of 100-150 shots,, at the same time you'll become familiar with the rifle and begin developing your own loading technique
Once you've reached that point try 495,, and see if it'll shoot those better, your rifle and your technique will let you know what the preferred ball size will be.

Tell ya what, you hang out here, spend some time learning and sharing and when you reach the point of needing some 495 to try, send me a PM and we'll get ya set up with enough to experiment with. :wink:

 

[cynthialee]

thick enough patch and you can run any ball down the barrel that fits

A nice snug fit is preferable. If your going to use the larger ball then you will need thinner patches. Which can burn up easier. The smaller ball and a thicker patch has less chance of burn through on the patch.
So with that in mind I would go with the .490 ball and a .015 or .018 patch for your gun.
jm2centavos

 

[rafterob]

I'd sure appreciate it if you sent me maybe a couple hundred to experiment with.