Shot the old Lyman 54 some yesterday

[jambuster]

Went to the son-in-law's farm yesterday and shot about 25 rounds. Just shooting beer cans off hand. I have both .530 and .535 balls. I was just trying to decide if I could tell the difference loading them but I couldn't

I have never been able to load more than 2 without swabbing the boar so a while back I tried polishing the bore with fine scotch Brite as shown by Dualist 54 in his video. I did a hundred strokes with the red fine scotch Brite. I guess that wasn't enough cause I am still having to clean between shots

 

[jambuster]

Forgot the picture

 

[Phil Coffins]

If you can’t load more then two your doing something wrong. What’s all the details of your load? I shoot an entire match without swabbing so it can be done.

 

[LonestarShootR]

If you can’t load more then two your doing something wrong. What’s all the details of your load? I shoot an entire match without swabbing so it can be done.

Well I am somewhat to to this and have the same issues.

Seems to be a patch thickness to ball diameter thing vs actual bore size. Guess one could go with smaller dia. ball and a thinner patch material to get a .010" smaller ball/patch combo. The barrel's bore would be another thing to question?

 

[jambuster]

Burrs/rough bore is a common problem in investarms guns. They are quite accurate but hard to load more than a couple of rounds without cleaning. Dulalist54 has documented this in his fix video. I used finer scotch Brite than he did and less strokes. Going to do a hundred more.

 

[jambuster]

If you can’t load more then two your doing something wrong. What’s all the details of your load? I shoot an entire match without swabbing so it can be done.

Phil

I am loading 110 grs of Graff fffg , .535 and .530 balls , .015 pillow ticking patch, old CVA #11 CAPS ( THESE ARE CCI'S ). This load is very accurate in my gun .

 

[Maven]

Phil

I am loading 110 grs of Graff fffg , .535 and .530 balls , .015 pillow ticking patch, old CVA #11 CAPS ( THESE ARE CCI'S ). This load is very accurate in my gun .

That's an awfully heavy load, jb. No wonder you can't get more than 2 shots without swabbing your bore. I think I'd drop down to 100gr. FFg and try a wet lube, e.g., spit, "moose milk," etc. If wet patch lube isn't your preference, Google "Stumpy's Moose Snot," which is easy to concoct and is good for 8* shots before you'll need to swab the bore. Just some food for thought...

 

[[email protected]]

60-70 grs of 3F is a good target load. I would save the full Monty loads for hunting.

 

[akroguy]

.526 ball is an option and yes, GPR barrels can be pretty rough inside. I swabbed the bore well over 100 strokes with green scotchbite to smooth mine out.

 

[smokeum54]

For plinking try 50gr powder and spit patch, i can shoot all day without cleaning. What do the shot patches look like?

 

[jambuster]

I was thinking about trying some olive oil. Her Majesty has 3 bottles.

 

[longcruise]

I was thinking about trying some olive oil. Her Majesty has 3 bottles.

You are probably not going to see any difference with it. You need to use a wet lube. Spit is the simplest and everyone has an unlimited lifetime supply. Just pop the patch in your mouth and saturate it. This will wipe the fouling from the previous shot as you load the next.

There are other options than spit.

What's important to consider is how long it will be loaded. Are you shooting only at the range or hunting? If hunting you want a lube that is not water based but in a more liquid form. Hoppes black powder patch lube is a good one.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hoppes-N...8c6897d11e141d221492f129828f2b08&gclsrc=3p.ds

 

[Keyhole]

I love target shooting with my Lyman .54, usually shooting 65 grains of Goex FF with a .530 ball and .018 spit patch. We shoot two 10-shot rounds at each match, I swab between rounds while I’m waiting, just because…..

 

[aussie pete]

Went to the son-in-law's farm yesterday and shot about 25 rounds. Just shooting beer cans off hand. I have both .530 and .535 balls. I was just trying to decide if I could tell the difference loading them but I couldn't

I have never been able to load more than 2 without swabbing the boar so a while back I tried polishing the bore with fine scotch Brite as shown by Dualist 54 in his video. I did a hundred strokes with the red fine scotch Brite. I guess that wasn't enough cause I am still having to clean between shots

You have a lot of advice already. For my 54, fun shooting and targets, I use 60gns of FFG, a 530 roundball, a spit lubed .018 patch (pillow ticking), and an overthrow of semolina (about a teaspoon's worth); using the overthrow of semolina, you can be as generous as you want with your spit - slobber away @jambuster and let us know how you get on. Oh, and I gave up on the 535 balls because they didn't add to accuracy, oft times making it harder to load as the shot numbers got higher.

Cheers, Pete

 

[ETipp]

Your are shooting an overload. Per the Lyman manual for the .54 GPR the maximum loading of 3F is 100 grains. This is on PDF that I tried to post but it will not do so. That may be part of the fouling issue. The other is the .015 patches instead of .018 patches. Have you inspected any recovered patches? That can be very helpful in determining the proper patch thickness and material required for optimum.

My .54 GPR loves 90 Grains of 3F, .530 RB, .018 ticking and TOTW Mink Oil. Before I tried a lower powder charge and didn't achieve the great accuracy I have now.

Second. I know you are interested in finding a load that you can shoot more repetitively without having to wipe the bore. It that's your goal, then try some other patch lube such as spit or something with a cleaner in it. For hunting, stick with a good lube such as mink oil, olive oil/beeswax mixture or bear grease and leave the spit in your mouth and cleaners under your sink. I do strongly suggest you do your final test shooting and sight-in prior to hunting season with whatever patch lube you plan on hunting with.

Personally, I have no issues with running a moist patch that has Windex on it after a few shots, then follow up with a couple of dry patches. Unless one is competition shooting or perhaps doing a woods-walk shoot, it's no big deal to run a patch down the bore after a few shots. Even then I would still choose to run a moist patch down the bore after a few shots if time permits. I can promise you one thing. After I do the above, regardless of how many shots I've fired, at the end of the day and come time to clean, all of my ML's have little fouling that comes out.

Thirdly, Swiss powder has proven to me to be cleaner than at least GOEX. Never tried Gaffs. Either way, Swiss is a cleaner burning powder.

Good luck.

 

[Daveboone]

I hunt with my target load in my 54 for. Whitetails don’t take much killing 80 gr with a ,015 patch and 530 ball, I can shoot over 24 shots without any difficulty loading.

 

[jambuster]

Your are shooting an overload. Per the Lyman manual for the .54 GPR the maximum loading of 3F is 100 grains. This is on PDF that I tried to post but it will not do so. That may be part of the fouling issue. The other is the .015 patches instead of .018 patches. Have you inspected any recovered patches? That can be very helpful in determining the proper patch thickness and material required for optimum.

My .54 GPR loves 90 Grains of 3F, .530 RB, .018 ticking and TOTW Mink Oil. Before I tried a lower powder charge and didn't achieve the great accuracy I have now.

Second. I know you are interested in finding a load that you can shoot more repetitively without having to wipe the bore. It that's your goal, then try some other patch lube such as spit or something with a cleaner in it. For hunting, stick with a good lube such as mink oil, olive oil/beeswax mixture or bear grease and leave the spit in your mouth and cleaners under your sink. I do strongly suggest you do your final test shooting and sight-in prior to hunting season with whatever patch lube you plan on hunting with.

Personally, I have no issues with running a moist patch that has Windex on it after a few shots, then follow up with a couple of dry patches. Unless one is competition shooting or perhaps doing a woods-walk shoot, it's no big deal to run a patch down the bore after a few shots. Even then I would still choose to run a moist patch down the bore after a few shots if time permits. I can promise you one thing. After I do the above, regardless of how many shots I've fired, at the end of the day and come time to clean, all of my ML's have little fouling that comes out.

Thirdly, Swiss powder has proven to me to be cleaner than at least GOEX. Never tried Gaffs. Either way, Swiss is a cleaner burning powder.

Good luck.

Those are some of the patches from. FRIDAY. These are a precut .015 pillow ticking. I think they came from TOW.

My Lyman instructions and black powder manual both indicate that 110grs of fffg is a suitable load. I've read before that some manuals recommend a lower charge but I've shot this one enough to where I'm not worried about it. I do have a can of GOEX i could try. I got the graff's a while back and it shoots fine. I've got several pounds so I'm gonna keep using it for the time being.