Speaking of Lyman GPR

[Gene L]

I bought mine 20 years ago. I stripped off the blue and browned the barrel. I like it better.

However, to the point. Mine has a good looking walnut stock, with some modest figure. Very dark, but well finished. A very accurate rifle in .50 caliber.

About two months ago, I saw a new GPR. The wood apparently was not walnut, or at least didn't look like it.

Has anyone bought a new one and compared it to an earlier one? The photo on the Lyman site also shows a rather plain, light in color, not figured at all. Looks like either "hardwood" or very plain walnut. Could have been maple, I guess, which would be periodically correct, but I couldn't tell.

A fine rifle.

 

[joe4702]

I bought my .54 GPR a couple years ago.The stock is okay, but nothing special. Pretty sure it's walnut and the Lyman website still indicates such. It's stained pretty dark. Likewise, the metal polish and bluing is acceptable, but nothing great. Wood to metal fit is good, the double set trigger is quite nice, the gun fires reliably and seems accurate (my lack of expertise and poor eyesight are the limiting factors).

An older TC New Englander and Renegade I have exhibit nicer wood, smoother polish and deeper bluing. But I still like the GPR better because it's more "authentic" IMO compared to the TC rifles. In fact, I just sold the New Englander and will be selling the Renegade as I just don't shoot them any more.

 

[lone hunter]

According to tracking, mine should be here Tuesday. Will be better able to answer your question then. Somewhat concerned now as I was told it was a premium stock when ordering.

 

[Gene L]

If you was told a premium stock, I'm sure it is. Could be the one I saw had a straight grain stock on it. Or, as I said, it could be maple. It's a fine rifle and I'm sure you'll love it. Mine doesn't have a "premium" stock, it's got just a little figure in it and is really dark. It's like joe described his; good but nothing special. It shoots really well.

 

[ncmtmike]

Mine are several years apart in age 1 percussion,1 flint,but both are walnut stock,both I am considering on a re-finish,just haven't got roundtoit :shake:

 

[Dan Levesque]

I'm doing a Lyman GPR kit that I just bought. The stock is a reddish walnut that they call English walnut.

 

[Carl Fowler III]

Wasn't aware you could order a premium stock from Lyman? :hmm:

 

[pwbsmokey]

I think it is pretty much luck of the draw. They probably buy planks in bulk and most are going to have similar amount of figure. That being said, I'm sure that there are going to be some that have less, and some that have better than average figure. Most people will probably be satisfied, or pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately somebody is going to be disappointed. I have a GPR that I bought about 20 years ago, and I'm very happy with the wood. Others have even commented on how nice the stock looks. I also have a Plains Pistol that I bought last year. Granted there is not a lot of wood on a pistol, but I have no complaints at all about the stock.

 

[ToothPick]

Here's what my .54GPR's wood looks like.

I bought it used from Pecatonica River Long Rifle Supply and I think it was a older kit.

I really like this rifle.

 

[Jim C]

Yep, although straight grained, that's still a pretty nice piece of wood you've got there. I bought mine 15 yrs ago. It's pretty dark overall but with a streak of lighter grain at the toe and fore end tip. I love mine as well. She's a .50 cal and accurate enough to head shoot tree rats. I just don't see how anyone could ask for better than that.

 

[M. De Land]

Nice striped wood! It almost looks laminated!

 

[lone hunter]

Advertised at Mid South as quality walnut. When questioned further, the lady taking my order said it was premium walnut. All I know, we'll see.

That's a fine looking stock.

 

[Gene L]

Yep, although straight grained, that's still a pretty nice piece of wood you've got there. I bought mine 15 yrs ago. It's pretty dark overall but with a streak of lighter grain at the toe and fore end tip. I love mine as well. She's a .50 cal and accurate enough to head shoot tree rats. I just don't see how anyone could ask for better than that.

Mine is like that. The light strip is in the forend.

The wood is European walnut. Not beautiful, but serviceable.

I did not mean to place a germ of doubt for those who have recently ordered one or a kit. I merely posted on an observation of a single rifle and the website. Cabela's offers (or used to offer) a Lyman and a Pedersoli plains rifle.

 

[Gene L]

Edit:

My rifle does not have a "modest amount of grain," upon visual checking. It does have straight grain with dark/light grain, but it's very straight. Not nearly as striking as the one above. It's stained very dark, and might be more apparent if I stripped the stock, which I ain't gonna do. Too much work. :grin:

 

[Jim C]

I've always wanted to brown the metal work on mine and still may do it someday if I can find someone locally to do it w/o having to ship it. Like you, I'm just not up to it. Not only is it too much work, but I just don't feel confident enough that I can make it look like I would like for it to look. :idunno:

 

[Gene L]

If I remember, I removed the blue with Naval Jelly. After cleaning that off, I then heated the barrel up over the gas stove and applied Plum Brown, and polished it off. Maybe a couple of applications, can't remember.

It's not perfect, but it is fine. Not all that much work, but not a walk in the park, either. It took maybe a couple or three hours. I did it in my kitchen with snow on the ground, so it's not like I missed a lot of shooting time. Not a gunsmith job, IMO, and I'm clumsy with such things. It gets better with age, too.

I can't say it's more true to the originals, but I like it. I'm certainly not sorry I did it. Looks good. I'm down with brown.

 

[Gene L]

I will further amend my posts...I looked at the wood to metal fit; it's excellent except in one place, the back of the trigger guard which is slightly proud.

The toe plate is fitted very well, flat and meets the butt plate exactly, it's almost invisible. The toe plate screws are even indexed.

I refer to the photo above; my grain is like that but not nearly so warm brown...wish it was.

 

[Billnpatti]

Mike, Have you thought about artificially striping the stocks to look like premium quality figured stocks? It's not hard to do. After stripping your stock to bare wood, all it requires is dark brown leather dye and an assortment of artist's brushes. I have done only a few stocks and it takes me about an hour to an hour and a half to do a stock. You just use different widths of brushes and randomly vary the width of the stripes. You need to keep them relatively close together. Practice on a piece of scrap wood before starting on your rifle stock. At first, the stripes won't look right but once you start putting on the finish, the stripes start looking really good. If you don't like the way the stripes look, you can always sand them off and start over. Look at a nicely figured stock to get an idea of how to apply the stripes on your stock. It's fun to do and the results can be astonishing.

 

[Jim C]

Mine are several years apart in age 1 percussion,1 flint,but both are walnut stock,both I am considering on a re-finish,just haven't got roundtoit :shake:

Hey Mike, just curious. How did you finally come out with finding a patched ball load for the fast twist barrel you bought for your GPR? I don't recall ever seeing any follow up report on that from you.

 

[lone hunter]

Received my LGP Hunter. Stock is straight grained, similar to one pictured here, only darker. Not what I would call a premium piece of wood, functional with very good fit. Will put 2-3 coats of thunderbird on it this spring.

After 38 years of shooting my TC, what impresses me most about this rifle is the balance and ease of getting on target. Three feet of snow here so it'll be awhile before I see how it shoots.

Have to replace sights and figure out way to attach shoulder strap.