Tweaking a Lyman GPH

[WalnutRed]

I bought a used Lyman GPH , left hand percussion in 54 caliber. I've really grown to like this rifle, although it was not what I thought I was looking for at the time of purchase. However the more I shoot it, the more I want to tweak it a little. 1st, I want to brown the barrel and other iron hardware. Do I need to strip the bluing off first? I've already installed a semi buckhorn rear sight and after the barrel is finished will install a silver blade front site, which I prefer.

I need to sand the stock down around the trigger plate and tang to get the wood surfaced closer to the metal surfaces. The inletting around the tang is very loose. I obviously cannot easily add wood but I'm thinking of bedding the tang. What are your thoughts on this? I'm thinking the loose tang might be detrimental to accuracy and might increase the likelihood of an eventual wood crack there due to recoil.

 

[morehops52]

You will need to strip the blue off and start with an original surface. I will let those with more experience in browning and wood working to go from here.

 

[Phil Coffins]

Isn’t the tang beveled at the top edge? If that is the case the bevel would need to be removed to get a close fit. Welding it up would be ideal but filing it down maybe an option. The Lyman has plenty of wood to remove and reshaping the cheek rest is very desirable.

 

[William O.]

As far as refinishing, the previous advice will serve you well.
When it comes to developing an accurate load for it, I can help plenty. I had the same barrel mounted on an old Cabelas stock and I used a variety of styles and weights of lead conicals in order to find an accurate load combination. No matter what I tried, the addition of a lubed fiber wad increased the accuracy at least in a small but noticeable way.
The GPH barrel has a fast twist rate and shallow rifling so it's ideal for stabilizing conical bullets.