Lyman Great Plains Rifle
 

Finally finished my Lyman Great Plains Rifle that I built from a kit. (Debated whether to post this here or in Do It Yourself). It's a .54 cal percussion, barrel is 32" with a 1:60" twist for stabilizing round balls. I can tell you what not to do much better than I can tell you how to build a muzzle loader from a kit. I've taken it to the range twice so far, put about 24 rounds thru it. Here are a couple of pictures:




Mike

Oh, I don't know, Mike.....looks like you did a quite respectable job from what I can see in the photos.....how does it shoot?

Mr 16G - still sighting her in. I need to file the front sight to bring up the point of impact. But it shoots well I'd say. At 50 yds using 70 grs ffg, first 3 shots within 2.5" with the last 2 almost touching. Then I started experimenting with heavier loads, 80 gr, 100 gr. It's rated for 120 gr ffg with round ball but I haven't shot that yet. But if it'll shoot 120 gr with decent accuracy it'll be my hunting load. I still have a lot of playing to do. This is the most fun I've had since I started reloading for rifles!

Mike

Mike,

Nice job and nice photos. I built 3 Pennsylvania Rifles in .45 caliber in the 1980s and learned a bit more with each finished gun.

The .54 is a good deer load with patched ball. My accuracy load is 75 grains of 3F Goex. If your rifle likes 120 grains of powder, then go for it. I think 75 or 80 grains is "enough gun" for deer.

Adam

Adam,
Thanks, I'm pretty pleased with it. I don't know how much my new rifle likes 120 gr. I just figured that I would try to develop a target load with something like 70 gr and a hunting load with about 100 gr or so. I've had thoughts about going after elk eventually with it but I'm a little worried about penetration. But figure it should be ok if I keep the distances within reason, like within 100 yds or less...

Mike

Very nice Mike, looks like ya done a fine job on your rifle. I have yet to build one myself, I wouldn't mind getting me one of those great plain kits. How long did it take ya.

Very nice
 

Mike,
I like the bluing and the stock finish. What did you use? All the best...
Gil

Thanks Gil and JR,
This project (as usual) took me much longer than expected. It was a Christmas present to myself and I started sometime around the beginning of Feb or so. I re-did some of the metal parts 3 - 4 times due to my inexperience and wanting to get it right. The stock finish is Pro-Custom Oil, which is Tung Oil with a small amount of Urethane for sealing, it has about 12 coats total. All metal was "browned" with Laurel Mountain Forge Barrel Brown and Degreaser (except the lock and trigger mechanism which came pre-finished). Both of these products are available from Brownells and Midway. I had to learn the hard way about browning; we have low humidity in Colorado and the chemical reaction really needs humidity to work - it's basically a rusting process. After the first attempt on the barrel that left it with an almost golden color, I went to WalMart and bought a cheap humidifier for about $25. For the dark coloring, I used 12 hour intervals and carded with 000 steel wool between coats. It took about 6 coats to get the finish I wanted.

Mike