Lyman GPR Flint: Fantasy Piece?

[Crawdad1]

That's Great Cooldill!!

Sometimes flinters can be a little finicky. Just work with it, she'll spark.

 

[Dog Soldier]

The flint lock was invented by chicken thieves in France 400 years ago. It is the oldest firearms ignition system used for 4 Centuries. It is incredibly dependable and very positive in use.
It does require in depth knowledge and proper locks. That was why the percussion cap was quickly adopted in the 1820s. Training military recruits to use the flint muskets was a challenge. They were used and issued during the Civil War 1861-1865.

 

[Blackpowdershooter44]

Thanks guys. I went and bought it!

Provided Midway USA is correct, I'll have my Lyman GPR in flintlock .54 caliber at my door this Friday. I'm so excited!!

That's awesome! We need pictures when you get it

 

[daboyleroy]

Interesting timeline of firearms
http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/technique/gun-timeline/

 

[Dog Soldier]

I am speculating on spent flints at the Alamo. I doubt there were that many English Flints used during that battle. The Chert/Flint is native to North America.
The various "Chert" was used in place of Black English Flints. The Texas Chert is a very good grade for using on flint locks. It would be difficult to tell worn Texas Chert from the natural Chert in the soil. I often use Wyoming Chert for my flinters. These "Long Hunter" Flints/Chert can be found in every creek bed. That is why the Flint Lock firearms remained in use after the invention of the Percussion caps.

 

[perldog007]

AHA! BOTH offenders in one thread First CrawDad1 with his 1860 Jedi Mind tricks ( responsible for my 'everyday' belt gun ) and Cooldill that has me pining for a over 700 dollar flint lock smooth bore .69 caliber pistol. Then of course one would have to acquire a Harper's Ferry musket because you can't break up the set. Yep these two old timers here are good examples for moderately expensive ways to deal with your mid life crisis that are safer, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly than a bass boat.
I'm just glad I already had a thing for my cheap back alley hand forged Kukris or I'd be looking for a smith after I got a windlass steel craft D guard
Personally, I have to confess to heresy. I've been looking at the plastic flint lock, the PA Pellet Accellerarterizer as seen in big box stores :/ The wooden stocked version as well. So far only seen some nice ( to me ) T/C caplock Hawkens in .50 at the pawn shop. So we wait until archery season to see what gets dumped for quick cash .... But if none turn up on the cheap I'm happy to start with the Hawkenish cap lock with the functional looking sights. My only BP rifle was a CVA Wolf that was very functional, just didn't 'do it' for me. I shot it once, per the rulez here. Shoot into soft ground at sunset.. can't transport charged hereabouts. I would have kept a more traditional piece. https://www.dixiegunworks.com/produ...cts_id=9952&osCsid=pf323srh7dgva37345bipsbct6

 

[Stony]

Dog....I ran into a bunch of good Texas chert once and picked up about 100 lbs of the stuff. I have given chunks to a lot of people ( mostly for fire starting), and I can understand how it could be good for flintlocks as well. I have never really tried knapping, but have no doubt that pioneer types used this stuff. Somewhere around here I have some chunks of good Wyoming flint and some obsidian that I picked up around Glendo that would probably make for some good stuff too.

 

[Dog Soldier]

Stony, Thanks for the report on Texas Chert. I have been a competitor in the Texas State Muzzle Loading shoots for many years. A fellow shooter gave me a chunk of Texas Chert. I had a fellow Knapp "Long Hunter" flints from it. They throw a very hot spark.
I hope you also had some good days fishing at Glendo. There are some nice Walleye there.

 

[BCRider]

Now that it's on the way I'll relate a small mod I did to mine.

Originally I'd only get about 13 to 15 shots before I had to knap the edge of the flint to restore a good shower of sparks. Also I tended to have this more worn band about 1/4" wide about 2/3's of the way up the frizzen. I just thought this was normal and carried on.

When I got my second flintlock which was a used "custom build" with a first class lock on it I found that I suddenly got in excess from 22 to over 25 shots before I needed to dress up the end of the flint.

The difference was in how the frizzen moved forward. On the GPR it lifted slightly then went "over center" and tended to snap open. On the new one it didn't "cam" in the same way. Instead it seemed to open up very evenly in responze to pressure and only went "over center" as the edge of the flint reached right to the bottom of the frizzen where it then snapped out of the way.

Based on that I slightly re-profiled the tip of the frizzen that rides against the frizzen spring to make it behave more like that custom tuned lock. By all means try yours first. Mine may well be a one off mis-formed frizzen foot. But if you find that yours seems to produce that deeper scratched initial hit area and a lighter track below that band and your flints don't last all that long before needing some edge knapping then keep this post in mind. For me it was the icing on the cake. The shower of sparks improved as result of this and reliability of ignition of the pan charge went up noticeably.

 

[david58]

You bought a fine rifle. You will be satisfied with it. Don't bother over whether it might be a fantasy gun or not - it will shoot well and will take game for you. Or, drive tacks, split cards, and ring gongs. I have numerous custom and hand-made guns, and still hope to acquire a Lyman for my shooting pleasure.

 

[Dog Soldier]

It does seem that the factory rifles need the locks tuned up. They often need the frizzens hardened. The custom flint locks like the Chamber's Golden Age and others are precision locks.

http://www.flintlocks.com/new/locks.html

 

[Kaeto]

What about the "Air Rifle"? The Corp of Discovery had an air rifle. The air rifle was a repeater and I think a .47 Caliber? Not sure. There are now reproductions of the Lewis & Clark air rifle.

Please provide a link to where they are. My search on the internet so far has only turned up an article that says that we shall see a replica after hell freezes over.

 

[AJumbo]

Sam and Jake Hawken made their rifles in flint, but more of their percussion rifles survived. The GPR is a fair approximation of a Hawken. In answer to the OP's question, many makers including Leman, Deringer and a mess of of others made heavy-barreled half-stock rifles for the western market. Many of their customers weren't sold on the percussion system, so plenty of flinters were produced right up until just before the War Between the States.

 

[perldog007]

It does seem that the factory rifles need the locks tuned up. They often need the frizzens hardened. The custom flint locks like the Chamber's Golden Age and others are precision locks.

http://www.flintlocks.com/new/locks.html

This is my big hesitation in 'setting my sights' on a nice Pedersoli replica flinter smooth bore. For just a bit more commitment a really fine gun could be had. I like the 'poor boy' look, but appreciate a good functioning toy/tool. I will probably end up being a conformist, but the custom route makes sense with the price of a respectable factory gun especially in smooth bore flint locks.

 

[drobs]

I see midway has Lynman GPR's on sale right now.
http://www.midwayusa.com/s?userSearchQuery=Lyman+Great+Plains&userItemsPerPage=48

Here's and off topic question - can the nipple on a percussion GPR be changed to use #10 Remington caps? Idea being I would need to only stock 1 brand / type of cap?