New to Blackpowder question or two

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45Badger

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Not totally new, but looking at getting into flintlocks. Most interested in the Lyman Great Plains Rifle. I'm leaning towards the 1 in 60" twist for round ball.

Question 1- How accurate are these rifles with round ball? Can you shoot the modern projectiles from the 1 in 60" barrels?

Question 2- Who has best price on these? I've seen them for about $425 delivered. Anybody know of a consistently better price?

Thanks all!
 
I've heard that WalMart has the best prices if you order from the gun counter catalog. Plus you get to inspect the gun and don't have to pay for return shipping if you don't want to buy it.

I've heard that the GPR percussion rifle will shoot the short Buffalo Ball-et round nose conical with accuracy similar to the round ball out to 70 yards, using a bore button (wool wad) over the powder as a gas check.
 
round ball can be surprisingly accuret at 50-100 yards. you should get groupings around 1-3 inches. if you know how the gun shoots it will get tighter. (and if you flinch it will get bigger) my dad with his custom hawken gets groupings at 50 yards about 2 inches.

1 in 60 twist is a bit light for sabot shots. it will shoot them but dont expect amazing accurecy. 1 in 48 is not bad but not great. most places recoment 1 in 38 for a good avg, 1 in 28 for sabot or maxi.
 
What Aries said. My custom Hawken .54 flint will group about 3-1/2" at 100 yards with a tight fitting round ball- thats with a hunting load and not cleaning between shots. It will not stabilize a heavy conical. It has a 1/66 twist. Also, with a round ball barrel, the rifling is typically cut deeper for the patch, so there may be some gas seal issues there for lead conicals. I have thought about trying a lighter Powerbelt bullet with a plastic skirt, I think they make a 295 gr. bullet, but I don't see much advantage coming from it as the .535" roundball already weighs about 235 grains. I have an old TC Renegade with a 1/48 twist that shoots heavy and light conicals equally well (It would shoot cloverleafs at 50 yards when the barrel was new and my eyes were better w/ a 440 gr. maxi ball). In my experience, flints with a roundball are the one true way and should be shot that way, and a caplock with a faster twist and shallower rifling is more versatile in what can be shot out of it.
 
I would not have done this with a flintlock but my lyman gpr with 1/66" twist did this off hand at 100 yard:
attachment.php
 
Thanks for the replies so far! Now- Where to get the best deal on a Lyman GPR???????????
Click to expand...

Best deal on a Lyman GPR is WalMart. Ask the clerk in the sporting goods department to see their special order gun catalog. Should be able to get it for about $430, including the cost of delivery to the store.

As others have said, the 1 in 60" twist is best suited for round ball. If you think you will be doing mostly conicals or sabots, you will want a faster twist. That said, I much prefer round ball and it will do fine on accuracy and killing power out to 100 yards, with the right load and shot placement.

If you haven't already seen it, check out this place:

http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/fusionbb.php?
 
1:60 is best for RB. Why buy from Wally?

The one turn in sixty inches is made for round ball, per the Greenhill formula. Bullet length expressed in caliber multiplied times twist rate expressed in calibers equals 150. So:

.98 x (60 / .50) = 1 X 120 = 120

A .50 cal ball is .490", that's where the .98 comes in, it 98 percent of .50
The 120 comes from every inch being two caliber's worth (.50 cal.) so 60 x 2 = 120
Pretty close to the ideal of 150. The ideal bullet would be .625" long.

Try any on-line muzzleloading outfitter. The GRP has a great reputation, but if you should have any problems, Wally World isn't going to help you. The Log Cabin Shop in Lodi, Ohio is online, October Country is online, let me post again later and I'll see if I can put up links to retailers that will ship right to your door and have support if you need it.
 
Great info! Thanks again!

last question-

Anybody ever buy the kit and put together? Looks like it might be a fun winter project. How difficult was it?
 
I made mine from a kit back when they first came out. High quality components and everything articulates very well. Finishing the wood and metal is about all that remains to be done. Kits are good in that you can draw file the barrel flats to remove all the safety /advertising literature and then use plum brown to finish it.
 
Wow - how the heck did I miss that you wanted a flintlock? Boy, I need to read less quickly.
 
Sundance44s

I deblued the barrel and tang on my lyman gp and browned it too .. it looks much better ..i left the funiture in the white ... it`s different and looks very primitive .more like an original Hawken .
 
It might be more expensive, but......

I'd go to a good shop and probably buy there. I lusted after a flintlock GPR. Then finally shouldered one. Didn't fit. No way I could comfortably shoulder it and fire. I like the look of it but I prefer one that goes Bang. (rather cli-whosh-BANG)
Going to be hard to beat a Thompson Center Hawken Flint. Basically a modern firearm in it's reliability and accuracy. I bought mine used from the log cabin shop. No connection, just happy customer.

http://logcabinshop.com/

Afterward I bought a Cabela's (Pedersoli) Kentucky flint. Not nearly the build quality of the TC. Yeah, it's purdy but the best I can get is 90% shots fired when trigger pulled.

And the TC fits me like a glove. I ain't tell'n ya what I did to the hideous Pedersoli stock to make it fit my shoulder.
 
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