Lyman Great Plains Rifle .54 (cap lock) loads?

[Norseman]

To all fellow LGP Rifles users in .54,    
    What has been your best combination of ball size (.530 or .535), patch size (and what kind), lube (again what type) and powder charge that you have come up with for the BEST  accuracy?  Also, what powder...FF, FFF or 777 etc?  What is your best grouping  with your favorite combination of all the above variables?  Thanks!

[Good time Charlie]

I shoot .530 balls, 85 grains of Goex 3f with wally-world pillow ticking (it mikes .19 to .20. Chrushed down to .15. I use the blue stripe for some reason the red stripe don't work as well. It will shoot clover leafs at 50 Yd.
                                           Charlie

[lonewolf7396]

I did find that my GPR did favor goex 3f over other powders.I do make a mix for my conicals using 50/50 beeswax and lard,also adding a tablespoon of olive oil.

[Longcruise]

Mine shoots fine with anywhere from 30 to 120 grains of ff to fff with .530 or .535 RBs.  A tight patch regardless of all else and it shoot fine with just about any lube too.  Exception on powder charges is with Swiss ff or fff.  It's hot enough to blow out just about any patch material once I go over 80 grains.

If your gun is new it won't shoot very well untill you have shot about 300 rounds through it or taken some time to polish the barrel.  Polishing the barrel will save you lots of time, balls and powder :shock:   The GPR has cut rifling and it is very sharp.  Try running a very tight patch down it on your jag with a small amount of lube on the patch.  After a few swipes you will probably see that the rifling has cut the patch, assuming that it's a new barrel.

The three most important factors in getting the gpr to shoot arre 1.  A tight tough patch.  2.  A tight tough patch.  and, finally, 3.  A tight tough patch.

[Mulegunner]

80gr 3F pillow ticking around a .530 ball...........a little dab of bear grease! :wink:

[harryo]

70 grns Swiss 1.5Fg, ticking patch lubed with moosemilk and a .535 ball shoots best in mine for target shooting.  The rifle will shoot better than I can hold.  On one excellent day, I did shoot one 5 shot group, from a rest, that was basically one big ragged hole, from 50 yds.  Normally, I can count on <2" groups, when I do my part.  For hunting, I shoot 110 grns Swiss 1.5 Fg, ticking patch with Stumpy's Moose Snot for lube and the same .535 ball.  The groups will open up just a bit but accuracy is still plenty good enough for hunting. My first whitetail wth my GPR was taken with that same load this fall.  A perfect broadside shot at 65 yds went through both lungs, shattered ribs on both entry and exit and dropped the 170 lb buck in his tracks.  

Longcruise is right on about the sharp lands in a new barrel.  Mine was shredding patches and not shooting too accurately at all until I polished my bore with some Brasso metal polish, with a little white jewelers rouge mixed in.  After that, it started shooting like a champ and never cuts a patch.  I also opened up the notch on the rear sight and painted a yellow dot on the top, rear of the front sight blade, which certainly improved aiming accuracy for me.

[kb]

Im still trying to figure mine out.  I have both the caplock as well as the flinter.  The newer flintlock shoots better than the percusion, go figure.  Tight patches seem to be the trend.  I have probably put 3-400 rounds thru the caplock, and it still cuts patches, but not so bad that it has stopped me from taking a few deer or a 200 lb hog.  

80g of 2f goex will singe a well lubed patch, but will take game.  A tight patch whatever the ball size.

kb

[fffffg]

kb,,  take a jag, put a cleaning patch on it, wrap a samll am0unt of medium steel wool on it and run it up and down the bore mostly in the breach and center, working up to the muzzel..  be very carefull at the muzzel to keep rod strait.  rotate gun so you arnt stroking the muzzel with same imperfect arc. use a brass or plastic bore guide when working down in bore..  as i said keep rod strait at muzzel..  it can take alot of work but go little at a time.  may be 50 strokes then test fire. repeat..  if you stop when you stop cutting patches no harm will be done..  important , use oil on the steel wool.. so your cutting not gauling..   this could be done if several hundred rounds dont stop the patch cutting.  be most carefull of the crown..  for the mean time put a patch over powder, or 10-20 grains equivelent filler , like cream of wheat, i forget what ones to use, to stop blowby from cut patches.. filler increases pressures so dont use max loads with filler..    good luck dave..

[kb]

Ive tried the steel wool a while back, and it still cuts patches.  I didnt want to do it too much, so I'll just shoot it out for now.  That is part of the fun isnt it?

It shoots 'minute of whitetail' out to 60-70 yards, so for now I'll just shoot it and enjoy it, but thanks for the tip.

I did have to do some tuning on the lock though.  Nothing a Dremel couldnt handle.  Just to smooth things out.


kb