rodburner72

Hey guys, this is my first post. I have read alot and got a lot of info from you guys. I shoot a Knight Disc rifle and have had good luck with it. My girlfriend loves to hunt and her Dad gave her his old Lyman. He said he got it the year she was born so she's excited to hunt with it. My question is, what type of bullets should we buy for the gun. She was born in '79 so that'll let you know how old the gun is. I'm not sure what the twist is but I'm assuming it doesn't have much. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks and keep the good info coming.

cayugad

Welcome to the forum. It's nice to have you here.

Guessing by the age of the rifle it is probably a Lyman Great Plains rifle. Check the rifle and see if the barrel is not 32" and it has two wedge pins. If it is an old GPR it would have a 1-66 twist. They are roundball shooters. If it is a .50 caliber it will shoot a .490 or .495 grain patched roundball. Load about 90 grains of powder and it should shoot just fine. The older GPR's were kind of powder hogs as I remember. If it is a .54 caliber, then it will shoot a .530 or .535 grain roundball and again, with 90 grains of powder it should shoot well. Do to their length and weight the recoil with them is not bad at all.

If it is a shorter rifle, it would be their Trade Rifle with a 1:48 twist. Again the same loads apply, or you can try some Lyman Maxi ball. Although with maxi ball cut the load back to about 70 grains and work your load up.

rodburner72

Thanks cayugad, I checked the rifle and the barrel is 29". It is a .50 cal. I'm not sure what you mean by two wedge pins. It does have the two triggers which I have seen before on the older guns. I've been hunting with black powders for about ten years so I kind of know the basics. I kind of figure this gun will shoot balls better but wasn't sure and didn't want to buy a bunch of balls if we weren't going to shoot them. She was worried about the recoil and the brass butt plate wasn't helping any. I told her it wouldn't be too bad. Thanks for the info.

Rodburner

cayugad

Along the side of the stock towards the middle andfront, you will see brass or steel pins that hold the stock to the barrel. Those are the wedge pins I am talking about.

frontier gander

brass buttplate wont hurt her at all if you make sure she holds it correctly. I took a .50and .54 with 110 grains fffg and the 54 with 90 grains fffg and its just a kiss to the shoulder.

Semisane

With set triggers, it's almost certainly a Great Plains model, although current GP's have 32" barrels and steel butt plates. (Could be wrong about the butt plate.)

The Lyman Trade Rifle has a brass butt plate, but never had set triggers.

Great Plains rifles are usually 1 in 60" twist round ball shooters. The GP "Hunter" model has a 1 in 32" twist suitable for conicals (and maybe sabots). You can buy 32" hunter barrels for current guns, but I have no idea if they would fit your older model. You could probably find out from Lyman customer service (1-800-22LYMAN) or Dixon Muzzleloading in Kempton, PA (Lyman's warrenty repair shop) at 610-756-6271.

gleason.chapman

I have a 1:48 twist TC Flintlock, and I shoot Sabots in it. If the twist of the gun is 1:48, it will shoot round balls, conicals or sabots. I shot roundballs for 1 year in it, I didn't like the performance on game. I only shot 70, with round balls, since they are lighter there is NOT much recoil. I would get a SIMS recoil pad for her, to fit the gun, they have them that fits most models. If you use 70g instead of 90g and a round ball, then you have a good 50 yard gun, not much over that however. If you shoot conicals, then it will be effective to 100 yards. I signted mine in at 13 yards dead on, then adjusted at 50 yards. That worked quite well. Is it a percussion or FL? Chap Gleason

cayugad

Semisane is right about the new Great Plains having a 1-60 twist. Although the older ones did have a 1-66 twist and then in the 80's changed for some stupid reason. Then old rifles were and still are a very accurate roundball rifle.

With that 29" barrel I am starting to think it might be a very old Trade Rifle. I am not certain but I thought the very early trade rifles had double triggers then they changed over to the single hunting trigger. The Trade Rifle is 1-48 twist and will shoots lots of stuff. I have a Trade Rifle in Flintlock that I shoot all the time. An excellent rifle.

rodburner72

Hey Chap, thanks for the info. Hers uses percussion caps. We'll probably just get some round balls and she can use them. She got her first deer last year and has the fever now. She shot a buck that had fourteen points and two broken ones. Everyone told her she'd never get another deer like that one and she says she's going to prove everyone wrong and I hope she can. Thanks again for the info.


Rodburner

rodburner72

I told her not to worry that it wouldn't kick that bad. It just scared her that there was no cushion there and the gun is so much bigger than she's use to shooting.

Rodburner