Lyman Rifle
 

Who hunts with a Lyman Rifle? What model and caliber do you use or prefer? What are your thoughts?

Thanks

I hunt with a Lyman Great Plains in 54 cal . One if the best sidelocks out there . I have other Lyman's also . Great guns .

I have hunted with Lyman Rifles. And took a deer with my Lyman Trade Rifle .54 caliber. Shooting a roundball and 90 grains of 2f black powder I shot a doe, on the boundary slash my property shares with a Federal Forest, at 52 yards. The bullet entered the front of the deer, hit the lungs, came out the stomach, hit the back leg breaking it, and where the ball went after that.. who knows. The deer dropped and never stood back up.

I also have a .50 caliber Lyman Great Plains Rifle in 50 caliber, a 50 caliber flintlock Great Plains Hunter, and a 50 caliber Lyman Trade Rifle Flintlock. But the 54 is the caliber I hunt with because it shoots roundball so well.

The other rifles also shoot roundball very well, even sabots and conicals. But it seems when I hunt with roundball I have luck. And for a roundball, I always prefer a .54 caliber or larger.

I like my Lyman Great Plains Rifle flintlock in .54 caliber using a patched round ball. I like the GPR over the Trade rifle. But that is solely a personal opinion. There is nothing wrong with either one. And for even more versatility with the GPR, you can get a "hunter" barrel for it with a 1:32 twist for better accuracy with a conical or saboted bullet.

We do! My boy shot a bear last fall with his Lyman Deer Stalker .50 flintlock. 4f Goex Prime, 100 gr 3f Goex under a 360 gr PR Extreme Elite. Bear went about 25 yds and piled up.



I use a .54 GPR flintlock.

HA

That's a nice bear. Congrats to your son.

Huntaway,

NICE!!! I see your boy is a lefty (like my son) and that he has a peep on his flinter. I've been thinking about trying a peep on one of my flintlocks now that they're legal to use in our late ML (flint only) season here in Pennsylvania.

BPS

My .54 GP flintlock is near the top of my favorites list.

Yes it was a nice bear. It ended up being 2nd largest ever in Renfrew County for any firearm and 3rd largest in the Province for Muzzle Loaders.
I like the peep sights. I'm a lefty too so he'll get them all when I croak. I can get pie plate accuraccy with my .50 GPR flinter at 100 yd using the peeps and a really good rest. Haven't wrung out the .54 yet for that range.

HA

Thanks for your responses, I really enjoyed reading them all and seeing your successes in the pics.

I have a .54 cal Trade rifle, 1 in 48 twist, percussion. It's a real shooter. It likes different load combinations with PRB and also shoots conicals very well.

A high quality (wood and workmanship) good looking gun to boot. It's still OE, haven't changed anything. Will try the buck horn sight soon.

Paul

I have a .45 Lyman Plains Rifle from the 70s. I got it on a trade and LOVE IT. I'm hoping to kill my first deer with it. I found that it shoots the Hornady 200gr XTP like a dream. One of these days I might try one of those peep sights on it but for now I'm happy with the iron sights that came with it.

Wow a old 45cal Lyman Plains rifle is a RARE find.

Is it the Plains Hunter model with the faster 1-32 twist? The faster 1-32 should also shoot the 200gr SST which is a slightly better deer bullet and flies much flatter past 100 yards. The 200gr XTP or even the 180gr XTP also works good if not pushed too fast.

I'm not sure what the twist is.. I looked and looked but couldn't find any markings. I will definitely make note of the SST bullet and try it out.

Yes I couldn't be more happy with the gun. I had a CVA Hawkens and let it go last year. I kicked myself for selling my only muzzleloader. A few months ago I decided it was time for another so I made a trade for the Lyman through the barter section on Craigslist. The guy said he didn't think it had ever been shot.

After taking it to the range and seeing how well it shot, I knew this one is a keeper!

I use a Lyman GPR in a .54 cal. It has served me well. I cast my own 415gr maxi balls.

Actually InvestArms of Italia makes Lymans side locks I believe. I have three of there guns, one from Cabalas, one from Lyman and one with InvestArms company markings on the barrel.

I have taken game with all except the Lyman flinter. I will, though, be taking the flinter to the woods this year.