cayugad

I just ordered one in Flintlock. I figure to try some Goex 3f about 85 grains and patched .530 & .535 roundball for starters. Anyone else shooting them that has a good load worked up, I would appreciate the information.. I am always looking for new loads to try.

It was a real toss up between the Great Plains Rifle or the Trade Rifle. The reason I went with the Trade Rifle is because I can get a Green Mountain Barrel that will drop right into the stock with a 1-70 twist if I really want to do some fancy roundball shooting. I also heard the metal to fit on the Trade rifles were outstanding. They are supposed to have good frizzens and throw good spark, so time will tell.....

thanks for any load combinations.....

lonewolf7396

excellent choice cayugad,I do like that rifle and should of purchase that model over the GPR which I just sold.I handled a Trade rifle in 54 cal. at walmart a little lighter then the 50 cal. trade model,as far as the flintlock should be excellent I use there frizzen on the t/c locks I have.
I am here in the carolina's beating the winter snows and cold weather up north,I am also trying to refinish my Renegade to a plum brown ,but having a little problem with the browning other wise you can't beat the weather down here,by the end of the week temp: will be near 60 degreessss.
cayugad how did you make out with them Speer gold dots you talk about?
keep me posted on the Trade Rifle

cayugad

So far I have tested the speer gold dots with 100 grains of Goex 3f and they are shooting excellent. I have not had a chance to really do any distance shooting because I'm kind of snowed in.

I had to shovel the roof today and there was close to two and a half feet on the roof in places. All wet and heavy. Tomorrow will be the woodshed roof to shovel.

I bought the Trade Rifle because I read so many good reviews on the rifle and I like the smaller size over the great plains..... I can't wait to get the rifle and get shooting...

Viking_hunter

Hi Cayugad,
I have a Lyman Great Plains rifle caplock in .50 cal. It is a great shooting rifle. I am thinking about getting the "hunter" barrel for it as well. That way I can shoot conicals too. I have a Lyman 57 reciever sight on it. I really like the double trigger on the rifle. It has excellent metal to wood finish. The only knock, is the weight. It is hefty to be sure. I have a T/C White Mountain carbine and I mounted the T/C peep sight on it. It is a nice gun to carry. It reminds me quite a bit of the Trade Rifle. The T/C isn't quite as traditional looking as the Trade Rifle though, since it has a recoil pad on it. My one experience with shooting a deer with a patched roundball wasn't a very good one however. I have had very good luck with a maxiball style projectile. But, since reading the threads in here, I may give it another go with the roundball. I wish you good luck with the Trade Rifle. Oh yeah, Here in Iowa, we have no snow and it is suppose to be near 60 by the end of the week!

graveyard zombie

I've got a left handed Lyman Deerstalker in 50 and it is a great shooter of both conicals & patched round balls. Never have tried sabots in it and don't plan on doing so. The patched round ball does great but I think is a little light for hunting so I use the ole lead Buffalo bullet. I've always heard that the Trade & Great Plains rifles were even better shooters so I don't think you went wrong at all.

Got a question for you reference caliber. I've found a super deal on two discontinued Marlin MLS (inline in stainless), one in 50 and the other 54. The guy is selling them way under dealer cost just to get rid of them because everyone around here is either buy Knights or the various break open designs. The 54 is actually $25.00 cheaper because the guy doesn't even stock bullets for a 54, just 50's because that is the norm around here also. He also claims the 54 is dying out because the 50 is so popular and you can walk into any sporting goods store and find ammo & equipment for it. I haven't been able to find too many articles about the 54's and I have to agree that the 50 seems to be the norm everywhere. I'll probably never be able to hunt anything larger than a whitetail deer or Virginia black bear so a 50 probably would do me since I already own one. But that 54 sure did feel good when I shouldered it. It does weigh more but I've never been turned off by that because I hate recoil and a heavier rifle helps in that area. I wish I could afford both of them but that is not an option. Any suggestions or any articles that you know of would be greatly appreciated. I found one by Randy Smith in the Chuckhawks website but that is all at this time.

cayugad

I've got no experience with a .54 caliber inline only .50's. I see no reason why it would not shoot just fine. Sabots are not all that hard to find on line. Then you get some bullets, and you should be good to go. Another thing is inlines will normally shoot conicals very well. Load up some big .54 caliber conicals and it should shoot well also. But your right, in most places they only carry .50 or .45 caliber projectiles and even pellets if that is your game.

Marlin muzzleloaders are also unknown to me. I am sure they would be a good quality rifle but there might be others that would know more about them... Wish I could help you more...

MLKeith

Personally if I liked the rifle I would buy the .50 cal over the .54. This years Shot Show almost completely ignored the .54 and for deer it is not needed especially in an inline. With patched round ball for elk or moose OK the .54 has a place. I have seen pictures of the Marlin rifles but I think they have discontinued them so parts might be a little iffy in the future if needed. Usually you don't need parts but???

graveyard zombie

Thanks for the input MLKeith. I do like the Marlin for several reasons, one of which is it is adaptable to southpaw's like myself. It also has a rear tang safety like several of my other firearms have. I've found some of the critical parts that I like to have on hand from Numrich Arms so whichever caliber I go with, I will go ahead and get some spare parts while the gettin' is good. I'm also leaning towards the 50 since I already have some 45's and a 50. Don't know if I want to have too many different calibers to worry about. Plus anywhere you go even in the boonies has something for the 50.

cayugad

Well the rifle came today to the house. I was very pleased with the overall appearance of the rifle. The fit of the lock and function was excellent. The barrel wedge pin to the escutcheon plate could be better. I was not able to pin the barrel. It is a minor adjustment but a pain just the same.

Lyman really packed the barrels of their rifles with brown gunk. It took for ever to clean the barrel. I finally got it cleaned and had to shoot the thing, so I pinned the barrel best I could and took it out to the range.

I started shooting 80 grains of Goex FFg a wonderwad and a patched roundball (.530 ball + .018 patch/moosemilk). The rifle shot very low, so I adjusted for the second shot but not enough. I finally had to aim at the top of the 3X5 inch index card at 30 yards to put the hits in the center of the card. I have some sight work to do, and load work, but all that will take place after I pin the barrel better. My final five shots were done with 95 grains of Goex FFg no wonderwad, and a patched roundball.

The lock time was excellent. This thing was shooting as fast as any percussion cap sidelock. Even with 95 grains of powder I would rate the recoil as mild. A real nice shooting rifle. I am looking forward to doing more work with this rifle and making it a great shooter.

Briman

Wow the other rifles on the rack look real jealous, kind of catty now that you brought the Prom Queen home.

[quoteThe barrel wedge pin to the escutcheon plate could be better][/quote]

I hade the same problem with the GPR I built. It had two pins, and it was a bugger to get everything to line up correctly, I ended up having to remove a little metal from the pins and hand fit them- I had to mark them, because each pin will only fit in its own slot, and in only one orientation facing up or down.