I need another muzzle loader like I need a second wife.

But a deal came along on an unfired "old stock" .50 caliber Lyman Great Plains Hunter that I could not pass up. I could have passed on a caplock, but it's a FLINTER that's been sitting in the stock room of a small mom and pop store in Pennsylvania for about twelve years. A forum buddy up that way let me know about it. I said grab it, and it's now on the way to me.

The "Hunter" model has a 1:32" twist rate. Does anyone out there have one of these?

You did good! I have a Great Plains but not the hunter. Mine has a 1:60" twist.

Have fun with it and experiment with lots of loads! With that twist I would probably start with a Maxi-Ball.

Yeah Flintlock. I really did do good - got that new/old stock Hunter for a total of $275 shipped to my door. How could I pass that up?

I already have a .54 GP flinter with the round ball twist. It's a fantastic shooter. Good thought on the Maxi-Ball. I have some around here someplace. I was planning to have the first range session with Hornady 385 grain Great Plains hollow points plus 250 and 320 Lee REALs (I have molds for both weights). But I'll include the Maxis if I can find them.

Well, it turned out to not be the Hunter model, but the regular 1:60 GP.

So far as I can tell it's unfired except someone snapped a flint on the frizzen a few times. There's a bit of very light pitting around the touch hole.

It's a good sparker - lit off the pan five times in a row with a new English flint.

I hope to give it a workout sometime next week. But it's hard to get enthusiastic about a shooting session with the temperature hitting the 90's and the humidity nearly as high.

A sticker inside the original Lyman box says "This quality Lyman product was inspected by Ric R, Apr 18, 2000".

Great deal on a good rifle!
TC

Here's the best $50 you'll ever spend on muzzle loader.

Trigger

Very nice. One of these days I am going to convert my mountain rifle to flint.

I lucked out. I found a guy selling an unopened 50 cal. Lyman Great Plains percussion kit for $200. Then I entered a charity raffle by a muzzleloader forum owner in California and won the identical complete rifle in flint. That rifle cost $5.

Both shoot the same PRB with the same patches with the same powder charge. It's almost too good to be true.

Dang, you pack that lucky horse shoe around all the time?

What powder charge are you using PH?

I use 50 grains of fffg for plinking around and 85 grains for hunting; though I haven't shot anything except targets with either rifle. Both powder charges shoot the same point of impact and I've been wondering if there's really any practical advantage of using 85 grains. I won't be shooting past 50 yards simply because I can always get that close to a Doe. I can get withing 10 yards of a hog. Penetration comparisons don't really tell you much when you're shooting into cedar logs.

On a side note, I made a neat little powder charger for both loads. I cut the tips off an old set of antlers and drilled the centers out till one held 50 grains and the other held 85 grains. That way I don't have to measure; just fill the antler. Of course I didn't invent that method but it's pretty slick.

Excellent buy! Don't find those deals very often. I have a .54 cal Trade Rifle that I like and it shoots very good when I do my part. :-)

Here are a few pics. The one I won is the top one. The top target top is the percussion rifle. I was sitting on the ground resting elbows on my knees at 50 yards. Total of 10 shots. The bottom target is the flinter. Same shooting position, same range. You can see the flinters flinch on the sheetrock. Total of 12 rounds. All were shot with the 50 grain fffg load.

Also, here's a pic of the finish on both of them. This is the one I built. The other is similar because he's the one that told me how to do mine.

Yup, I remember when you posted that one the first time. I really like that one.

I do like that pickled finish PH. How did you do it"

Great 50 yard shooting there. I can't do that with open sights. Sometimes with a peep that sharpens up the front sight for me - but I have to settle for two or three inch 50 yard groups with open sights.

As you insinuated..with vinegar. You wrap the metal with old t-shirt material and wrap twine around it. You wrap the twine in a spiral from one end to the other and back across itself. Kind of forming a diamond patter with the twine. Another method is to tightly spiral wind the twine almond the steel in the same pattern and then cover it with cloth. You'll end up with a nice rope pattern on the steel.

Before you do anything, you have to completely de-grease the metal. I used lacquer thinner. You have to fill in any threaded holes with Vaseline or the vinegar will dissolve the threads. Be SURE you plug the ends of the barrel with Vaseline or the Vinegar will damage the rifling. De-grease around the filled spots again because the Vaseline will prevent the vinegar from working.

Hang the metal off the ground and completely soak the cloth. A spray bottle works best. For three days, you have to keep the cloth completely soaked. Depending on the weather, that means you may have to spray it every three hours. After a while, the cloth will start turning orange and black.

After three days of it, unwrap the steel and rinse the metal with cold water. Besides the nice appearance, this method has another big benefit. It won't rust. Bluing steel is really controlled corrosion. The bluing has blue dye in it so it looks nice. The corrosion is always there under the finish waiting for moisture or air to get to it so it can resume. I guess no metal is rust proof but pickled metal is as close as you can get.

I also did a rusty old Remington 1100 but I would only recommend this if you have a lot of time.

Thanks for that PH. I think I'll end up doing that to the Swamp Dragon. I have it highly polished in the white. The high polish delays rust, but if I'm not careful about keeping it real clean it wants to start coloring. And as I said, I really like that look.

Man, you did a GREAT job on that Remington.

(Retired old farts have lots of time.)

Thanks! The 1100 was a challenge. I can't over state the importance of the Vaseline. It can't contact any screw threads; internal or external. It can't get inside and pin holes like those in the 1100 receiver. It can't get inside the action. It can't get on a spring. Vinegar is highly corrosive. For my small parts, I just put them in a bowl of vinegar. Since yours is in the white, this probably doesn't matter but any finish has to stripped off the metal first.

One last thing. Hang the metal over something to catch the dripping vinegar. As the cloth turns orange and black, so do the drips. Anything under it is permanently stained.

Did you remove the rust from that Remington before the vinegar treatment?

Yes. I took Barricade and 0000 steel wool to it to remove and kill the rust. I was going to wipe it down with Naval Jelly but that stuff is really corrosive. I was kind of unclear in an earlier post. I meant to say the vinegar can't get on those parts.