Lyman Investarms GPR flinter "kit"

The 4th Investarms "kit" rifle I've assembled, this one is a Lyman Great Plains Rifle Hawken style in .50 caliber, w/32" barrel and walnut stock. Purchased from Graf's for $490/shipped, the assembly took less than 30 minutes, requiring only small and medium screwdrivers, a hammer and drift for the barrel wedges and sights. Now the real work begins - take off the barrel and lock, leave on the furniture so the proud wood gets rasped and sanded down to meet the metal. When done, it'll get stained and clear coated. This will hold me over nicely for a sorta kinda Hawken whilst my "real" Hawken gets built the end of this year. 8)

I have two of them, though not kits. They are an excellent shooting rifle.

I love mine too. Traded with a board member for another rifle. Planning on hunting with it this year. :yeah:

When I look at all the commercial production rifles available, all are offshore born, I think I've had at least one from each gun plant (though most are rebranded). Top of the heap for me are the Investarms (Lyman, DGW and others), and are without a doubt the Best value in a commercial gun and most all are really good shooters. :yeah: :yeah:

I have four "Lyman" Investarms rifles. One Great Plains, a Great Plains Hunter, and a 50 and 54 Trade Rifle. All of them are great shooters. No question there. But my other rifles, T/C, Traditions, and CVA are also good traditional shooting rifles. But I do enjoy shooting my Lyman rifles.

Barrel, lock, trigger and trigger guard removed.

Rasped and then sanded from 50 to 180 grits. Next up grits 220 and 320, then final 0000 steel wooling.

What color/type of finish are you planning to apply?

After 0000 wooling I'll pick up stray hairs with a magnet, then a cleaning with naphtha (lighter fluid). I'll wipe on Laurel Mtn Forge ngr walnut stain 2 or 3 times (I like dark walnut), then I'll probably do rubbed in Tru-Oil coats.

Should be a beautiful end result.

Two coats of LMF walnut stain, will allow to cure well overnight ....

Started in on the finish, using original antique oil finish (linseed oil and polymer drying agents). While the first coat is drying off, I used a special 15/16" breech plug socket and an 18" Reed RCorp wrench to pull the barrel's plug - man, that socket is awesome and the plug came right off without the need for wrench handle extension. Again, the barrel's chamber and the plug flue and touch hole were full of proofing residue gunk. Cleaned it all up, used anti-seize lube on the plug and touch hole liner, homed them both down good.

After two wipes of the LMF walnut stain, I wicked in a good grade of water thin CYA (Hot Stuff) into the nooks and crannies of the lock inlay and stock barrel channel, to strengthen and protect those areas. After the CYA hardened, I put on a wipe of antique oil finish. Now the second wipe of the antique oil is curing, starting to look good enuf for me ...

its looking real good there! I like the stock.

She's good to go with four rubbed oil coats, for a satin sheen that's flexible and will readily repel moisture. Will do more rubbed in coats later on.

Ready for a range baptism ...

Fantastic job!!! She looks Great!

this rifle isn't anything special, and that's just fine with me. i did a goodly amount of rasping and sanding from 50 to 320 grits, and i missed a few spots that both stain and oil covered nicely. i have little patience with making guns "perfect", they all get nicks, scrapes and dents eventually and then all that perfection was a waste of my time. while i have an appreciation for a gilded ornate gun, i prefer simple "po' boy" style muzzleloaders that just work well - reliable ignition, good overall accuracy, and the ability to reload without swabbing for fouling. range date tomorrow morning to maiden this hawken. first time with a hero camera, so i hope to get at least one decent hd quality video.

Beautifully finished rifle! I like the CYA glue idea to strengthen the lock mortise area too. Gonna have to remember that.

Very nice work. :yeah: Was that Tru-oil or something else? It has a more Satin look than I normally get with Tru-Oil. I have not heard of the CYA who makes it?

"CYA" is cyanoacrylate (super glue), water thin quality stuff found in the hobby industry (model airplanes). The brand I prefer is "Hot Stuff". Through capillary action, it will wick itself into the wood grain and harden the internal resins, making the wood far more durable and liquid proof.



I just started using Track of the Wolf's Original Oil Finish - basically a linseed oil with polymer driers. Love the satiny finish over the gloss finishes. Looks more like how it was done back in the day, and oil finishes are more flexible, easy to repair, more durable for cold weather hunting conditions. It only takes 2 or 3 wipes to get the job done. Drying time with the TOTW stuff is just a few hours @ 70F and 50%.

Thanks for the info. I've been looking to do a more satiny finish like that. I think I will get me a bottle of it to try. Never heard of using something like the CYA. Sounds like a good idea for sealing up the lock and barrel channels.