I'm really hoping Cayuga jumps in on this question since I see you own a Great Plains Hunter. I've just ordered one for myself as a Christmas present. I have also ordered 60 370 gr Maxi Balls, I have a mould to make 300 and 380 gr Real bullets, and I also have a mould to make 415 gr Improved minnies. I understand that every gun likes its own load, and I enjoy the process of finding that, but I would like a starting idea for powder amounts and if you've had any luck with any of these bullets. Anyone else that owns a GPH please chime in. Thanks guys.
54 Caliber Great Plains Hunter loads
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Yes I have a Lyman Great Plains Hunter and a Great Plain Rifle. The Lyman Great Plains Hunter rifle has a 1-32 twist, 32 inch rifle barrel. And I discovered believe it or not, it shoots roundball pretty good. 70 grains of powder and a patched roundball does real well in mine.
They love the Lyman Maxi Ball. 90 grains of powder and a lubed Maxi Ball and they are real killing machines. They will shoot a REAL but keep the powder charge low, like in the 60 grain range. Then the accuracy seemed real good. Also I did shoot 240 grain XTPs with mine and it did a real good job with them.
I kind of impulsed purchased mine. I was looking for a .54 caliber but found a .50 caliber on sale and purchased it before I realized it was a GPH. So I then purchased a GPR to match it. A very good rifle.
If you want to shoot roundball for fun, it will shoot the .530 or .535 or in my case the .490 or .495 ball. Just loads a little harder is all.
You have a great rifle. Mine is a flintlock I think. Or the GPR is the Flintlock. I kind of lost track of my rifles. The only thing I dislike about the rifle is the extremely dark wood they use. But then I can get used to anything.
They love the Lyman Maxi Ball. 90 grains of powder and a lubed Maxi Ball and they are real killing machines. They will shoot a REAL but keep the powder charge low, like in the 60 grain range. Then the accuracy seemed real good. Also I did shoot 240 grain XTPs with mine and it did a real good job with them.
I kind of impulsed purchased mine. I was looking for a .54 caliber but found a .50 caliber on sale and purchased it before I realized it was a GPH. So I then purchased a GPR to match it. A very good rifle.
If you want to shoot roundball for fun, it will shoot the .530 or .535 or in my case the .490 or .495 ball. Just loads a little harder is all.
You have a great rifle. Mine is a flintlock I think. Or the GPR is the Flintlock. I kind of lost track of my rifles. The only thing I dislike about the rifle is the extremely dark wood they use. But then I can get used to anything.
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You might want to reword that so nobody is confused. You said GPR, and I know you meant GPH.
I have a new .54 GPH I bought a couple years back. I just re-finished the stock and browned all the steel to make it more presentable. I casted up some Lee REALs and some Lyman 450 gr shocker (548669) to try out this week. I'm going to fire at least 50 PRB's through it to help break in the bore before I start with the heavy stuff. I'll be using 80-100 grains of 2F for the conicals (any more will start getting painful!). I'm guessing 90-100 will be the sweet spot and 80 might be the best minimum for a target load. Lyman says 110gr 2F is the max but I bet my shoulder says it's more like 100gr 2f 
I use 40:1 Pb/Sn for my slugs. Seems to work better than pure lead for me, but still not too hard to load. I'll let you know what happens when the smoke clears! If it shoots anywhere near as good as my .54 GPR percussion I will be delighted. I also have a GPR flint I just refinished as well and they're all going out to the range with me tomorrow. Oh, did I mention I really like these Great Plains rifles? :mrgreen:
I use 40:1 Pb/Sn for my slugs. Seems to work better than pure lead for me, but still not too hard to load. I'll let you know what happens when the smoke clears! If it shoots anywhere near as good as my .54 GPR percussion I will be delighted. I also have a GPR flint I just refinished as well and they're all going out to the range with me tomorrow. Oh, did I mention I really like these Great Plains rifles? :mrgreen:Glad to hear how much you like the rifles. I'm looking forward to hearing your results, and if you got good results from your lyman bullets, I want more info on what they are. I can't find a current Lyman bullet in 450 grain. Also, what brand of powder are you using. I've been using RS.
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I once purchased a bunch of Lyman Shocker Conical bullets. I will say... I tried them with a lot of powder, in a lot of rifles, and never had good accuracy. In fact I melted them down and cast them into roundball. The same with the 385 grain Buffalo Bullet Conical. I purchased a case of them. So I will be interested to see how your rifle likes those Lyman Shockers.
Good luck with your rifle.
Good luck with your rifle.
Here's a picture of the newly refinished .54 cal GPH (cap)
So I sighted it in at 25 yds with my favorite PRB target load of .530 RB, .018" PT, and 80gr Goex FF. I was shocked at how it performed with the RB's, so I tried to shoot a group at 50 yards:
Next, I tried the LEE 380gr R.E.A.L. bullets I had cast a while back. I used Dave's recommended 60gr Goex FF with a bore button just to keep the T/C Bore Butter from contaminating the powder. I was not expecting much from these stubby little boolits, but again I was surprised:
So then I tried the REAL's at 50 yards with 60gr & 70gr:
Still pretty sweet, but now I'm at my limit with buckhorn and post sights. I'm not sure how much the group opened due to the extra powder or my lousy vision. I was shooting three different guns today, so I didn't have a chance to really bump up the powder to see what might happen. I like these bullets and they are cheap and easy to cast. I would not hesitate to use this load on deer inside of 50 yards, which is about my max with these sights anyway.
Next, I tried the Lyman 450gr MAXI (548657). (I thought I had Shockers but my memory failed me yet again). The results were less than stellar. These were getting to be very stout and I didn't want to push the powder up as the recoil was already less than enjoyable. These bullets may be getting to heavy to be stabilized by a 1:32 twist.
Overall, I was really impressed with this barrel. It's more accurate with PRB's than my .54 GPR, at least with 80ffg target loads. I will have to see how far I can push it before accuracy suffers. For now, this is my new match rifle! I like shooting the lighter 380gr REAL much more than the 450 MAXI, so I'll see how far I can push the REAL for an elk hunting load. I would be happy with 90 gr.
Finally, I also tried out my previously unfired .54 GPR flintlock. I only had time to fire it at 25yds, but was pretty tickled with how well it shot of the bench. The 1st group of three went into 1 hole. I adjusted the sights and shot the 2nd group to just left of the first, making one big hole! Now if I could only do that without the sandbags!
Mark
So I sighted it in at 25 yds with my favorite PRB target load of .530 RB, .018" PT, and 80gr Goex FF. I was shocked at how it performed with the RB's, so I tried to shoot a group at 50 yards:
Next, I tried the LEE 380gr R.E.A.L. bullets I had cast a while back. I used Dave's recommended 60gr Goex FF with a bore button just to keep the T/C Bore Butter from contaminating the powder. I was not expecting much from these stubby little boolits, but again I was surprised:
So then I tried the REAL's at 50 yards with 60gr & 70gr:
Still pretty sweet, but now I'm at my limit with buckhorn and post sights. I'm not sure how much the group opened due to the extra powder or my lousy vision. I was shooting three different guns today, so I didn't have a chance to really bump up the powder to see what might happen. I like these bullets and they are cheap and easy to cast. I would not hesitate to use this load on deer inside of 50 yards, which is about my max with these sights anyway.
Next, I tried the Lyman 450gr MAXI (548657). (I thought I had Shockers but my memory failed me yet again). The results were less than stellar. These were getting to be very stout and I didn't want to push the powder up as the recoil was already less than enjoyable. These bullets may be getting to heavy to be stabilized by a 1:32 twist.
Overall, I was really impressed with this barrel. It's more accurate with PRB's than my .54 GPR, at least with 80ffg target loads. I will have to see how far I can push it before accuracy suffers. For now, this is my new match rifle! I like shooting the lighter 380gr REAL much more than the 450 MAXI, so I'll see how far I can push the REAL for an elk hunting load. I would be happy with 90 gr.
Finally, I also tried out my previously unfired .54 GPR flintlock. I only had time to fire it at 25yds, but was pretty tickled with how well it shot of the bench. The 1st group of three went into 1 hole. I adjusted the sights and shot the 2nd group to just left of the first, making one big hole! Now if I could only do that without the sandbags!
Mark
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Wow!! that is some good shooting. Like I said, my GPH shoots .535 roundball very well. And my GPR shoots them real well too. So your results are not surprising.
I have to cast some REAL again and try them. I have a couple boxes of them somewhere. But still the doctor has not cleared me to shoot. So I can watch it snow, and snow, and snow...
I have to cast some REAL again and try them. I have a couple boxes of them somewhere. But still the doctor has not cleared me to shoot. So I can watch it snow, and snow, and snow...
Cayuga, too bad about the snow. We just got out of the deep freeze here (-10 F to 0 F) for over a week, but is was 68 yesterday and with very little wind! Hope the doc clears you soon. I know how hard it must be to sit around just looking at that new TVM!
Thanks for the excellent shooting report. Fortunately, I sat down and cast a bunch of 380 Grain REALs just the other night. I hope to shoot next week. I post my results for those, some 414 grain minnies I cast, and some 420 Maxi Balls I ordered from track of the wolf. I really hope they shoot like crap because i can't find a comparable mold if they shoot. I'll post results as soon as i get them.
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