Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Lyman Trade Rifle 54 Cal Percussion

Betting you will see a big difference just swapping to a thicker patch and more powder.

How deep is the rifling on that barrel??

I haven't slugged it. it's a 5-groove 5-lands barrel, so tough to get any kind of measurement with inside calipers.

They don't look super deep, probably .010" or so.

I had to do a little modification to the stock. It just didn't fit my face and I could barely get lined up on the sights. Also it was hitting my cheekbone on firing.

So, I broke out the rasp and sandpaper and got rid of that Monte Carlo stock (grin). I'll strip and refinish the whole stock once I know it's fine-tuned to my liking. For now I just hit it with some Tung Oil.

Now I have good room to get a comfortable cheek weld, and be behind the sights.

Before:


After:

Nice mod. Looks good.

I've got some .535" balls, and .018" pillow ticking patches in the pipeline, from Midway.

Thanks, it feels 1000% better.

Only took about 5 minutes with a horse shoeing rasp, and some sandpaper.

I think it looks better as well. Nice stuff.

Try the .530 as well. Those and the .018 combined with shallow rifling may be the ticket.

When this order arrives, I'll have balls in .530 and .535 on hand, as well as patches in .010, .015, and .018. I'll try different charges of powder as well. Surely there will be a combo somewhere in there that shoots well.

I used a deer antler, drilled it out until it hit 80 grains per my reloading scale, then just dump and pour. Also get a powder measure, shoot groups from 60 to 100 in 10 grain increments and roll with the best one. Good luck

Hand-crafted stuff like that is very cool.

.535" ball, and .015" patch, 90gr (volume) Pyrodex P. 50 yards. The group is the holes marked with a triangle.

Best four measure 1.6" ctc. The flyer at 6 o'clock I believe was my fault. Low sun from behind was putting significant glare on back of the rear sight. Wind was 10-20 mph, full value, from 9 o'clock.




I tried to load the .535" ball with a .018" pillow ticking patch, but it would not load. I pressed hard enough to leave a significant ring mark on the ball, but no dice. So I tried the .015" patch. Very snug to get started, but didn't mark the ball with the starter.

The .018" patch might be just the ticket with the .530" ball. I'll try that another time.

Here's a little trivia/geekout info:

Hornady .530" ball - 223 grains
Hornady .535" ball - 231 grains

Per my reloading scale.

A former co-worker mad powder horns,
Old style, scrimshawed, with maps and such.
And other handmade accouterments.









One thing was powder measures from the branch of an antler.
His were less adorned, more rustic.






The fangs formed a spout that guided the powder into the barrel.

That's pretty cool, and some real talent.

That's where I am in my .54, .530 ball and .018 pillow ticking.

Looks like you have it coming your way as well.

I'll likely try that combo tomorrow, and see how it goes.

Nice shooting, it makes it even better when you start to see the progress!

That rifle is coming along real well from my view.