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

I've been looking at getting a 54 cal rifle for a few years. I finally pulled the trigger on this one,

https://www.dixiegunworks.com/index...ame/PR0653+Lyman+Trade+Rifle+-+.54+Perc.

I haven't messed with muzzleloaders since I was a teenager back in the late 1970s. Back then I built a couple CVA kits. One was a 50 caliber Mountain Rifle, the other was a 45 caliber Kentucky Pistol.

Anyhoo, my main interest is in shooting PRB. I ordered some .530 RB's and patches in .010, and .015 to get started. Figure I'll try 60gr of Pyrodex P, and see how that goes.

Interested in any feedback from others with experience with the Lyman Trade Rifle.

I hae the Lyman Trade rifle in .50 cal, I really like it, shoots well, only shoot patched round balls but with black powder

Hey MM, no experience with that rifle, but years shooting a 54 cal PRB. 60 grains of P will be like shooting a 22LR. For patch thickness, try to find fired patches and see what they look like. If they have tears, it's too tight. Enjoy!

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Back in the day when I built the CVA 50 cal, I believe we shot it with 90gr of Pyrodex RS. The flask had a 30gr spout, and I seem to recall we put three spouts down the barrel. That was quite accurate, and pleasant to shoot.

60gr of Pyrodex P under a 220gr round ball does sound pretty mild. I'm thinking maybe 1400-1500 fps or so?


Here's a vid I was checking out. Chrono testing 54 PRB with FFFg and FFg.

I couldn't find any #11 caps in Helena, or on my usual online outlets.

Looked around online and finally found some RWS #11 caps in stock at Powder Valley. $36/250, not inexpensive, but at least I'll be able to shoot the rifle. Since I was in for the Hazmat fee, I picked up 500 caps, and an extra pound of Pyrodex P.

Certainly not what it used to be, but what is anymore! But you're out doin it! Enjoy!

I've been finding more of the winged musket caps inmy area. Maybe see if a winged musket cap nipple is available for this rifle

I used to fret some over the non-authentic appearance of the modern kinda-sorta reproduction MLs like TC Hawkens. Then I saw an original New England half-stock for sale at one of the ML vendor sites. Aside from having some more drop to the buttstock, it was very close in appearance to a TC, down to that fancy brass trigger guard.

Enjoy your new rifle. If your supply issues with caps continues, consider a Mag-Spark 209 primer unit. Works like a champ, and gives you another option. I have #11 and musket nipples for my .54 Greyhawk, plus the Mag-Spark. I can shoot any powder out there in a pinch.

I had a Great Plains rifle 30-odd years back, but all I ever killed with it was a groundhog. I shot Pyrodex in it, but today prefer real black and BH 209, or 777 in a pinch.

For a .54, I shoot either 80 or 90 grains of FFFg and a patched round ball. The Deerstalker likes the lighter charge. The 32" barrel of the Green Mountain barrel easily burns 90 grains. Both flints though.

Good info guys, thanks!

Looks like the brown truck will deliver the rifle on Tuesday. The rest of the accoutrements should be along by the end of next week.

Throw that damn Pyrodex away. My Lyman .54 cal shot a lot better when I switched to real black powder.
Not to mention being a whole lot less corrosive and easier to clean.

Yeah, yeah......I've used Pyrodex before, so I'm not throwing it away...lol

Back in the day I was shooting with the Pyrodex RS, 50 cal PRB.

I'm going to be using Pyrodex P with this 54 cal. I won't be mad if it burns a little cleaner.

IME from long ago, Pyrodex was harder to light than either 777 or (naturally) BP, but if you’re happy with it, bang away.

That’s a nice looking rifle. I wonder if they, like current Great Plains rifles, are now made by Pedersoli, a good thing I think.

Keep us posted.

Pappy,

I ordered the rifle from Dixie Gun Works. In their description, it says the rifle is made in Italy by Investarms. I believe the same people that actually made the GPR's???

https://www.dixiegunworks.com/index...ame/PR0653+Lyman+Trade+Rifle+-+.54+Perc.

I was drawn to the simplicity of the rifle relative to some other choices. Single trigger, no patchbox, one barrel wedge, simple fixed sights. My mind sorta took the 'less is more' approach to it. I think this rifle has everything it needs, and nothing it doesn't.



I'll likely get around to trying Black Powder. In the past, and again now, it seems that Pyrodex was/is actually available. So I'll run with that for now.

The CVA Mountain Rifle kit I built back around 1977 did have some of the extras.

- The ornate patchbox in the stock, that was never used.

- It had two barrel wedges, one was usually loose, and fell out upon firing. Granted I wasn't a master BP gun builder when I was 16...lol.

- It also had the double set trigger, which was kind of cool, but this time I opted for the simplicity/reliability of a single trigger.

- A rear sight with some adjustability. That's certainly a convenient thing, but I plan on finding one mid-power load and calibrating the fixed sights to that load. If I fiddle with alternate loads, I'll just have to use some holdoff if needed.

Here's an old pic of the CVA 50 cal mountain rifle. I gifted it to my dad after I got it all finished and sighted in with 90gr Pyrodex RS, and a .490 PRB. It was a good shooter.

This is a pic of Dad with the rifle, around 1980 or so, near Hagerman, NM.

Nice MM! One of the 54's I'm still using is a CVA St. Louis Hawken kit gun I put together back in the late 70's. I've pretty much settled on Goex BP exclusively and have also moved my in-lines to new homes.

Nice rifle, enjoy!

Congrats on the rifle. As others have mentioned, it might be worth buying the larger musket cap nipple...with the shortages these days having nipples in both sizes usually means you can find caps *somewhere*.

I'll be interested to hear how it shoots. I've got TC Hawkens/Renegades in .50 and .54 but I like the look of those Trade Rifles.