lyman gpr in 50 cal any one hunt with one

[shorthair15]

looked at one of these in 50 cal in the 1 in 60 twist seems like it would be fun to shoot. was thinking of getting the 50 as its easier to find bullets for it. i was going to shoot mainly roundballs for deer. seems it would work for elk if you were 75 yards or closer most of my animals i have taken have been 60 yards or less. just wanted to try a traditional gun. i have 300 ultra mag that is heavier than this. just wanted to ask as some have said this gun is heavy.

[usmc74]

My buddy has one in .54.  He complains about how heavy it is all the time.

He had a barrel go bad due to lack of cleaning, and bought a hunter barrel replacement (faster twist).

They shoot from the bicep instead of the shoulder?

He has been having ignition reliability issues, so hunted with one of my inlines last year.

[C-Money]

They seem to be very nice rifles. After shooting one, and then a T/C Hawken, I never wanted a Lyman again.

[hendog]

I had  a .54 GPR & a .50 T/C Hawken. Sold the GPR because it was to heavy to carry all day.

[MagKarl]

I have one in .54.  Shoots roundball well.  External dimensions of the barrel are fixed, so smaller bore will weight slightly more.  Though longer and heavier than a TC "Hawken", the GPR looks better and is still much shorter and lighter than traditional muzzleloaders.

[arifleman]

"..Sold the GPR because it was too heavy to carry all day."

Ditto that!  I will say my GPR shot great with patched round ball.  I picked up an older Knight MK-85 some years back and that also shoots great and is a shorter, lighter carry.

[Red leaf 67]

Yes, they are on the heavy side... 11 1/2 lbs.. they have a 32 inch straight oct. barrel 15/16 " across flats. Italian made rifle ( Investarms).  The ignition issues stem from a powder channel recess between the nipple & breech area where crud collects, you have to be diligent to thoroughly clean with fouling scraper & small brush in breech plug area to remedy this. I've had one over 25 years, always shot patched round balls (.490 with 17 thousandths patch, bear oil or crisco lube) & real blackpowder goex . Accurate, well balanced rifle.  There are so many rifle's to choose from, the weight is certainly important. I wanted a production gun that resembled (looks)  original Hawken ..Iron fittings, browned, two barrel wedges, ramrod enrtry pipe under nose cap... without going custom rifle route.  Navy Arms, Uberti Santa Fe Hawken, & Pedersoli made decent  Hawkin replica's Too.    Too bad you can't shoot, carry, & try one out before commiting to purchase... If you lived closer, I'd loan you mine... I'm almost 3000 miles away. Man, I'm missing Washington.