I got a Lyman Great Planes Hunter .50cal from my father.  This model has a 1/32 twist.  from what I have read most are a 1/60" twist.  I guess the one I got was made for shooting maxi-balls and sabbots.  I only plan on shooting patched roundball.  Will this twist do allright with roundball, or do I need to order a barrel with a 1/60 twist?

The twist you have is more suited to conical projectiles, but it may shoot just fine for patched round balls. What's the worst that can happen? You'll spend a day at the range burning up some powder. I had a Great Plains .50 caliber for awhile and it shot outstandingly with round balls (I had the 1 in 60" twist). I sometimes wonder why I sold it. At any rate, I now shoot a T/C Renegade with a 1 in 48" twist, which is a nice compromise. It shoots patched round balls and conicals equally well.

Try yours first and then if you're not happy, buy another barrel if they're not too expensive.

Yes,
What he said. If you have a little patience, blackpowder may be some of the best shooting fun you've ever had.

When I was 12 I ordered a CVA Kentucky .45 cal Kit for $39.00 from the back of a G&A.  30 years later it's still one of my favorite shootin irons. Still gives me 2" groups at 50 yrds.  Also a cleaning tip......hot soapy water!

Sounds like a plan... I will have to give it a try..    I have sot a couple before, but nothing extensive.....  I have always heard that it was allot of fun, plus a great too for practicing "follow through" after you squeze a shot off.  I can't wait to try it


I_run_with_scissors;

I have had a couple people tell me to use the hot soapy water, my question is, what do you use in the bore afterwards to keep it from rusting, that won't contaminate powder next time I shoot it?

Try experimenting with different charges and patch thicknesses. I'm sure you'll find a combination that will give great results. Light to moderate loads often yield the best accuracy.
Have fun and keep your powder dry.

coyote3

I have had a couple people tell me to use the hot soapy water, my question is, what do you use in the bore afterwards to keep it from rusting, that won't contaminate powder next time I shoot it?

That's whay you use HOT water. The temperature will cause the matel to dry quickly after the water is dumped and swabbed out. I place a patch over the nipple, lower the hammer, and fill the barrel with HOT soapy water and let it stand for several minutes. Then I dump out the barrel and begin swabbing and scrubbing the bore as well as the exterior metal. When I'm satisfied, I dump everything out, wipe down the barrel and other metal, and set it with the muzzle down at an angle so that any residual water will drain out. As long as it's HOT, it'll dry fast. When it's dry, I then swab out the bore and coat everything down THOROUGHLY with like T/C Bore Butter, or something similar. Reassemble the gun, coat it some more, and then relax. Works every time and look ma, NO RUST!!

Quoted: I have had a couple people tell me to use the hot soapy water, my question is, what do you use in the bore afterwards to keep it from rusting, that won't contaminate powder next time I shoot it? That's whay you use HOT water. The temperature will cause the matel to dry quickly after the water is dumped and swabbed out. I place a patch over the nipple, lower the hammer, and fill the barrel with HOT soapy water and let it stand for several minutes. Then I dump out the barrel and begin swabbing and scrubbing the bore as well as the exterior metal. When I'm satisfied, I dump everything out, wipe down the barrel and other metal, and set it with the muzzle down at an angle so that any residual water will drain out. As long as it's HOT, it'll dry fast. When it's dry, I then swab out the bore and coat everything down THOROUGHLY with like T/C Bore Butter, or something similar. Reassemble the gun, coat it some more, and then relax. Works every time and look ma, NO RUST!!

It works ALMOST all the time in my experience. :)  Then there was that time I spent an hour at the range trying to unload before finally giving up.  You want the lubricant coating there to protect against rust, but any excessive amounts of lube left in the bore become a liability if you're trying to make things go bang.  Before you go shooting, put a couple of dry patches down the bore and clean your ignition path thoroughly to prevent bore butter contamination.  An EZ-Unloader helps to lessen the chore of unloading a contaminated load, making it a 10-20 second job instead of 10-20+ minutes.  This is probably an appropriate time to complain that they don't include a flintlock adapter with the EZ-Unloader.

ALWAYS blow two or three primers down the barrel before you load up to insure the barrel is clean and dry.

Ditto on the ALWAYS pop a few primers on it before you load it. Not doing this is the most common cause of misfires or hangfires. 1 in 32 is a little fast for round balls, you will probably get better accuracy with conicals, but the balls are a lot cheaper to shoot. Either way, welcome to the black powder club and have a blast!

It works ALMOST all the time in my experience. :) Then there was that time I spent an hour at the range trying to unload before finally giving up. You want the lubricant coating there to protect against rust, but any excessive amounts of lube left in the bore become a liability if you're trying to make things go bang. Before you go shooting, put a couple of dry patches down the bore and clean your ignition path thoroughly to prevent bore butter contamination. An EZ-Unloader helps to lessen the chore of unloading a contaminated load, making it a 10-20 second job instead of 10-20+ minutes. This is probably an appropriate time to complain that they don't include a flintlock adapter with the EZ-Unloader.

Incorrect. Bore Butter does NOT contaminate powder, petroleum-based solvents and lubricants do, hence the admonition to use ALL NATURAL lubes, etc. Experinced black powder shooters will pop a few caps with the muzzle facing grass, paper sack, etc. prior to loading and firing in order to clear the channel. If movement can be discerned, the channel is clear. I've shot probably twenty pounds of lead over the past eight or nine years and I don't know how many pounds of Pyrodex, but the only time I've ever had any contamination was from using petroleum based stuff. Bore Butter will not contaminate anything and T/C will tell you as much (they've only been in the black powder business for thirty-some-odd years now. WTF do they know).

A 32" twist is way fast for a rifle shooting balls, and they might "jump the rifling" with loads that would otherwise be considered normal.

However, such a twist is not unusual for pistols shooting round balls. The difference (as far as jumping or stripping is concerned) has nothing to do with barrel length, but just depends on the powder charge used. Pistols might typically use less than half the powder charge of a rifle the same caliber.

So it stands to reason that if you drop down to a low enough powder charge, sooner or later your rifle will shoot OK with balls. Assuming it doesn't using full charges, which is possible.

In that .50, I bet 20 or 30 grains would make an accurate plinking load for short ranges.