Lyman Trade Rifle question.

[JimG]

Picked up a Lyman Trade Rifle the other day. It's been several years since I've owned a sidelock with a barrel wedge, the rest have all been pinned. How much downward force should I have to put on the barrel to put the wedge in? With the hooked breech in the tang there is about a 3/16" gap between the forend and the bottom barrel flat at the nosecap. I then have to squeeze the foreend and barrel togther to insert the wedge. Is this normal? If not, what is the fix?

[TallTexan]

Loosen the screws on the tang before putting the barrel in place, put the barrel in and then put the wedge in, tighten down the screws.  If that doesn't work the some stock removal in the barrel channel is in order, just do very little at a time.  You can usually see where it's needed by the shiney looking wood that's been compressed after leaving the barrel in for a day or two.

This is perfectly normal for Lyman rifles.

[JimG]

Thanks.

[Detached]

Does the rifle shoot well? Common sense dictates that if it does, then do nothing. It's the old "If it ain't broke.." thing.

If you do decide it needs some cleaning up, you can color the bottom of the barrel with a grease pencil and install the barrel, then take it out and see where the mark transferred to the wood. Not a gunsmith, just and old woodworker's trick.

[JimG]

Actually no it does not shoot as accurately as I think it should. Best group so far at 75 yards is 4 5/8" CTC, 3 shot group. Load was RWS caps, 80grs Pyrodex RS, .490" cast ball, .015" patch lubed with Wonder Lube. I cast some .495" balls and will try that. I like the rifle but it has a host of minor issues that need dealt with besides the wedge issue (if that even is an issue). I have a feeling real black would group better but I live in Illinois and real black is darn near impossible to get. We also have some confusing laws regarding mail order and firearms/powder so many retailers will not ship anything to Illinois. I have no idea where to get real black so I shoot the next best thing which is loose Pyrodex. Won't touch T7 or the others.

[sse]

Might be worth a road trip over the state border to get some BP...

[Detached]

Best group so far at 75 yards is 4 5/8" CTC, 3 shot group. Load was RWS caps, 80grs Pyrodex RS, .490" cast ball, .015" patch lubed with Wonder Lube. I cast some .495" balls and will try that.

Well, it sounds as if you're taking time to work up your load, so that's good. I've never shot a Lyman rifle and even though I know they're well-respected, I have no idea what the expected accuracy is. Seems like you should be able to do better than that at 75 yards though.