Lyman GPR sights

[Tulle FdC Fan]

Hi,

I'm new to the site, but have been reading some great advice here.

I'm new to the blackpowder and muzzleloading passion. I bought a new Lyman GPR .54 caliber flintlock, but I'm not a fan of the adjustable rear sight or the thick front blade sight. I want to replace the adjustable rear sight with the fixed, primitive sight included in the Lyman box and would like some advice on a 'not so thick' front sight. I understand that the dovetails cut into the barrel may be metric or non-standard and would appreciate if anyone could suggest a front sight that would fit without too much grief. The gun may be used for deer hunting next year, if that has any bearing on selection of an appropriate sight.

Best Regards to all,

[Topknot]

Tulle,The front and rear dovetails are .360. I too didnt like the rear sights that came on my great plains rifle. They are cheaply made and had too much wobble, loose tolerances. It was also getting to where I couldnt see the sights plainly as I  used too so I ended up putting a set of the lyman great plains peep sights or more correctly aperture sights. That my friend fixed my problem and I havent looked back since. great set of sights.

                                                          topknot

[Pete G.]

A .3/8" sight dovetail can be easily modified with a three cornered file that has the teeth ground off of one side. There are many options available on the Track of the Wolf website.

[docone]

Get the sight you want, and take a three cornered file and grind one side flat. It is simple to make a new dovetail. I have done this on a few Italian muzzleloaders. When the sight is a tight fit, center it and with a nail punch make four dimples. Two on each side. There forever. TOW has lots of sights. When I do this, I get a tall one and file it to height. Their rear sight works well. Just file the center notch a little deeper and set this one also.

[longcruise]

File the "issue" front sight thinner.  That way you get just the thickness you want.  If you have not sighted it in yet, you will also be filing it shorter.

[WadePatton]

Make sights.

Make them fit.

Lots easier than making a whole gun.

[wet willy]

I, too, share your dislike for the Lyman GPR sights.

ToTW  and other ML suppliers shows several suitable front/rear sights. My preference is to modify the new sight dovetail to fit the Lyman, rather than opening up the dovetail on the barrel. These sights are raw castings and will require some clean-up work on your part.

I'd buy several of the sight(s) you choose as I sometimes take too much off the dovetail, resulting in a sloppy, loose fit. Start over!

Fitting the new sight dovetail to the barrel is a cut-n-try process.  File a very slight taper to the sight base width, try it in the barrel dovetail, I like it to go about 1/4 into the slot, then use a brass punch for the rest of the way. Keep in mind you may want to move the sight(s) left or right to center the group.

There are numerous instructional videos on fitting sights, mostly on sites that illustrate building a ML firearm.

[Daryl]

front sights, blade- 7 pages
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/874/1

rear sights, single and leaf - 4 pages
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/880/1