Chopping Disc Extreme .52 barrel

[dbowling]

I'm considering chopping the barrel on my Knight .52 down from 26 in to 23 or 24 in. and putting a 1/2 in limb saver recoil pad on it.. to be honest it sucks in a tree stand with heavy clothes on trying to maneuver gun around, length of pull is too long with a heavy coat on.. why they have the length of pull is 14.25 in on the Disc but 13.5 inches on the ultra lite makes no sense to me..
I've already put a old thin recoil pad on it and lop is now almost perfect. Not sure how much weight gun will lose with 3 in. lopped off barrel but believe it will make it a lot better feeling. Anyone done this if so what do you think ?

 

[sabotloader]

I'm considering chopping the barrel on my Knight .52 down from 26 in to 23 or 24 in. and putting a 1/2 in limb saver recoil pad on it.. to be honest it sucks in a tree stand with heavy clothes on trying to maneuver gun around, length of pull is too long with a heavy coat on.. why they have the length of pull is 14.25 in on the Disc but 13.5 inches on the ultra lite makes no sense to me..
I've already put a old thin recoil pad on it and lop is now almost perfect. Not sure how much weight gun will lose with 3 in. lopped off barrel but believe it will make it a lot better feeling. Anyone done this if so what do you think ?

Essentially you would be building one of GM54-120's most favorite muzzleloaders. The Green Mountain 54 Brush Gun! If you go down to 24" you would have a 52 Brush Gun.

Scott could talk to all day about how good that rifle is for him...

I totally agree about the 14.25" LOP - the 13.5 is much more usable!

 

[dbowling]

99 percent of my shots here are under 100 yds and the long barrel just gets in the way.. to tell truth the little Wolverine feels perfect with its 22 in barrel. Long barrels are great if shooting off a bench or maybe for long range out west but for hunting in the woods here in Indiana they just plain suck. The length of pull on the Disc is perfect for someone with long arms but by the time I put on heavy hunting clothes and am sitting in a tree stand up against a tree its very hard to shoulder gun easily and not get hung up on coat or have to crane neck to get on scope.
Other then that I love the gun.

I'm considering chopping the barrel on my Knight .52 down from 26 in to 23 or 24 in. and putting a 1/2 in limb saver recoil pad on it.. to be honest it sucks in a tree stand with heavy clothes on trying to maneuver gun around, length of pull is too long with a heavy coat on.. why they have the length of pull is 14.25 in on the Disc but 13.5 inches on the ultra lite makes no sense to me..
I've already put a old thin recoil pad on it and lop is now almost perfect. Not sure how much weight gun will lose with 3 in. lopped off barrel but believe it will make it a lot better feeling. Anyone done this if so what do you think ?

Essentially you would be building one of GM54-120's most favorite muzzleloaders. The Green Mountain 54 Brush Gun! If you go down to 24" you would have a 52 Brush Gun.

Scott could talk to all day about how good that rifle is for him...

I totally agree about the 14.25" LOP - the 13.5 is much more usable!

 

[sabotloader]

This isn't Scott's but very close to it...

During our ML season - open sights and cap ignition - I either use a very old Wolverine or a ULite

Really what more do I need for the ML season

Although I really do like my ULite

 

[dbowling]

I agree, really like the looks of the 1st gun.
Sending it to Bestill after season is over..just talked to him.

 

[sabotloader]

I agree, really like the looks of the 1st gun.
Sending it to Bestill after season is over..just talked to him.

He will do an outstanding job!

 

[dbowling]

I was going to put that T/H Bighorn stock I just got from Knight on my new Wolverine that's just been sitting in closet but instead kept original stock and put it on my .36 LK-93 w/Timney trigger. I really like the feel of it on the .36 now just need to get some good scope rings for it, screw head stripped out on ring and going to have to drill or cut it off. Knew better then to put cheap rings on.

I agree, really like the looks of the 1st gun.
Sending it to Bestill after season is over..just talked to him.

He will do an outstanding job!

 

[GM54-120]

I would say 22". Mine is a 20".

I would also suggest instead of shooting the 52x458s you see if you can get a .475 325gr bullet to shoot. The .475 325gr XTP is a really nasty bullet for this task but imo they are terribly over priced. The Speer 325gr is much cheaper.

ATM i dont have a pic of it with the factory wood handy. I keep it stashed away so it stays like new. It is number 39 of less than 250 ever sold.

 

[dbowling]

I like it! Only thing is my .52 shoots the .458 Ftx into less then a inch at 60 yds and just over a inch at 106 yds.
Will look into the Speer and XTPs.
22 in is what was thinking also, have a email into to Western powders as to what they think about barrel length w/209.

I would say 22". Mine is a 20".

I would also suggest instead of shooting the 52x458s you see if you can get a .475 325gr bullet to shoot. The .475 325gr XTP is a really nasty bullet for this task but imo they are terribly over priced. The Speer 325gr is much cheaper.

ATM i dont have a pic of it with the factory wood handy. I keep it stashed away so it stays like new. It is number 39 of less than 250 ever sold.

 

[GM54-120]

The 475 class of bullets are normally shot a couple hundred fps slower than what you can get from a 52cal carbine. The velocity at distance will be pretty close so the bullets should perform as design. The 475 325gr Speer i mentioned is not a high demand bullet and can be found for under $20/50. Ive seen them for $18/50 recently.

A test i saw shooting them at around 1650fps from a 475 Linebaugh rifle was pretty good. Over 12" of penetration in wet newsprint and good weight retention.

 

[sabotloader]

The 475 class of bullets are normally shot a couple hundred fps slower than what you can get from a 52cal carbine. The velocity at distance will be pretty close so the bullets should perform as design. The 475 325gr Speer i mentioned is not a high demand bullet and can be found for under $20/50. Ive seen them for $18/50 recently.

A test i saw shooting them at around 1650fps from a 475 Linebaugh rifle was pretty good. Over 12" of penetration in wet newsprint and good weight retention.

For whatever it might be worth... I really could get the accuracy from the .475's that I could from the .458's. The 458's shot outstanding - even the Sierra .458x300 was outstanding.


This is one of the first outing with the new 52

 

[GM54-120]

The 300gr Sierra is a great bullet for slower speeds too. Its exactly why Sierra made that bullet.
https://www.sierrabullets.com/store/pro ... 0-gr-HP-FN

What .475 350gr bullet were you shooting? It was the 375gr .475 that Tony Knight raved about when he released the 52cal. So i would imagine they shot well for him.

 

[long shot]

99 percent of my shots here are under 100 yds and the long barrel just gets in the way.. to tell truth the little Wolverine feels perfect with its 22 in barrel. Long barrels are great if shooting off a bench or maybe for long range out west but for hunting in the woods here in Indiana they just plain suck. The length of pull on the Disc is perfect for someone with long arms but by the time I put on heavy hunting clothes and am sitting in a tree stand up against a tree its very hard to shoulder gun easily and not get hung up on coat or have to crane neck to get on scope.
Other then that I love the gun.

I'm considering chopping the barrel on my Knight .52 down from 26 in to 23 or 24 in. and putting a 1/2 in limb saver recoil pad on it.. to be honest it sucks in a tree stand with heavy clothes on trying to maneuver gun around, length of pull is too long with a heavy coat on.. why they have the length of pull is 14.25 in on the Disc but 13.5 inches on the ultra lite makes no sense to me..
I've already put a old thin recoil pad on it and lop is now almost perfect. Not sure how much weight gun will lose with 3 in. lopped off barrel but believe it will make it a lot better feeling. Anyone done this if so what do you think ?

Essentially you would be building one of GM54-120's most favorite muzzleloaders. The Green Mountain 54 Brush Gun! If you go down to 24" you would have a 52 Brush Gun.

Scott could talk to all day about how good that rifle is for him...

I totally agree about the 14.25" LOP - the 13.5 is much more usable!

Where in southern ,Indiana never noticed it thick

 

[dbowling]

Not in southern Indiana I'm right in the middle of the state on far western edge, Parke county.. all the woods I hunt in have been logged heavily and are grown up like crazy with secondary growth, saplings, greenbriars etc..only place you can get over a 100 yds is to sit on a point and shoot across ravines to another ridge in woods and even then its hard to get a good open shot.

99 percent of my shots here are under 100 yds and the long barrel just gets in the way.. to tell truth the little Wolverine feels perfect with its 22 in barrel. Long barrels are great if shooting off a bench or maybe for long range out west but for hunting in the woods here in Indiana they just plain suck. The length of pull on the Disc is perfect for someone with long arms but by the time I put on heavy hunting clothes and am sitting in a tree stand up against a tree its very hard to shoulder gun easily and not get hung up on coat or have to crane neck to get on scope.
Other then that I love the gun.

Essentially you would be building one of GM54-120's most favorite muzzleloaders. The Green Mountain 54 Brush Gun! If you go down to 24" you would have a 52 Brush Gun.

Scott could talk to all day about how good that rifle is for him...

I totally agree about the 14.25" LOP - the 13.5 is much more usable!

Where in southern ,Indiana never noticed it thick

 

[ohiostate]

my 52 cal shoots 475 dia good ... alot of the weight come's from the stock... like to see knight make a ultra lite in 52 cal ...

 

[52Bore]

Ran across this and thought of this post..

 

[GM54-120]

my 52 cal shoots 475 dia good ... alot of the weight come's from the stock... like to see knight make a ultra lite in 52 cal ...

My 54-120 with a max load and a 385gr bullet has around 48-49 foot pounds of recoil energy. Its around 7lbs and the recoil is very harsh with those kinds of loads. You would really want to consider using other loads than what the 52cal was meant to do if it was a Ulite.

 

[WV Hunter]

Looking forward to seeing how it shakes out. :yeah: I agree, the full size Knights are a tad heavy and long for my hunting also. Seems like a brush gun would be a good model to offer, many folks would probably prefer that for their style hunting.

 

[edmehlig]

Seems like a brush gun would be a good model to offer, many folks would probably prefer that for their style hunting.

:yeah: :yeah: Especially if you think about i, at least on the East Coast most shots are at 100 yards or less.

 

[dbowling]

Ive never understood why they market a hunting gun with a 26-27 in barrel when most hunters in the Midwest hunt from treestands and as said most shots are under 100 yds, actually a lot of my deer are shot less then 45 yds. I think a muzzleloader 40 in long is about perfect for a tree stand.
Also a lop of about 13.5 in is about perfect when you have your heavy hunting clothes on.

Seems like a brush gun would be a good model to offer, many folks would probably prefer that for their style hunting.

:yeah: :yeah: Especially if you think about i, at least on the East Coast most shots are at 100 yards or less.