I recently acquired a very good condition Knight Disc Elite .50 cal for an extremely good price. It came with a decent 3-9 x 32 scope on Leopold based, which I've removed since we cannot use scopes here in CA for deer during muzzleloader season. It is my first blackpowder/muzzleloading rifle.
I tried a "See-All" sight this weekend, which has the advantage of just mounting to the weaver style scope base in the rear (and not needing a front sight) and was able to shoot <1" group at 50 yards, but found that at 100 yards the sight just doesn't work well for a hunting application. (FWIW, I think it will be great on my shotgun, so it will probably be moved there).
Anyway, this means I need to get set up with a traditional front/rear sight combo. As some of you may know, the Disc Elite has a tapered barrel and is NOT drilled for front sights and there is no dovetail or anything there on which to mount a sight.
I think I will probably end up with a Williams FP-style sight that attaches directly to the screw holes in the top of the receiver (which will require clearancing for the bolt) or a WGRS style which will sit atop the scope base.
My big challenge is figuring out what to do about a front sight... I am pretty handy, but I do not have precision tools for drilling/tapping/milling, nor do I have experience with gunsmithing. I also do not have any competent smiths in my area that I'd trust with any work like this.
One solution is to send the receiver/barrel to NEGS and just pay them to set everything up. It will likely cost 1.5x what I paid for the entire rifle. Apparently their banded front sight mounts require a gunsmith to install them (I'm not sure why, but that's what they told me).
The option I find more attractive is finding a front sight ramp that will work, and then just using JB Weld to attach it to the front of the barrel and then swapping find a front blade that will match the rear sight I end up choosing. Or maybe sliver solder will work...(?) But there seem to be SOOOO many options!
For what its worth, the OD of the barrel at the muzzle is 0.800" and the taper is consistent at 0.065" every 1" (so that 1" back from the crown it is 0.865" and then at 2" it is 0.930" and so on
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated to help me narrow down the options I'm considering.
Thanks!
Brent
I tried a "See-All" sight this weekend, which has the advantage of just mounting to the weaver style scope base in the rear (and not needing a front sight) and was able to shoot <1" group at 50 yards, but found that at 100 yards the sight just doesn't work well for a hunting application. (FWIW, I think it will be great on my shotgun, so it will probably be moved there).
Anyway, this means I need to get set up with a traditional front/rear sight combo. As some of you may know, the Disc Elite has a tapered barrel and is NOT drilled for front sights and there is no dovetail or anything there on which to mount a sight.
I think I will probably end up with a Williams FP-style sight that attaches directly to the screw holes in the top of the receiver (which will require clearancing for the bolt) or a WGRS style which will sit atop the scope base.
My big challenge is figuring out what to do about a front sight... I am pretty handy, but I do not have precision tools for drilling/tapping/milling, nor do I have experience with gunsmithing. I also do not have any competent smiths in my area that I'd trust with any work like this.
One solution is to send the receiver/barrel to NEGS and just pay them to set everything up. It will likely cost 1.5x what I paid for the entire rifle. Apparently their banded front sight mounts require a gunsmith to install them (I'm not sure why, but that's what they told me).
The option I find more attractive is finding a front sight ramp that will work, and then just using JB Weld to attach it to the front of the barrel and then swapping find a front blade that will match the rear sight I end up choosing. Or maybe sliver solder will work...(?) But there seem to be SOOOO many options!
For what its worth, the OD of the barrel at the muzzle is 0.800" and the taper is consistent at 0.065" every 1" (so that 1" back from the crown it is 0.865" and then at 2" it is 0.930" and so on
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated to help me narrow down the options I'm considering.
Thanks!
Brent
