Knight's Step Child in the Rock Pit
 

The Knight step child - a DISC Extreme n 52 cal. I know a lot of people see no real use for this rifle, but I just can not make myself move it. Even with the new Ultra-Lite, I still have an attachment to the 52. So much so I was headed to the Rock Pit this morning to shoot the ULite again but changed my mind and took the 52 instead.

The thing that peaked my interest in the first place was the twist rate of the bore. The 1-26 twist should work very for stabilization of the longer bullets. Basically I really only shoot .458 bullets for elk hunting or even deer. I like the thought of shooting actual rifle bullets instead of handgun bullets. The fact that I am shooting these bullets at 1950 fps. seems natural to shoot a rifle bullet. The second thing I considered was the sabot. The Knight/MMP Grey sabot is heavier and can with stand much more pressure than the thinner .458/50 cal. sabots. Then of course since the rifle is so darn accurate with just about any powder charge or projectile - including heavy loads of T7, it just seems natural.

One other option if you so choose to do so is to shoot the bigger .475 bullets in a Knight Maroon sabot. I guess if I were hunting elk, moose, and big bear or even big cats a high percentage of the time the 52 would really be a good rifle. You can run the powder up to 150 grains of loose if needed but I will pass on that for now.

One other thing that should be thought about is BH 209. In the 52 with heavy bullets - that would up your velocity 150-200 fps with the same weight powder charge.

It was a good day shooting even though shooting 100 yards at a near 3" target does not seem like a problem at all anymore. This fall after harvest I will be able to shoot more at the farm and much longer distances. That will certainly increase the challenge.

I did shoot two set-ups of clay birds this morning and then worked on some bird chips...

That looks like a lot of fun. I personally have no need for a .52 caliber or even another inline for that matter. BUT for you, I can see a lot of practical applications as you mentioned.. elk hunting it would shine.

I just played with a .50 caliber flintlock today. 50 yards, nothing fancy, just roundball. And it did very well. Although I cleaned the rifle too early today. I have been having bear problems this year. I am sure its because my dog is not longer marking the yard up with scent. I removed all the bird & humming bird feeders, buried the compost pile a little better, etc. So there should be nothing to attract them right? He was in the other night and I ran it off. About 200-250 pound range.

And you'd think with the shooting and all today, the bear would not come around. I stopped shooting at 2:00 pm. 4:50 pm I hear crashing going on out on the front porch. Run to the door with a .45 long colt pistol and sure enough.. the bear is dragging my recycle barrel across the porch, and down the steps. So I opened the door and yes the thought did cross my mind to shoot him in the buttocks.. but instead I hollered something about his mother's sexual habits and a word that sounds like luck but does not mean that.. telling him to get out of my yard. So he released his kung fu grip on the recycle barrel handle and took off across the front yard, around the garage, and into the woods.

I guess I will have to get some trip cord alarms and set them up so he is scared off. That or get another big mean dog.

I have to agree. Even though the .52 is a proprietary caliber its hard to knock it. Even TB when he was still milking the old Knight company praised the long range performance of the .52 in an article in the defunct "Black Powder Guns and Hunting" magazine..He even extollled why the .52 was better than a .54. Since his falling out with the new Knight company he probably wouldn't say that now. If a person tries the .52 I think they would like it . It's just to darn hard to convince the masses that are brainwashed by modern marketing methods to try it and the fact that the .50 is the standard caliber makes it a tough sell. I personally like my .52's

Crap! bears can be quite the scavengers when they get attracted to a place... How about picking up a really good loud compressed air horn one they use for boats. A few blast of that he might find another place... They really do not like noise...

Dang! Sharpshooter where have you been?

I have been kinda looking at the rifles that I have trying to decide which ones I can move - I keep looking at the 52 and thinking but then I have such a fondness for it - I just mark it off the list of rifles for sale...

1874sharpsshooter

Hey Chet,

Good to hear from you once again! I still have the 50 Knight Extreme i purchased from you. If i recall correctly, you would be given first chance to buy it back. At his time, i am not really planning to sell the rifle, but if you wish to have it, i would sell it back for less money, since i have used a grinder on the bolt handle, and glas bedded it. Hopefully we will get a chance to visit on the refuge this year.

Personally, i like the .52.

Yes. you must buy sabots from Knight. (No big deal in my mind) However, you can shoot a wide variety of .458 bullets designed for the 45-70 platform. in addition, you can buy the 375 Grain Barnes .475 bullets and they are very accurate.

I have one and it shoots great, same Knight quality and another caliber option.

Ive got a soft spot for the 52cal and i personally really like the 52x458 sabots. The 475s are fine too but i can't find affordable bullets that i like as much. The 325gr XTP is one of the better "cheap" .475 ive found. They are not very cheap though compared to the .458s. There are tons of bullets in .458 costing from $40/100 to $2 each. Many of them perform very well at ML speeds also.

The Lehigh 275gr, Barnes 300gr SOCOM and Hornady 325gr FTX have all shot well in mine with upto 130gr of BH209. Hornady also offers a .458-250gr Monoflex that may be worth a try for those that don't need/want to shoot the heavier bullets. Its a "premium" class monolithic bullet but it can be found for less money than Barnes.