Hi all,

Well, just got back in from my sons first ever deer hunt. He is using a 50 caliber hawken that I shortened the stock on, and I realized in the stand the barrel is too long for him, so after the season I'll cut it down. I don't expect him to take shots of over 80 yards with it, so what are anyones thoughts on how short to cut the barrel? Right now I am thinking either 19 or 22 inches. If I cut it at 22, or 21.5 I wont have to reposition the thimble but if I cut it at 18 or 19 it might be a tiny bit easier to handle. Heck I might even go crazy and do it at 16.5....

I'll probably cut it to 22 and see how he can use it, and if need be I can always go shorter I was just wondering if anyone here has ever shot a really short barreled carbine.

The barrel is now 28 " tested and proved to be a great shooter ! it has a 1 in 48" twist you cut it and the powder will not burn off ! you will probably have a fire in the leaves after shooting it ! want to start a forest fire ? you will loose 15 ft per second for every inch cut off the barrel ! If your son is that small get him a CVA that fits him for under $100 all your going to do is ruine a fine rifle !

Well that is one of the advantages to homeschooling, I just think of it as "tuition"!

This one already has a black synthetic stock, I've cut it down quite a bit and installed a recoil pad. Personally I'd rather have my kids use a nicer gun than a cheaper one, over the years the cost isn't that much different. However, this gun is in the lower half of price ranges rather than the upper half.

I just read an article by a person who cut one down from 28" to 20" and stated the difference was only 108 fps. I think I'll cut this at 22" and see how he does with that. I've already installed a ghost ring sight on it and I am very pleased how well he shoots with it. We transitioned from a scoped 22 to this and he picked it up immediately, I'd suggest anyone who is teaching kids to shoot try it.

I'll post pics when I do the deed!

Why did you ask in this forum if you already had your mind set to do this deed ? you will need to crown your barrel after cutting it or it won't hold a pattern , I have several CVA's and they all shoot a better group than any T/C ,Did you consider turning the first 2/3's of the barrel round to loose the weight ?

Not to pick nits here, but my questions was how much to shorten the barrel, not whether or not I should as I already made that decision.

I feel we do a great disservice to youngsters making them adapt into a too-large rifle. When you are first learning to shoot, and especially to hunt, having a proper fitting gun is quite important. Even if you only get one seasons use from it, that is what matters and it will have served its purpose. I'm hoping it will last longer than that but we'll see.

I have two different ML's with 22" barrels and they shoot BP/Pyro/777 and bullet weights from 250-480 just fine. Of course, the accuracy and velocity vary widely, but I shoot, site in, and choose game accordingly. Go for it!!!!!!

Mark,

You're right...give them a gun they can shoot well and enjoy.

I cut my 45x209 TC down to 20" and it is sweet. It does 3" at 100 with a 180 gr 40 cal at just under 2000 FPS with 2 777 pellets. I really like the way it handles now!!

I have 3 22 inch rifles and they're great, because of their light weight and overall handiness. I shoot up to 120gr of 777 or Pyro Select with projectiles close to 2000 fps. at times.
The use of scopes is not allowed in my home state so I have never found a reason to carry a longer barrel around all day long.
Your boy will appericate your extra effort to accomodate his needs and I'm sure his shooting will improve.

Well I cut and crowned it today at 19". It sure makes it much handier and more importantly improves the balance. We'll shoot it tomorrow and I'll see where the accuracy is. I'll also run it over a chronograph just for grins.

Oh yeah, I'll post a pic or two.

First off, sorry for the terrible quality of this pic, I'll try to get a better one tomorrow. Well maybe not tomorrow because it's my birthday but in the next couple of days.

We shot it today, and it has been grouping about 2" at 50 yards which is acceptable for me right now, we'll work up some more accurate loads next summer. I feel this is about an 80 yard gun as it stands. The current hunting load for my son is 40 grains of 2F black powder and a 320 grain Lee REAL bullet. I like to use 80 grains in my gun but it is somewhat unpleasant to shoot in this one! As mentioned, the barrel is now 19" and the weight is 4 lbs 14 oz. I still need to add a rib and thimble and move the front swivel stud to the thimble as it is still a bit muzzle heavy when on a sling. That is important as we do a lot of drives during season so the gun is carried then. You can't see the front sight too clearly, I just made it out of a piece of nickel silver. The rear sight is a williams base with a ghost ring aperture. When the season is over I'll probably put a williams hooded front sight on, but right now I just wanted to get the gun shooting. We'll probably go to pyrodex later on when season is over, but I thought it would be cool for him to be able to say he killed his first deer with a ML using real BP.

I'll do some chronograph work with it next week and try to get that posted up here too, I'm curious to see what the velocities are as well.

Again, sorry for the crappy pic! If you look closely you can also see I've added a recoil pad to it.

Hey, if you got a good crown and a flat face on the barrel, it should remain accurate. Heck, Lyman sells a lot of White Countain Carbines and Cabelas sells a 21-inch barreled Hawken. For the purpose you intend, I think you did your son a favor. That rifle will kill deer just fine.

actually,t/c sells the whitemoun tain carbine