This Old Knight

[Wildlife]

Just so everyone knows, I'm a newbie to the muzzy world...

My father-in-law gave me his old 50cal 'Knight' muzzleloader two years ago. He retired from hunting nearly twenty years ago.

He killed one deer with it years ago with a single 80 yard shot, using #11 percussion cap, 90 grains of 'Elephant Black Powder' & Hornady .490cal lead round ball.

Anyhow, I used this muzzleloader in the original configuration that you see above, but never had the opportunity to take a shot at any deer with it as of yet.

I've used this muzzleloader twice and each time, I didn't feel very confident with it.

I had a couple of issues with it firing in damp/cold conditions, which made me feel real uneasy.

So this year, I wanted to make some changes to the "Old Knight" and make it my own.

I did a lot of reading on the 'Blackhorn 209 Muzzleloader Propellent/Powder' and the 209 ignition systems for 'Knight' muzzleloaders.

After all the research, I had a good idea what I wanted to do so I went ahead and purchased the following items about a month ago.

• Grey, Black, White RUST-OLEUM Spray Paint
• Snow Camo Quake Claw Sling with Swivels Nylon
• Leupold 2-Piece Rifleman Scope Base Weaver-Style Knight LK-93
• Leupold 1" Detachable Rifleman See-Thru Rings Weaver-Style
• Butler Creek Scope Covers
• Knight 209 Conversion Ignition System
• Kick Eez Recoil Pad Grind to Fit 301-5-L-B All Purpose 1/2" Large Black
• Williams Fire Sight Set Knight Rifle Red Bead Aluminim Black Fiber Optic Green
• Barnes Spit-Fire TMZ Muzzleloading Bullet 50 Caliber Sabot with 45 Caliber PolymerTip Boat Tail Lead-Free Box of 24
• Federal Premium Prinmers #209 Muzzleloading Box of 100
• Blackhorn 209 Black Powder/Propellant 10oz.
• Blackhorn 209 Black Powder/Propellant Measuring Tubes 6
• Knight Full Plastic Jackets Box of 100
• Knight Premium Speedloaders 2

After a few days of working on it, upgrading just about everything you can imagine, I finally got around to shooting it today in between the rain drops.

The riflescope is a 'Weaver' 3x9-40 'Duplex Reticle' that I already had in my inventory, including the Bi-pod, which is a 'Champion' model.

Looks entire different now and so far with the limited time shooting it, I'm pleased with it's performance, especially during the hot & humid weather conditions of today.

No failures or any major issues of any kind to speak of, thank goodness.

I shot it eighteen times on three different targets.

Open-site bullseye @35yrds and rifle-scope bullseye @50yrds.

I'm still trying to dialing it in for 100 yards, and so far so good.

I ran out of daylight and the rain didn't help out any either.

Once I have it to level that I'm most confident & comfortable with, I'll make the determination whether or not I'll try to take a buck with it specifically.

But rest assure, you can bet that I'll kill a deer with it during the new 2020 muzzy season for my father-in-law's sake.

I want to be able to tell him that I harvested a deer with it.

So I'd appreciate any pointers, suggestions or comments from any of the professionals out there that may be able to help me get to that desired level of confidence, thanks!

 

[Archertl]

Nice job. If it was me i would toss those see thru ring in the trash.

 

[xbowguy]

Wow. Doesn't evsn look like the same gun.
Good Luck with it.

 

[CJD3]

Quite the makeover. Looks good.

 

["J"]

Nice upgrades too the old girl, is that a wolverine LK-93? If so I have the same model gun. I upgraded too the shotgun primer ignition system and have a 3x9 on it. Have shot quite a few deer with it over the years.

 

[Wildlife]

Nice job. If it was me i would toss those see thru ring in the trash.

I take it you're speaking from experience regarding the see thru rings?

I had lower scope rings on it originally, but then I seen an outdoor hunting video of someone with a newer muzzleloader using the see thru rings and his logic for them seem to make decent sense to me.

The first set of Medium Profile Rifle-Scope Rings:

My eye sight seems to be failing more & more each year as I become older nowadays.

I liked the idea of being able to use the open sights if a deer gets within forty yards of me lets say and the the scope for fifty & beyond.

I will say, it kinda takes a little getting used to having both options I think.

These 'Leupold' rings seem to be of decent quality and appear to work fine thus far for me.

I'll continue to work with them and if I can't use them as intended, I can always fall back to the original scope rings.

 

[Wildlife]

Nice upgrades too the old girl, is that a wolverine LK-93? If so I have the same model gun. I upgraded too the shotgun primer ignition system and have a 3x9 on it. Have shot quite a few deer with it over the years.

Appreciate it J!

I'm not entirely sure what model it is exactly, however it appears to be much like the wolverine of today.

I believe its one of the early synthetic stock muzzleloaders that 'Knight' manufactured initially.

Below shows what's stamped on the bore:

 

[giles]

What hydrodip process did you use?

 

[Wildlife]

What hydrodip process did you use?

 

[5Cent]

Another great write-up and makeover Wildlife, that is for sharing.

 

[OhioWhiteTails]

Very in depth, wildlife. Nice work!

 

[Mike]

Excellent

 

[Sgt Fury]

My old knight (it’s hanging on the wall for decor now) shot 90 grains black powder with a 45 cal hornady 245 grn jacketed hollow point bullet with 50 cal sabot extremely well. Only reason I don’t use it today is because my Thompson center is much easier to load/clean. I use triple seven pellets with the Thompson. Nice work you did on that rifle.

 

["J"]

Appreciate it J!

I'm not entirely sure what model it is exactly, however it appears to be much like the wolverine of today.

I believe its one of the early synthetic stock muzzleloaders that 'Knight' manufactured initially.

Below shows what's stamped on the bore:
View attachment 81923

Got mine in the late 90’s. Only issue was the plastic ramrod holder snapped off the first season. Called their customer service and they sent a metal replacement out ASAP.
Knights customer service back in the day (They’ve since closed and we’re reopened a few years ago) was top notch.

 

[Wildlife]

Got mine in the late 90’s. Only issue was the plastic ramrod holder snapped off the first season. Called their customer service and they sent a metal replacement out ASAP.
Knights customer service back in the day (They’ve since closed and we’re reopened a few years ago) was top notch.

Yeah, I would have to say this one is a 90's model 'TOO' and it does have the metal ramrod holder. I'll ask my father-in-law if he remembers what year he got it and let you know what he said.

I did replace the original open-site because it was horribly beat up, chipped, paint was worn off and I just couldn't get it adjusted quite right, so I went ahead and replaced it with the new 'Williams' fiber optic one, which are really nice.

 

[Joel]

Looks great man, nice job. I’m ready to shoot some deers.

 

[Sgt Fury]

Here’s the bullet/sabot combo I used with my knight. I did convert it from no. 11 cap to a 209 shotshell primer. Not sure what model my knight is but it has laminated stock and stainless barrel. I bought it at least twenty years ago.

 

[Wildlife]

View attachment 81965View attachment 81966View attachment 81967View attachment 81968
Here’s the bullet/sabot combo I used with my knight. I did convert it from no. 11 cap to a 209 shotshell primer. Not sure what model my knight is but it has laminated stock and stainless barrel. I bought it at least twenty years ago.

That's pretty cool 'Sgt', thanks for sharing!

I'm waiting for a call back from my father-in-law regarding when he bought the one I have now.

When I spoke with him earlier today about it, he mentioned that he still has the original VCR tape that came with it, so that should give someone an idea just how old it might be I would think.

 

[tpierce]

Sgt Fury, that looks like a Knight MK85. I have that same rifle I bought new in the early 90's I believe. I also converted it to 209 primers. It's a shooter with sabots.

 

[Wildlife]

I was bored this evening and on top of that, I still had this burning unanswered question in my mind regarding when exactly was my muzzleloader manufactured?

I tried to find that information online tonight and I came up short so, I suppose I'll have to go back to my original source/owner and follow-up with him.

As I stated previously, my father in-law gave me this muzzleloader. He told me a while back that he had the original VHS tape and the user manual for it someplace. I'm going to call him about it once again tomorrow. I hope he can remember where he stashed them because I'd like to have them both.

Anyhow, through my online searches tonight, I tried to find the actual year my Knight was manufactured, and believe or not, I couldn't find it, which I thought was a bit strange. I've gone through a few muzzleloader forums, several other websites, so on and so forth, and I simply came up short in getting final conformation. So, if anyone knows for sure what year a USAK AMERICAN KNIGHT muzzleloader was manufactured, please let me know, thanks!

I at least found out what my model it is finally, and according to what I read up on this Knight muzzleloader model within the Knight's forum website, it was considered to be the entry level of all the other Knight muzzleloaders. I copied a portion of a response to a USAK owner below as the found reference.

" The American was Knight's entry level rifle. It lacked the adjustable trigger of the other Knights. Basically it is the same quality etc. as all of their plunger style rifles."

Then I came across of few other good articles regarding the history of KNIGHT muzzleloaders, the founder and some about the organization itself. I learned that the production of the Knight's muzzleloaders came to a halt back in 2009, then produced once again two years later in 2011. I attached a couple of articles below if interested.

An Official Journal Of The NRA | The Return of Knight Rifles

The company that pioneered the modern inline muzzleloader is back in business and looking to be a player once again.

www.americanhunter.org

ML-Collecting-Inlines1

The Knight MK-85 may not have been the first in-line ignition muzzleloader on the market, but it was the modern in-line rifle which modernized muzzleloader hunting. Here's a look at the rifle and today's collector prices for the early Knight rifles.

www.namlhunt.com

I can honestly say that I do like my muzzleloader for a few reasons and I am quite pleased with what I have accomplished with it already, successfully harvesting two antlerless deer within the first two ever muzzy seasons.

The specific model that I have has sold recently from anywhere between $50.00 and $220.00 used over the last six months. The higher priced ones sold with rifle scope, mounts and rings on top.

I never hunted with a muzzleloader before 2020 and I can honestly say I have become a huge fan of this kind of hunting implement. So much so in fact, I am considering in purchasing a higher end version of a muzzleloader for possibly next year's hunting season. What can I say other than I totally hooked!

So, consider this to be an update to hopefully a final conclusion in the very near future, that is if I do get the VHS tape and user manual from my father in-law. I'd like to include those within this thread to complete it.