4 Knights all like the same bullet?

[prostreetcamaro]

I have had 4 knight rifles. In the early 90's we bought two of the cheap knight inlines. They came as a kit. The included .50/260 lead bullets shot like a dream out of them with anywhere from 80 to 100 grains of powder. Sold off mine and bought a bighorn. Same thing! It liked 90 to 120 grains. Sold that and bought a disc elite. It loves the same old cheap lead bullets like the other 3 guns did. I cant get other bullets to shoot as good. The only one that is close is the barnes expander mz. The old cheap lead bullet puts the hammer on deer. Never had one go more than 10 yards. Most of them are a bang flop. I did kill 2 with one shot with the expander mz. I did not realize another deer was directly behind the one I shot. They both went bang flop.

Anybody else have good luck with the cheap lead bullets? Have any luck with another bullet out of these guns?

 

[sabotloader]

I have had 4 knight rifles. In the early 90's we bought two of the cheap knight inlines. They came as a kit. The included .50/260 lead bullets shot like a dream out of them with anywhere from 80 to 100 grains of powder. Sold off mine and bought a bighorn. Same thing! It liked 90 to 120 grains. Sold that and bought a disc elite. It loves the same old cheap lead bullets like the other 3 guns did. I cant get other bullets to shoot as good. The only one that is close is the barnes expander mz. The old cheap lead bullet puts the hammer on deer. Never had one go more than 10 yards. Most of them are a bang flop. I did kill 2 with one shot with the expander mz. I did not realize another deer was directly behind the one I shot. They both went bang flop.

Anybody else have good luck with the cheap lead bullets? Have any luck with another bullet out of these guns?

Knights just plain shoot! You could have pick most any other bullet and have the same success.

I shoot many different bullets from my Knights - doesn't really matter. Some will say you need to find the right powder load and that may be right if you are looking for target accuracy. I load and shoot for hunting accuracy and terminal performance. So I do not spend a lot of time working through five grain increments. I think today I load everything with 110 - 120 grains of T7.

It is not cheap, it is a 45-70 rifle bullet and I shoot it from Knights very well

 

[Edwardamason]

I have had 4 knight rifles. In the early



Knights just plain shoot! You could have pick most any other bullet and have the same success.

THIS!!!!!!

Got to hand it to KNight and Green Mountain for such a perfect product. As advertised from the factory you can take one out of the box and load it and hunt that afternoon with it and kill a deer. Ive never seen one that wont shoot 2 inch groups right out of the box with book loads.

At last count I think I own 8 Knights. All plunger models. All of them shoot anything you stuff down the barrel under 1 1/2 at 100 yards. Some are exceptionally accurate with the right load.

Some of my first loads were with the lead bullets the Author posted. Killed many deer with them. Eventually upgraded to the Core Loke bullets a few years later then to the 360 grain Buffalo Sabot bullets. Then I got hooked on the Savage MLII and got away from my Knights.

Currently I am shooting My Knights with 250 Gr XTP with MMP black short Sabot with 80 Gr of BH209 and getting 1 1/2 groups all day long with a fixed 4x Nixon Scope. I really havent messed with other loads as this one seem to do just fine for me.

 

[mcp]

Yep, they just flat shoot.
Personally, I've not seen a knight that wouldn't shoot a 240gr - 260gr with 90-100gr powder very accurately. I've shot those out of all mine, and the jacketed version 260's with great success. 240 xtp's and 240 deep curls... same thing. Driving tacks. Gotta love Knights

 

[ShawnT]

prostreetcamaro

Yup, those Knight lead bullets do shoot and are great on deer. They also seem to have the right mix on the lead to really hold up well. I shot the 310 grain version from my MK-95 for many years. They shoot great too. For a while there Knight dropped the 260 grain version, or at least stopped advertizing it on line for a while during the last transition. It is back now. When they stopped advertizing the 260 I was afraid the 310 was next so I started shooting the Speer Deep Curl. I do still have some of the 310's in reserve.

 

[Lee 9]

I do not know if you have tried this or not but since lead bullets up set you do not need as tight a sabot on them when you try other bullets they require a tighter sabot.

 

[rat trapper]

I just got a Green Mountain drop in barrel for my TC Hawken that is a 50 cal fast twist. I also have around 350 of the bullets like shown above. I plan to use them in the new barrel. I was thinking those bullets were the 240 grain models, but other wise look like those in the pictures. My Green Mountain drop in barrel had Knight all over the box, must have been from when Knight owned them. Waiting on another Lyman 57 peep sight to arrive so I can go play with the new toy!

My Knight Disc extreme 50 cal with shoot very well with every bullet I have ever tried.

 

[Iahntr]

Not to be Debby downer, but my disc extreme doesn't shoot very well at all. The best I've got is about 4" at 100 with it, this is with a nice scope and off a bench I think the barrel is a little large in diameter (maybe .503/4?). I've tried Barnes MZ, Spitfire MZ and TMZ (all 250ish grains) and the spitfires shot the best) with supplied sabots and 250 and 300 grain SST's with supplied sabots and HPH 24 and 12 and PT Gold 300 with the 24 and 12 sabots. They just load too easy.

This is after converting to the NFPJ system and BH 209 powder and Winchester 209's. I picked up some Knight sabots and want to give those a shot this coming weekend. I will shot those with 100 grains BH and 285 grain Spitfires, 290 grain TMZ and 300 grain PT golds. I will try and find the spent sabots and see what they tell me.

Going to remount bases and scope and start from zero to see if I can figure this out. It shouldn't be this difficult, but it usually take me 3 times to do anything right anyhow. I've put a lot of money down the barrel trying to get something to shoot so hope i figure it out soon.

Another thing I was going to try was a sizing pack from Thor to find the size of my barrel and go from there. Thoughts?

 

[sabotloader]

Not to be Debby downer, but my disc extreme doesn't shoot very well at all. The best I've got is about 4" at 100 with it, this is with a nice scope and off a bench

i would bet your problem lies in the barrel to stock fit. I have found this to be the most common problem. The barrel does not necessarily have to float, in fact I would prefer it to rest in the barrel channel unless it is a wood stock. That presents another set of problems.

Try these tests..


Checking the Fit of Knight stock


Rob, relieving the stickiness of that should be a really easy fix....

I wrote this up for a guy on Hunting Net the other day - i will repost it here. Look through it and see if it makes sense to you. I firmly believe the sticky stock will affect your accuracy...

Can i get a little info on making sure i don't have any stock to barrel issues? I have seen info on tv about how a free floating barrel helps and heard of different procedures of seating the barrel. I will be putting a new stock on my gun very soon (broke the original one), and don't want to have issues there.

I can share some information with you for sure... One thing to remember 'floating' a barrel is not the best for accuracy it is the ?cheapest? so that is why you see many companies floating barrels. Companies can not afford to spend the time (money) bedding a barrel to the stock properly so the best thing is to 'float' them. With a wood stock the temperature of the barrel on the wood will make the POI change unless they barrel is bedded in glass or some such feature. In a composite stock if the barrel were bedded into the barrel channel correctly the heat would not be a problem but the flexion of the forearm of the inexpensive stock create a POI shift - so the answer 'float' the barrel.

In your case... since I think you said you have a Knight and if you are getting a Knight composite stock you might not have any of these problems. When I put a barreled action in a Knight stock I set the action in the stock and start the lug screw in. Tighten it with the Allen wrench until it starts to pull the action down. Then stand the gun vertically with the recoil pad on the floor. Gently, and honestly i am not that gentle, tap the gun on the floor to assure that the recoil lug is all the way back in the pocket. Then tighten the lug screw up snugly to hold it all in place. Forgot to say make sure the ram rod is not in place.

When you have the lug screw in tight place the gun in a horizontal position and squeeze the nose of the forearm and the barrel together as tight as you can. If there is no movement ? you?re done the barrel is seated on and in the barrel channel. Put the ram rod in and repeat the test. If the test is the same you?re done... go shoot it and give it a check for accuracy.

If during the squeeze test (ram rod removed) the barrel moves down into the stock or the stock moves up to the barrel... release the grip and note if the barrel moves (on its own) back to the original location. Everything should be good - the barrel is floating. Next repeat the test again noting where the barrel returns to. At this time grip the barrel and the forearm of the stock and pull them apart easily. If you feel the barrel stick at some point then you have a problem. If the barrel appears to lift slightly but when you release it - it returns to the original location and you feel no points of stickiness - you are good. Put the ram rod in and repeat the test.

During the squeeze testing if you felt some stickiness in the spring of the floating barrel you will then to do some very light sanding in the barrel channel to relieve the tight spot. You might be able to locate the tight spot by running a dollar bill under the barrel and between the stock to locate the tight spot. Do not sand any more than you need, in fact in my little world the thickness of a single dollar bill is the max thickness the barrel should be off the stock. I normal use a strip of white computer paper for this test it is thinner than a dollar bill - heck it might be worth more than the dollar bill also!!!

Hope this might help you... when you get your new stock and if I can help give a shout....

I think the barrel is a little large in diameter (maybe .503/4?). I've tried Barnes MZ, Spitfire MZ and TMZ (all 250ish grains) and the spitfires shot the best) with supplied sabots and 250 and 300 grain SST's with supplied sabots and HPH 24 and 12 and PT Gold 300 with the 24 and 12 sabots. They just load too easy.

This is after converting to the NFPJ system and BH 209 powder and Winchester 209's. I picked up some Knight sabots and want to give those a shot this coming weekend. I will shot those with 100 grains BH and 285 grain Spitfires, 290 grain TMZ and 300 grain PT golds. I will try and find the spent sabots and see what they tell me.

Going to remount bases and scope and start from zero to see if I can figure this out. It shouldn't be this difficult, but it usually take me 3 times to do anything right anyhow. I've put a lot of money down the barrel trying to get something to shoot so hope i figure it out soon.

Another thing I was going to try was a sizing pack from Thor to find the size of my barrel and go from there. Thoughts?

 

[Widude]

I will agree, in my experience Knight barrels are a little larger than the average T/C barrel. The only combo I found 'to loose' was the easy-glide/low drag sabot offerings.

The crush rib fit good for me, somewhat easier than the standard sabots with the regular SST bullets. The standard are O.K. too.

Try fit at home before you go. Put them in then push them out in the comfort of your home, before you go to the range. On caution is not to stuff a tight fitting sabot to far down your barrel, you may have a tough time getting it back out.

 

[Iahntr]

I picked up some red crushed rib that I will try as well. They are .005 larger than the black that I have tried.

 

[GM54-120]

The Red Crushribs and .451-.452 bullets should give a good fit in a larger bore. Another option is a .458 bullet in the Black Crushrib or a .452 bullet in the MMP Short.

The 458s in the Black Crushrib is extremely popular in larger bores and quite often turns a "lemon" into a tack driver. Most of the 300gr 458s work great at ML speeds and are fairly cheap too.

 

[Iahntr]

Thanks GM54-120, I'll have to pick some of those up and give them a shot.

 

[GM54-120]

Remington 458 300gr HPs are really cheap in 100 packs and Hornady 458 300gr HPs or Sierras are about the next cheapest in 50 packs. They all have a pretty large HP with a thin jacket and expand very easily.

IMO they are an excellent match for even mild ML speeds. No need for hot loads unless you want more fps.