MK-85 is now on the money!

[houser52]

I've had a 50 caliber Knight MK-85 and shot it for 10+ years but it's never been as accurate as I thought it should be. It's a well made stainless steel muzzleloader with a great trigger. It makes some of todays muzzleloaders look cheap and I wanted to keep it if I could get it to shoot.
I've tried a lot of different sabot/ bullet combinations and powders none of which produced the accuracy I wanted. Accuracy was good enough to shoot deer out to 50 yards but that was not good enough for me.
This year I was determined to find out if the bad accuracy was due to the gun or just the components. I was ready to sell it and get a diferent gun if I couldn't get it to shoot better.

After doing a lot of online research about sabots, bullets, powder and primers I decided on Triple 7 loose powder and try "XYZ Brand" sabot /bullet combination and the Harvester ribbed sabots with the 300 gr Hornady 45 cal mag bullet. The "XYZ Brand" was all over the paper at 50 yards with several different powder charges. I just put the remaining bullets in a box in the corner.

Then I tried the Harvester/ Hornady combo using 90grs. of loose Triple 7 and CCI primers. Velocity is 1715fps. The first shot was on the paper at 50 yards and after a few more shots to get the scope dialed in, I was dead center at 100 yards! This is the best my muzzleloader has ever shot. I really like the gun now and don't have to sell it because I feel comfident I can hit where I'm aiming at 100 yards and beyond!

 

[frontier gander]

Sounds good. What kind of groups does she print at 100?

 

[houser52]

The very last two shots are .92" at 100yds. It was getting late and I didn't get to shoot anymore. They'll be some more testing before Monday which is opening day of ML deer season.

 

[sabotloader]

houser52

It awful hard to go wrong with a MK-85... they kinda set a standard... glad you found some thing that works for you. Keep shooting and youw will find a lot of others....

 

[houser52]

Thanks.
Up until now I was about ready to throw in the towel. All these years I thought 6"- 8" groups was the best it could do. After helping my hunting buddy sight in his new CVA last week I was envious of the groups he was getting but, not anymore.

My hunting buddy saw 4 bucks last night on our land where we'll be hunting come Monday morning, one of which was a "pretty good deer".
We'll be ready for them or some unlucky coyote that happens by.

 

[Spitpatch]

The MK 85's in Laminate are stunning!

JMO 8)

 

[flounder]

I bought one late last spring off another board. All I have done with it so far is give it a good detailed cleaning. It is SS with the grey laminate. I think it is a beautiful piece. Now that fall is here I'm anxious to see what it will do. Do you mind if I ask what bullet/powder combinations you tried in the past that wouldn't pattern for you.
Thanks,
Art

 

[deer655]

i love my mk85. my first loads in it were 45cal 260gr speer hollowpoints with mmp sabots.they were fairly accurate and awsome as a hunting round. my mk85 loves 245 to 270 gr powerbelts. now im using 300gr noslers with mmp-12 sabots. if its a gun you are going to stick with then i would buy from knight or somebody some breech plugs and nipples just to be safe.i converted mine to musket caps. much easier to load then number 11 and more ignition flame.

 

[houser52]

I bought one late last spring off another board. All I have done with it so far is give it a good detailed cleaning. It is SS with the grey laminate. I think it is a beautiful piece. Now that fall is here I'm anxious to see what it will do. Do you mind if I ask what bullet/powder combinations you tried in the past that wouldn't pattern for you.
Thanks,
Art

I've tried a lot of different things over the years.
Barnes bullets/ sabots, Knight bullets/ sabots, Hornady 240 gr XTP bullets/MMP sabots, Hornady 240 gr bullets/ ?green sabots.
Powder charges from 80grs to 120grs using Black powder, Clean Shot powder, Pyrodex powder, Pyrodex pellets, Triple 7 powder, different #11 primers, you name it. I've probably tried most combinations of the above and none has come even close to what I'm shooting now. ( I have never tried Powerbelt bullets)



deer655- I didn't know you could convert it to musket caps. How? New breech plug? Who carries them?
I've seen the 209 conversion kits for sale but not something for musket caps. I never converted because I've never had a failure to fire if the #11 cap went off. I have had a few caps that didn't go bang but none while shooting at a deer.

edited 10-2-09 - What are the advantages of a musket cap compared to a #11 cap or 209 primer? Are they easier to put on the nipple? Do you get a lot of crap blown back in your face when using them? Are they easy to find?
Knight sells the new style breech plug and musket nipples. Is that all that's needed? Lots of things I don't know about them, HELP!

 

[Reese]

What are the advantages of a musket cap compared to a #11 cap or 209 primer? Are they easier to put on the nipple? Do you get a lot of crap blown back in your face when using them? Are they easy to find?
Knight sells the new style breech plug and musket nipples. Is that all that's needed? Lots of things I don't know about them, HELP!

All you need is a 1/4-28 threads musket cap nipple and it will screw in place of the #11 nipple. I tested musket caps (flanged and non-flanged) and really did not notice any improvement over the #11 cap. Also, for me, #11 caps are easier to find locally.

http://www.knightrifles.com/productdeta ... ?id=323977

If you go the musket cap route, you may need a tool to remove the musket cap nipple from the breech plug if you are using the older style breech plug. If you have the newer style breech plug with hex head, you can use Knight's socket tool to take out the breech plug and then remove the musket cap nipple using an open end wrench. FWIW, TC has a flame thrower version of a musket cap nipple. Suppose to allow even more flame to reach the powder. A musket cap capper would also be a good investment if you go this route.

 

[houser52]

Reese- thanks for the reply

After my post earlier I did some more searching and found that most people liked the musket caps as good or better than the #11 caps. Seems like it depended a lot on the gun and what kind of powder they were shooting. Most agreed that the musket caps were a lot easier to handle.

I ordered a new model breech plug, musket cap nipple and capper from Knight. Mine had the old style breech plug so I needed to upgrade anyway. The old style slotted plug was a pain to get out sometime.
Now I can shoot either the #11s or musket caps. It'll depend on which one my gun likes the best or which one is easiest for me.
Musket caps are readily available here. The local outdoor store keeps them in stock and I called them just to be sure.