2001 Knight .50 Caliber

[Upper Miss]

When I retired in 2001, I received a Knight .50 caliber Disc SS camo stock rifle. I haven't shot this rifle in a few years, and I can't seem to find the instruction manual. I have seen that in 2003 Knight apparently changed the design of the orange colored plastic 209 primer holder. I'm wondering what other updates might have occurred to this rifle. Any information on these questions is certainly appreciated.

[sourdough44]

Does your gun take the orange primer discs? Just for the heck of it I'd break it down right now & clean it, give it a light oil coat inside & out. If it is an 'Original Disc', with the orange discs you can get a 'conversion bolt' to upgrade to an 'Extreme'. Then it would take the red disc & be more compatible with Blackhorn 209 powder, the best.

The Extreme conversion would allow you to go with a 'Lehigh' style breech plug. That would omit the red discs, almost eliminate blowback & be optimized even more for B209 powder. OBTW a guy is selling a 'conversion kit' right now on ebay for $90 shipped, a few days to go.

I have an owners manual for your gun. I could copy some pertinent pages if desired. The only part I'd considered something you may not get elsewhere is how to take the bolt apart for proper cleaning. One has to unscrew the center part of the bolt after firing to clean the insides, then protect it with a light oil coat. The older ones use a "C Tool", or one can use an opened end wrench.

Do you want to start shooting it, maybe hunt with it?

[Upper Miss]

First of all thank you for the information. Yes, my rifle takes the orange disc. And I was wondering if a conversion assembly was available. If I understand you correctly, to update my rifle I'd need to replace the original bolt with a bolt that would allow my gun to use the red 209 disc holder. Will I need to get a new breach plug or just the new bolt? I'm not familiar with the Leigh style breach plug. If I convert to the new bolt and Leigh style breach plug I'd no longer need to use the red disc? I wish I was more familiar with this rifle, but I've hunted deer and antelope with my Remington Model 700 .30-.06 for years and basically let this retirement present set in my gun safe. Missouri's black powder season starts Dec. 15th through the 25th and I'd like to use my .50 caliber BP during the season. On another note, I have a container of Clean Shot TM Powder Pelletized 50 grain pyrodex (spelling?) that I used some years ago. You mention Blackhorn 209 powder, I need to check that out as I plan to start hunting and target shooting with this rifle. I'd certainly appreciate receiving copied pages from the gun's original owner's manual.

Again thank you for your advice.

[a1smokepole]

here is the bolt converson.http://www.knightrifles.com/conversion-kits/
and heres the breech plug .http://www.knightrifles.com/209-convers ... g-M900044/
you may look around on the internet and find it chiper.

[Upper Miss]

Thank you, I appreciate the information. The .50 caliber is in excellent condition and shoots well with the orange 209 primer holder. I wonder about the advantage and cost of conversion. I'll take your advice and check the web for prices. Thanks again.

[sourdough44]

Yes, that is the conversion kit needed. On ebay as of a few hours ago for $90 shipped I think. That kit has the bolt & new breechplug, then you would use the red discs. Then if you got the plug linked to above, no more red discs. You need the new bolt though to use the follow on breech plug. One main benefit is your gun would stay a lot cleaner.

I shot my original disc Knight for years with no issues, usually Pyrodex, later Blackhorn 209 with a CCIM primer.

I would get some fresh powder. You could try the old stuff, but depending on age & how stored it could be a little suspect. As always, clean the gun well after shooting. I mostly do the M-L thingy to hunt the extended seasons, or IL, so I like to set it up the best I can. Western Powders/Ramshot has information on Blackhorn 209 powder.

My powder list starts with B209, then falls to 777, then Pyrodex. The rest I don't bother with.

[Upper Miss]

I shot the .50 caliber a good bit today and it didn't take long for me to determine that the old powder was no longer good. I'd had it since 2001 when I received the rifle. I live outside Palmyra, Missouri which has a very good sporting store. I purchased a box of Hodgdon triple seven pre-formed pellets there today. The new powder made all the difference in the world as my shots started grouping on the target. I'll check out eBay re the bolt and breech plug. It would be convenient to not have to pull the breech plug every so often to clean the gun. I certainly appreciate your advise as it has been a big help in getting me acquainted with this rifle.