This is an update to a post I made a few weeks ago titled "frustrated Knight owner". I got a lot of great suggestions and advice from members here, and I'm happy to report back what I learned and experienced. My rifle never shot all that great when I bought it new last August, and I have very frustrating primer sticking to the bolt face, bad blow back, and accuracy that seemed to get worse and worse the more I shot it.I tried different powder charges (with Black Horn), different bullets, sabots and primers. I settled on a load last year to hunt with that deliver 2" groups at 100 yards and felt I had the best the rifle would do and since I usually shoot deer between 20 and 4 yards, it was an acceptable hunting load until after season when I could focus on making this gun shoot better.
I bought new rings and bases, checked the bedding to be sure I was getting good contact, checked barrel float, barrel crown. Everything was in order. I torqued the guard screw and basically tried everything I've done to other rifles that made them shoot better. After posting on here, from advice of others I learned the importance of a properly fitting breech plug, and that plugs wear out rather fast in these guns when shooting Black Horn powder. I really can't believe just how much a worn or improperly fitting breech plug can affect accuracy! I ordered new breech plug from Knight and as soon as it arrived I wrapped it with teflon tape, installed it in the gun, and walked straight out to the range with my bag and rest.
I shot a total of 7 shots and can't believe what I experienced. It was like a whole new gun! No primer sticking in the bolt slot (they dropped out easily with a shake of the rifle after opening the bolt), the first 4 primers were clean and spotless and the last three had soot on their noses only. Accuracy was outstanding and more than adequate for a hunting arm. The gun was also noticeable cleaner after shooting it with the new plug. I used 100 grains of Black Horn and shot a 3 shot group wiith 300 grain Hornady SSTs and supplied red sabot, then shot another 3 shot group with 100 grains of Black Horn, 300 grain .452 Hornady XTPs and Harvester black crush rib sabots. For primers I used Winchester 209s. To wrap up I shot one last XTP at my 100 yard 8 inch plate offhand while standing next to my bench and heard a very satisfying ring from a dead center hit. Problem solved, it was the breech plug all along!
I'm really thrilled with this rifle now, particularly with how well those 300 grain XTPs shoot. I'd prefer to hunt with XTPs and now I know I can. I expect the problem to return soon as this plug wears out, so I DEFINITELY will have one of Bestill's custom breech plugs in this rifle before hunting season. I feel great knowing the rifle is capable, but these really need a custom plug like Bestill offers to overcome a design flaw in an otherwise great rifle. I suspect my original plug was never fit properly and was doomed from the start, and this new plug is 3 thousands longer but still provides zero primer crush as I measured a Win209 primer, placed it on the bolt, closed the bolt, then opened and removed it and it was the same measurement. A properly fitted plug will more than likely be more accurate and cleaner shooting.
I bought new rings and bases, checked the bedding to be sure I was getting good contact, checked barrel float, barrel crown. Everything was in order. I torqued the guard screw and basically tried everything I've done to other rifles that made them shoot better. After posting on here, from advice of others I learned the importance of a properly fitting breech plug, and that plugs wear out rather fast in these guns when shooting Black Horn powder. I really can't believe just how much a worn or improperly fitting breech plug can affect accuracy! I ordered new breech plug from Knight and as soon as it arrived I wrapped it with teflon tape, installed it in the gun, and walked straight out to the range with my bag and rest.
I shot a total of 7 shots and can't believe what I experienced. It was like a whole new gun! No primer sticking in the bolt slot (they dropped out easily with a shake of the rifle after opening the bolt), the first 4 primers were clean and spotless and the last three had soot on their noses only. Accuracy was outstanding and more than adequate for a hunting arm. The gun was also noticeable cleaner after shooting it with the new plug. I used 100 grains of Black Horn and shot a 3 shot group wiith 300 grain Hornady SSTs and supplied red sabot, then shot another 3 shot group with 100 grains of Black Horn, 300 grain .452 Hornady XTPs and Harvester black crush rib sabots. For primers I used Winchester 209s. To wrap up I shot one last XTP at my 100 yard 8 inch plate offhand while standing next to my bench and heard a very satisfying ring from a dead center hit. Problem solved, it was the breech plug all along!
I'm really thrilled with this rifle now, particularly with how well those 300 grain XTPs shoot. I'd prefer to hunt with XTPs and now I know I can. I expect the problem to return soon as this plug wears out, so I DEFINITELY will have one of Bestill's custom breech plugs in this rifle before hunting season. I feel great knowing the rifle is capable, but these really need a custom plug like Bestill offers to overcome a design flaw in an otherwise great rifle. I suspect my original plug was never fit properly and was doomed from the start, and this new plug is 3 thousands longer but still provides zero primer crush as I measured a Win209 primer, placed it on the bolt, closed the bolt, then opened and removed it and it was the same measurement. A properly fitted plug will more than likely be more accurate and cleaner shooting.
artyman: I myself have ordered one of Bestill's plugs for my Ultra Lite too and it should be here any day. I hope to shoot mine a bit tomorrow.
