Took My MK-85 Stalker 54 to the range

[ShawnT]

Sabotloader,

Do you think those are harder/more durable than the one Knight sells?

 

[sabotloader]

Sabotloader,

Do you think those are harder/more durable than the one Knight sells?

I talked to Lehigh Dave about that information... He was familiar with the product and was really positive about it.

Looking on the AMPCO site - the have several hardeness of bronze that they use but I am not sure what is used in the nipple product.

I have not used them long time but the one in my MK is holding up real well so far. I am very careful about not dry firing it also... I put one in the U Mag also but have only shot a very few shots from it with the new nipple...

One thing the cap will stick tightly on it and if you do not shoot it off you will need aa knife blade to pry it off...

I did find this bit of a write up...

nipples are made from Ampco, a tough alloy with a tensile strength of 118,000 psi, which is tougher than most steels used in muzzleloading barrels. This material provides more resistance to repeated blows from the hammer, and the high thermal conductivity of Ampco alloy affects a faster heat dissipation. This dissipation reduces erosion of the small base hole and assures a longer lasting nipple. All nipples have a small base hole (.028?) to greatly reduce the amount of escaping powder gases. Many muzzle loading experts feel an added benefit of the small base hole is the hot gases from the percussion cap are more concentrated and uniformly directed against the powder chamber. Use #11 caps. AMPCO Nipple shoulder size: Rifle Nipples .214" - Cap & Ball Nipples .174" - Muskets Nipples .250".

Guess that answer the question...

 

[ShawnT]

When I first got the rifle I accidently dry fired it and it not only flared the nipple but actually bent the cap end of it sideways! :shock: I had another of the same knight nipples in the #11 ignition kit for my MK-95, that's the one I am using now. Yesterday was only the second trip to the range with the rifle. While it is still usable, I think one more range session and it will be done in. I need to do some diggin around in my old Precussion rifle box and see if I have one in there that might be the same size. IIRC I had 1 or 2 that are hardened steel, at least I think that was what they were. I bought them many years ago from Mountain State Muzzleloading for my old CVA Mountain Rifle. I don't remember if the drum on it had the same thread size and pitch though. I will order a couple of those AMPCO nipples this week anyway.

Thanks for the info.

 

[JStanley]

I like your brand of bug spray!! :shock: Great shootin'!

 

[ShawnT]

I was back at the Range this morning with the .54 MK-85. I was planing to shoot some more of the Speer 325gn Unicores but I was running a little low on them and decided to work on the .300 Deep Curls and try my hand a Knurling to see if that would help.

However, GM54-120 was kind enough to offer to send me some of his Rainier .500 dia .335gn Hp's to try out, Thanks again GM! 8) They are a pretty good looking bullet. They have a Deeper hollow point than the Speer .325 Unicore, and are a little more pointy, but the rifle likes them and they shoot to the same POI. All shooting was at 50 yards. By the way some of these are Cell phone pics, so sorry if they don't look as good.

Here are the bullets I worked with.

This was the first group of the day, it was calm with temp at 38*. Load was 85gnV of Pyro RS, CCI #11Mag cap, Purple MMP Sabot And the Rainier 335hp. Same POI as the 325 Unicore last week. :shock: I will admit that the shot to the right was totally me, I lost my grip on the fore arm at the shot. I aint perfect. :wink:

I then increased the charge to 95 gnV. and it got a little strange. Shot #4 went out and when I loaded for shot 5 I realized that I was shooting too fast and the rifle was loading a little easier. So I think some of the problem with this group was due to heat.

So I let the rifle cool off for about 30 minutes and shot something else for a while. Then Loaded up the Rainier with 100 gnV and let the rifle sit for 5 or 6 minutes between shots after swabbing. Here is the next 4 rounds. Again the shooter screwed up one, shot #2. :evil:

At this point I was pretty happy with the way the Rainiers were shooting so I thought I would work on the Speer .300 Deep Curl that did not shoot so well last week. I Knurled 4 and loaded them up over 100 gnV of Pyro in the MMP Purple Sabot, this is group #1 on the right. Pretty good compared to the way they shot last week. I then wanted to check the Nipple so I took it out and installed a different nipple. It was one I had that was the same thread size and pitch but is of a harder steal. What I neglected to notice was that it was shorter in length than the knight. First 2 shots after installing this steel nipple gave me delay fires, so I removed it and that is when I saw the length difference. I reinstalled the Knight nipple and the next 2 shots were closer to the original group but a bit left.

After taking a small break I tried knurling a few more and had a couple shots that flew out of the group. I had also noticed they did not load as tight so I am thinking it was just due to my lack of experience in Knurling bullets that caused it. Sorry but somehow misplaced that target.

Overall it was a pretty good morning. I am still leaning toward using the Unicore or this Rainier for Hunting instead of the DeepCurl. While it is neat to experiement with the knurling, I am thinking it might just be too much trouble to bother with for hunting when the other 2 bullets are shooting so well.

 

[flounder]

I am enjoying your posts Shawn. The brown truck dropped off a new .54 stalker here yesterday. I'm hoping to shoot some lead conicals through her tomorrow.

 

[ShawnT]

Thanks Flounder. I am having fun shooting this one. If the one you are getting has the Slender composite stock like this one they are pretty lite so you might find it requires a firm grip. It is just like shooting my MK-95, got to hang on to em! :wink: