New Knight Wolverine

Interested in buying a new Knight Wolverine. Always sort of regretted not buying one years ago.

Knight offers two models. One 209 and one #11/Musket cap. Knight seems to offer a conversion kit for #11 to 209 but not the other way around. Are the hammers that different between the two types of ignition? As petty as this sounds, I like the camo on the 209 model over the camo on the #11 yet would probably use the #11 ignition more than the 209.

The barrels are advertised as being stainless steel AND having the Dyna-tek coating. What does the coating offer over regular stainless steel?

My old Knight Disc Extreme has a solid composite stock. Do the newer Knights still have this type of composite stock or have they gone to the standard injection molded hollow stocks?

And finally, a couple, as in 2 folks, online have complained about a Bighorn and an Extreme that had similar barrel issues. Supposedly the two rifles muzzles were choked down in diameter so that when the sabot/conical passed through the tight muzzle, they were swaged down and were very loose in the remainder of the bore. These appear to be 2018 or 2019 rifles. Is this a fluke or is Knight/Green Mountain having barrel issues lately?

Thanks in advance for any info.

I can only speak to your first question, as all of mine are older. The only difference in the two hammers is how the strike the primer. The #11 primer hammer has a flat face. The 209 primer hammer has a cone on it. If you use the 209 hammer on #11 you will rapidly deform the nipple.

I have both systems. If you are going to shoot loose powder there is nothing lacking with the #11 ignition. If your using pellets, you will want the 209 system.

So if I am understanding this correctly, all one needs to swap between ignition systems on Knight plunger rifles is the correct breech plug and the correct hammer. Yes, no?

I do shoot loose powder. Mostly Goex. Some Pyrodex. I do have a supply of pellets I need to shoot up but I have other inlines that can handle that.

Yup! There is one other option, Mill down the cone point in the face of the hammer enough to make it flat and as wide as the nipple. I did that to one that came in my MK-85. The cone will really damage a nipple as rugerbh103 mentioned. I ruined a couple then milled it off in my drill press. Never replaced a nipple after that.

And the #11 knight ignition is top notch. All my knight plungers have #11, and I shoot pyro. The 209 setup didn't offer any advantage for me. Wolverine is a nice light rifle that should serve you well.

Was looking at the replies. Unless your set on a new gun, there are lots of deals on used Wolverines out there. The last one I bought was clean and scoped, I paid 75.00. I would think 200 would buy anything you want in a Wolverine. I would be very leary buying used muzzleloaders online, I've been burned on bore condition a few times.

I bought a new knight wolverine 209 last year around Christmas when they were on sale.
I absolutely love the thing. The stock is noticeably lighter then the extreme ( have one ) but not cheap / flimsy feeling but solid. Shoots amazing ( like a knight lol ) . If you have the funds I'd say go for it, I dont believe you'll be disappointed. I believe the same bolt is used for both ignition, just the breach plug is different.

ShawnT said:

Yup! There is one other option, Mill down the cone point in the face of the hammer enough to make it flat and as wide as the nipple. I did that to one that came in my MK-85. The cone will really damage a nipple as rugerbh103 mentioned. I ruined a couple then milled it off in my drill press. Never replaced a nipple after that.

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At this time I believe that Knight only offers one percussion hammer which they call a 'Universal Hammer' or really the original 209 hammer. As Shawn has suggested you can modify the 'Universal Hammer' to be a 'Cap Hammer' by milling the cone to the size of the nipple you are using or mill the cone completely off.

Showing what Shawn has suggested

I'm calling Knight tomorrow to order one. Not sure how I'll go about getting both #11 and 209 fpj ignitions AND the camo I like but I'm sure the CS rep will help me sort through all of it. Been researching peep sights. I've found some of Sabotloaders old posts on this subject. That has been helpful as well.

Several years ago I bought an extra hammer assembly off of eBay. As, I recall it wasn't very expensive and there were several posted.

The older hammers pop up on the auction sites quite a bit. New ones are pretty reasonable too. Just remove the cone.

Numrich has just the old #11 hammer for about $52 if it will fit a newer assembly. No machining should be needed to the hammer face. Its already flat.
https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/1383180

Called Knight. Took a few calls to get a live person. Must be busy. Ordered a Wolverine. To make a long story short the gentleman I spoke with claims you don't need different hammers for the #11/Musket cap vs 209 fpj. All you need is the proper breech plug and/or nipple. He says this only applies to the newer plunger guns (wolverine, little horn, big horn). So I have one on order plus appropriate breech plugs for both 209 and #11.

As for buying new vs used, well the Wolverine was on sale and I'm not a fan of most used firearms. Usually people dump the lemons and keep the good ones. And the good ones they keep they often don't maintain correctly.

JimG said:

the gentleman I spoke with claims you don't need different hammers for the #11/Musket cap vs 209 fpj. All you need is the proper breech plug and/or nipple.

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He is correct in one aspect. The Hammer that has the cone in it will ignite them all. The problem you get with the hammer with the cone in the face, with a #11 nipple, is that the point of the cone drives into the #11 nipple Flaring it out after a few strikes. It will eventually flare enough that you have to dress the nipple down with a file to get a cap on it, or Replace the nipple. Number 11 rifles used to come with a Hammer with a flat face and since it can't enter the hole in the end of the nipple it does not create the flaring. My MK-85 came with that type "Universal" Hammer, and I went though a few nipples before I milled that cone flat. If you don't plan to use it that often, just pick up a few extra nipples. IF you shoot it a lot you will most likely want to get a flat faced hammer or pickup a replacement and make it flat. Either way is up to you.

I thought I had a pic of a flared out nipple, but if I did I misplaced or deleted it.