Hard to open bolt , knight disc extreme

[Makinsmoke]

I have a knight disc extreme that I converted to bare primer ( new bolt, Lehigh BP ) . I'm having problems opening the bolt with a primer in place.
It lifts up fine, but I need to hit it with my palm to get the bolt back. This is both a fired and unfired primer. I'm using CCI primers ( have a million ). I guess my question is, would a different brand primer help ? I should add the bolt closes " tightly " with the primer.

 

[ronlaughlin]

Give the Winchester W209 primer a try.

 

[GM54-120]

Win209s are the way to go unless you want to polish the primer pocket. The pocket is tapered and at the bottom its smaller than the CCI primer. You can feel it easily if loading them by hand into the plug outside the rifle. They get tight before they bottom out.

 

[bestill]

I have found a few if you simply raise bolt then pull straight back on secondary safety knob they come right out.

 

[GM54-120]

Lehighs plugs have a tighter pocket than Knight OEMs. A CCI primer loads easily by hand into the Knight bare primer plug i have. You can feel it bottom out on the shelf. The bottom of the pocket in the Knight plug is .242 or larger as best i can measure it with my cheap caliper.

All i do is polish the pocket with a dremel polishing bit until the primer i want to use hits bottom and i can spin it with my fingers. Its pretty hard to spin it if its dragging on the side of the primer. Only takes a few minutes with the polishing bit chucked up in a cordless screw driver or variable speed drill.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

I have 2 lehighs and 1 knight setup. Everything gets stuck in my knight bare primer bolt. I hate that thing. Especially when it also get stuck in the breech plug. Which only happens when i use a cci primer.

 

[GM54-120]

Ive had virtually no sticking in the Lehigh adapters as long as the primer gets some crush. Recocking the bolt and pulling the trigger again on the spent primer releases them if head space is a little loose.

The bare primer bolt is another matter. Many of the early ones were rough or tight. Mine seems perfect sofar just firing primers without any powder.

 

[Edwin1947]

Ive had virtually no sticking in the Lehigh adapters as long as the primer gets some crush. Recocking the bolt and pulling the trigger again on the spent primer releases them if head space is a little loose.

The bare primer bolt is another matter. Many of the early ones were rough or tight. Mine seems perfect sofar just firing primers without any powder.

Did a lot of studying here about Lehigh adapters, crush, shimming etc. STS PRIMERS were recommended for BH209 by some folks. Will be switching to BH209 eventually so bought a pack of STS primers. They stick badly when crushed a couple thousandths (too fat), and are very short (.292-.294) requiring two .005 shims. Thought for a few minutes that the tightness might be an advantage. Came to my senses when it became clear that W209s would likely be dimensionally nearly perfect in my Lehigh conversion. Looks like the W209s may crush enough and are a better diameter for the narrow Lehigh primer pocket. Looking forward to a real relatively clean action and no more hot stuff in my face. (Last muzzle loader was a Knight Revolution)

 

[Makinsmoke]

I have found a few if you simply raise bolt then pull straight back on secondary safety knob they come right out.

Not this one that's for sure. Its terrible.

 

[Makinsmoke]

Thanks folks, going to grab some Winchesters , if still a problem, I'll polish the pocket.

 

[Makinsmoke]

I went and got myself some Winchester primers.. That was the fix. Easy in , easy out, both fired and not.
Thanks so much.

 

[sabotloader]

I have a knight disc extreme that I converted to bare primer ( new bolt, Lehigh BP ) . I'm having problems opening the bolt with a primer in place.
It lifts up fine, but I need to hit it with my palm to get the bolt back. This is both a fired and unfired primer. I'm using CCI primers ( have a million ). I guess my question is, would a different brand primer help ? I should add the bolt closes " tightly " with the primer.

There was a group of Bare Primer Breech Plugs from Lehigh that the primer pocket was undersized in diameter. At Lehigh when they were built they were correct but after being sent to be hardened the heat shrank the diameter of the primer pocket.

Try this... remove the BP from the rifle. Set the BP on a hard surface and place the primer in the primer pocket. Now push the primer down as tight into the pocket as you can. Even "tap" it done carefully and easily with a plastic mallet. Once you have the primer all the way in, pick up the BP and turn it upside down - the primer should fall out on its own. EXCLUDING European primers, their diameter is a bit larger than American primers.

If the primer is stuck in the breech when it is turned over - I would suggestion you email Lehigh and explain the problem. I am sure they will switch out you existing BP for a new one.

And, has been suggested you might try the Winchester W209 primer with the new BP. It could cure a couple of problems.

 

[GM54-120]

I went and got myself some Winchester primers.. That was the fix. Easy in , easy out, both fired and not.
Thanks so much.

That is normally the easiest solution and they often seal well enough without further effort or tinkering. Win209s work in all my Knight/Lehigh/Bestill plugs just fine. The Bestill plug also works well with a Fed209A when fit correctly for length.