Hello from Oregon!

[Kcnoel12]

I was recently gifted a Knight MK 85. I have never shot a black powder rifle before and all I got was the rifle, ram rod, a wee bit of Pyrodex RS, about 12 TC Maxiballs and a bullet starter and a powder flask. I installed the conversion kit so that I can use the 209 primers and I still have the original hammer and plug with nipple for size 11 caps. I live in Oregon where they have pretty stritch rules regarding muzzle loaders. No sabots or bullets with plastic parts, no pelletted powder and iron sights only, open or peep. And the ignition system has to be exposed and not covered by any part of the rifle. With all that in mind I wanted to know what would be the best way to go as far as which powder and bullet combination I should use. I plan to use this for the November elk season here when it rains so teh 209 primers in the red jackets will be a big advantage here. But what powder / bullets and at what loads would you suggest?

 

[deermanok]

Welcome from Oklahoma.
I don't know anything about Knight rifles, having never owned one.
You'll most likely want a fairly heavy bullet for elk. 350 grains or heavier.
I don't know if you can use Blackhorn 209 for a powder in that gun. I guess they don't recommend it in some plunger style rifles.
Triple 7 is a good choice for powder.
The biggest obstacle is finding 209 primers. They're pretty scarce these days.
Good luck elk hunting!

 

[Kcnoel12]

Welcome from Oklahoma.
I don't know anything about Knight rifles, having never owned one.
You'll most likely want a fairly heavy bullet for elk. 350 grains or heavier.
I don't know if you can use Blackhorn 209 for a powder in that gun. I guess they don't recommend it in some plunger style rifles.
Triple 7 is a good choice for powder.
The biggest obstacle is finding 209 primers. They're pretty scarce these days.
Good luck elk hunting!

Yes, aren't all primers hard to find these days?? That being said, I was thinking along the lines of using 777 as a powder. And I did forget to mention that the bullets I got are 275 grains and I was wondering if they would be good enough for elk. What charge would you recommend for 350 grain bullets? Unlike regular rifle cartridges where you can find all kinds of reloading data, for a muzzleloader it is not so easy.

 

[deermanok]

Yes, aren't all primers hard to find these days?? That being said, I was thinking along the lines of using 777 as a powder. And I did forget to mention that the bullets I got are 275 grains and I was wondering if they would be good enough for elk. What charge would you recommend for 350 grain bullets? Unlike regular rifle cartridges where you can find all kinds of reloading data, for a muzzleloader it is not so easy.

I've killed a lot of deer with the 275 grain TC maxi hunters.
Can't speak to them being good or bad for elk but, shot placement is everything.
TC makes a big bullet, maxi ball, I think it's called?
You'll have to experiment with bullets and charges.
I'd say to start with about 70 grains of triple 7, work your way up a little at a time until you find the sweet spot for your rifle.
I think somewhere, 70 to 90 grains would be it.

 

[HC]

To the group.

 

[Kcnoel12]

I've killed a lot of deer with the 275 grain TC maxi hunters.
Can't speak to them being good or bad for elk but, shot placement is everything.
TC makes a big bullet, maxi ball, I think it's called?
You'll have to experiment with bullets and charges.
I'd say to start with about 70 grains of triple 7, work your way up a little at a time until you find the sweet spot for your rifle.
I think somewhere, 70 to 90 grains would be it.

Thanks. I mis-typed Maxibullet when I meant Maxihunter. I saw that my local Sportsman's Warehouse has 320 grains in stock and I think I'll go with those. One more question if you don't mind. I see that triple 7 comes in F, FF and FFF. Which is the one that I want? Here's to learning something new!

 

[michiganmuzzy]

Welcome Kcnoel12. MK85 are among the best MLs out there, but don't use the bh209 in it. FFg 777, Pyrodex RS, or real Black Powder are all going to work fine in it. I might suggest using the #11 nipple and caps with the 777 til you learn more about the potential "777 crud ring" in the barrel, that can happen from 209 primers and 777.

 

[FishnRod]

Welcome from the S Oregon Coast.
Just be careful, this BP stuff is very addictive.

Just a heads up, don't believe your 209 primers will be legal for a BP hunt. They fall under centerfire primers, mentioned on pg 18 of the 2021 regs. Would hate to see you get in trouble. You can call OSP to clarify.
On the positive side, what tag did you draw? We'll be BP hunting E Grant for elk, and Sixes for deer this year. Can't wait.

 

[FishnRod]

Powder and bullets kind of depend on what you can find local now days, unless you want to order. BiMart or Sportsmans usually have 777 powder and MaxiBalls available.

 

[Kcnoel12]

Welcome from the S Oregon Coast.
Just be careful, this BP stuff is very addictive.

Just a heads up, don't believe your 209 primers will be legal for a BP hunt. They fall under centerfire primers, mentioned on pg 18 of the 2021 regs. Would hate to see you get in trouble. You can call OSP to clarify.
On the positive side, what tag did you draw? We'll be BP hunting E Grant for elk, and Sixes for deer this year. Can't wait.

Thanks for the heads up! Looks like your right on the 209 Primers as they would not be an "open ignition in-line percussion". Good thing that I bought the 209 conversion kit from Amazon where returns are very easy.
I hunt mulies in Central Oregon in the East Biggs area and I'll be elk hunting in the Trask unit, that's what I want to use the muzzle loader for. And the friend who gifted me the 85 has a vineyard that the deer are using as their main food supply and he wants me to help cull some deer with his land owner tags which he has 4 of. Have to use a bow for that.So this year is looking good for putting some venison away.

 

[FishnRod]

Trask Unit in November, should be wet for sure.

 

[Kcnoel12]

Trask Unit in November, should be wet for sure.

For sure. I see that they make what looks like condoms to go over the end of the barrel to keep the rain out.

 

[FishnRod]

For sure. I see that they make what looks like condoms to go over the end of the barrel to keep the rain out.

Finger cots from Walmart work fine

 

[gman57]

Welcome from NC, enjoy that Mk85 good shooting rifle. You sure lucked out with those landowners permits.

 

[Kingwalter]

Welcome, I am also from Oregon. You came to the right place, wealth of knowledge on this sight and good people. I have a .52 knight bighorn and I shoot 90gr by vol. of 777 with an ox yok felt wad, topped with 52-530I bullet. I use musket caps.

 

[VKC]

For sure. I see that they make what looks like condoms to go over the end of the barrel to keep the rain out.

Use a rubber band and wax paper.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Howdy from Central Oregon.
You won’t be able to use your 209 primer legally in Oregon. They did change the sight rule a bit. You can now have fiber optic on the front sight.
I worked up a load for elk with my CVA Northwest edition Optima V2. Using Thor 297 grain bullets and 90 grains of T7. RWS musket caps.
Sadly no tags for me this year.

 

[VKC]

Bother-in-law and I failed to get drawn for the East Grant hunt. But we did get bull tags for Utah and will hunt a late rifle hunt in Oregon.

 

[Kingwalter]

I got ended up with the East grant, but I had 2 points.

 

[FishnRod]

I got ended up with the East grant, but I had 2 points.

Love E Grant, we'll be there also.
Can't wait.