Knight shopping - advice please!

[Julio]

Hello there. Newbie - that's me. I've been reading a ton of good info here. Love it. So far, I have not found a thread about inspecting used Knights. Please send me in that direction if it's out there - It probably is.

I am really comfortable inspecting used *smokeless* firearms. This rookie needs tips inspecting a few used Knights and will really appreciate a little help if you have some time. Thank you!

Looking for a short-barrelled Knight - no scope for me. It's not useful in my deer habitat.

I'm not in a big rush, but getting something soon will give me time to use it before ML season. I need to fit in range time and still do my wife's bidding. You get it.
The $$ for a new Wolverine is saved up, but buying a used one will give me the bucks for consumables and the other stuff I need.

I am good at taking down guns for TLC. It's fun. Installing sights and other lightweight 'smithing jobs are in my skill set.
Inspecting guns *before buying* is my preference, so I probably will not buy used online.

Here is what I have found. Thanks for looking it over!

**For each of these, I don't know Jack about inspecting the safety aspects and judging the interior breech/crud ring**

1) DISC, .50 cal, 22"(24"?) bbl SS, Black stock with high comb (standard), Blue bolt, S/N S008451 - $195 asking (negotiable). Stock is good. Knurling is good. It has many light rust spots on the SS barrel exterior. Very light rust in bolt/receiver areas. Looks like it was wet and never dried.
The muzzle is fine. Rifling/bore look good. Did not see bbl ring. I did not see any pitting. Grime near breech (crud ring?) is evident. Some grime inside breech cap. Ram rod looks a little rough. Not permitted to remove plug.

Questions:
The SS barrel exterior should be simple to clean, right?
What about any rust that might be in the trigger/receiver?
I am unsure about getting rid of the crud. What do you think?


2) DISC, .50 cal, 24"(22"?) bbl BLUE, Camo stock with high comb (standard), SS bolt, S/N 023231 - $133 asking! (probably not negotiable). Stock is good. Knurling is good. Exterior BLUE barrel is very clean. Needs a new front sight.
Muzzle is fine. Rifling/bore look good. Did not see bbl ring. Breech is very clean - no remarkable crud ring. Not permitted to remove plug.

Questions:
What do you think about maintaining the Blue with BP? I am not afraid of a little work.
It's a LOW asking price, perhaps because it is BLUE and the front sight needs help/replacing.


3) LK93, .50 cal, bbl SS, black stock (standard), S/N unknown. SS scope 3-9x unknown brand. $250 asking (probably negotiable). Iron sights are missing. Converted to 209. Includes orig #11 components.

Price is up there, but it has the (unknown) scope, and the 209 conversion with original ignition parts.
I have not held/inspected this rifle. It's nearby.
I will have to buy some sights.

***I am grateful for any advice**
Have a great day

 

[HC]

Id buy a new one.

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[BuckDoeHunter]

Why can't you remove the breech plug? If the seller says no, I don't want you too, I would pass on the rifle, it may be seized up.

 

[Julio]

Thanks for writing. Their policy is No Takedown. If I can talk them into removing the plug I can really check the breech/bore. But I still don't know piddly about checking out the safety aspects of BP. Reputable dealer but I am not trusting anyone's word when it comes to safety.

 

[ShawnT]

The Crud Ring is a ring of Fouling formed by burning power. The "Crud Ring" is not in the receiver/action. The Crud ring is inside the bore down near the breech plug and is usually right were the powder and sabot/bullet meet. If you can't remove the breech plug, or they will not, then you can't see it. You might ask if they will let you run a patch down the bore with the ramrod with jag and see if the bore feels smooth all they way down till it stops. BUT that will not really tell you that the bore is not completely rust free or have pits in it. Using a small bore light that drops down the bore might help but again no guarantees without looking all the way through. Any rust seen from the muzzle probably should pass on it being your first ML rifle, but thats totally your call. Removing rust can be a pain or easy but may well still leave pits behind. Pits are spots of missing metal and you can't replace it and as so you need to pay even bigger attention to cleaning and lubing to prevent it from getting any worse.

Next place to look is the action area where the cap/primer go and the hammer (plunger gun) itself, or Bolt on a bolt action (The DISC rifle).

One other thing to consider, is that any one that will not let you remove the Breech plug, or do it for you, could be hiding the fact that corrosion has caused the Breech plug to be frozen in the barrel. That could be a real pain to remove.

Some guys at shops take these rifle in but just plain don't have any clue what to look for or even how to take it apart so they have no idea how to check it and so they will be afraid to let you do it.

 

[FredB]

Knight actually has the Wolverine on sale, on their own website right now, $299. That's a little more than what you're looking at for used but not so much if it's what you really want. You might consider getting new, and waiting until next year to upgrade the sights, etc.

 

[Julio]

Hello. Thanks for writing back with advice. The use Knights for sale that I have put my mitts on just have too many unknowns for this rookie. The camo Disc is very interesting, but I am going with a new Knight and maybe look for bargains once I get it together. Lots of great info to read from each of the members here. Sure enjoy the forum.

 

[Squeeze]

One thing I learned with (bolt) Knight is, I like a bare primer, So if its an older orange disc, even if the original deal is a steal, It still costs ~$220-250 for the conversion. So there are a few more variables to throw in the mix.

 

[Julio]

Short update. New Disc extreme 50 cal on the way. Pretty excited. I wanted a shorter bbl (wolverine) for quicker handling in the brush/blind but I like the bolt on the Disc for quicker primer removal and want to try BH 209 powder. Plus 4" length difference between Disc and Wolverine isn't a big deal. I've read lots of great advice here that helped me make the call and I am still reading. Thanks!

 

[HC]

I hope you enjoy your new disc rifle as much as I did mine. Its my go to rifle. Good luck and if you have any questions please ask.

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[sabotloader]

Short update. New Disc extreme 50 cal on the way. Pretty excited. I wanted a shorter bbl (wolverine) for quicker handling in the brush/blind but I like the bolt on the Disc for quicker primer removal and want to try BH 209 powder. Plus 4" length difference between Disc and Wolverine isn't a big deal. I've read lots of great advice here that helped me make the call and I am still reading. Thanks!

I have one that I really like!!! They shoot well!!!