About To Take The Plunge With Knight

[ChocolateLab]

I've been a shooter for several years, but I'm looking to try my hand at muzzleloading. I've perused this and several other forums and I've decided to get a Knight Mountaineer. I already have a Leupold VX-3 3.5-10x40 that I intend to use. Beyond that, I don't know what I need and I have a couple questions.

1) I've decided to use Blackhorn 209 to start. I'll eventually try loose Triple 7. I understand that loose powder is more conducive to maintaining consistency and getting the best accuracy. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good powder measure? I have no idea what to get and I don't want to waste money on something I'm going to replace in a month.

2) What primers should I start with? Should I use a magnum primer?

3) From what I've read, it looks like the Harvester black crush rib sabots are the way to go. What bullets should I start with? I'd like something that has a decent ballistic coefficient and that will be accurate out to 200 yards or so. I'm not looking for a brush-busting bullet. I figure I'll start with several different types and see what shoots the best.

4) I'm trying to find a good set of bases and scope rings. Knight sells some Warne bases and rings, but I'd really like to use Talley quick release rings. The problem is that I can't find a Talley base that fits the Mountaineer. Does anyone know if one exists? Or of another quality set of bases and rings I should consider?

5) Does anyone use a range rod? I see that Knight sells one and it sounds like a good idea? Also, does anyone use a muzzle guide/protector? I wouldn't dream of cleaning my centerfire rifles without a bore guide, so a plastic guide to protect the crown when loading and cleaning seems like a good idea.

6) Cleaning solvents, patches, etc. Any recommendations?

7) Are there any other odds and ends that I should look at? For example, is there a bullet starter I should consider?

I've been shooting for 25 years now and I feel like I did when I first picked up a shotgun so long ago. It's a little intimidating. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[ronlaughlin]

To measure BH209, i use a scale and the 0.7 conversion factor to set my powder drop that i once used for hand loading, but no longer do. The powder drop is used to fill tubes with the desired volume of powder, and i head to the field or the range with these pre-measured tubes. A decent starting point would be 100g of BH, which weighs 70g.

W209 primer work pretty good most of the time in Knight Rifle. Magnum primer are not necessary.

Crush rib sabot may probably be too loose for the Knight barrel. Short black Harvester may work better.

Using a range rod makes range time more enjoyable.

3" square patches work good for me. Most any solvent made for smokeless powder will work, if you use BH. What ever you have on hand is probably as good a place to start as any.

[Gm54-120]

1)&)5 Knight makes a nice brass volume measure and a really nice range rod with a bore guide. Its expensive but very nice. I weigh my charges on a scale but only because its convenient.

2) Ive used almost entirely Win209s but those are in the NFPJ conversion plugs. Not the new NFPJ bolt. If they function the same, i see no reason to use mag primers in that plug.

3)If the bore was as loose as my Extreme 50 i would NOT use a Harvester Crushrib. The plain Harvester short black or MMP HPH-24 would be as loose as i would go. Using longer bullets mostly in the MMP sabot.

4)I use nothing but Warnes but there are plenty of good bases. If you like Warnes MidwayUsa has them in silver finish steel. Ive never seen a Talley for DISCs but i haven't looked.

5)See answer #1

6)Whichever centerfire solvent you prefer with BH209. Pull the plug and run a dry patch through first to remove the majority before using any solvent.

7)I use the CVA starter kit with several tips. Its cheap and fits lots of bullets as long as they don't require a special loading jag. Some bullets with long poly tips can get damaged.

Hmmm bullets bullets bullets. Start with something good enough for hunting and affordable so it doesn't cost you a fortune to get used to the gun.
250gr and 300gr Speer GoldDots/Deepcurls/UniCors are a good start until you want to spend a buck a bullet. Nosler 45cal Partitions at www.wideners.com if you want to scoop up some premium class bullets at half price might be worth considering too.