The MK-85 was one of the best rifles they ever had. And IMO the old stock design was perfect for open sight shooting. I agree with Mountain Devil on the newer ones. You needed a cheek pad for a good weld on the MK-85 with a scope, but with a pad it was a perfect combination.

The original MK-85 had very high quality open sights(not the fiber optics junk). And the trigger in the MK-85 was second to none in the industry.

I have a couple of MK-85's and one of the LRH's. The LRH is unbelievably accurate. It is heavy, and a bit bulky, but it sure will shoot.

I think Knight tried to compete with TC instead of just sticking to their guns. The only way you can compete with TC is to have bookoo advertising bucks, and most companies just do not have that much money.

IMO Knight should maintain their quality and stay on the upper end of MZ's. And just sell what they can sell. A good product will sell itself.

IMO MZ shooting has become less about shooting BP, and more about speed of cleaning. So if that is the case, then so be it. But I do not mind cleaning my LRH. I have owned 2 Encore 209X50's, and have had a couple of friends who also owned the Encore MZ's. Know we all own LRH's. The TC's are nice(and clean fast), but IMO they will not hang with the LRH.

I did not post this to down the Encore. The Encore can be made to shoot wel. But IMO a rifle that is that expensive should not need to be "made to shoot". It should shoot anything I want it to shoot. Just like my LRH. It will shoot whatever I want to feed it. Including round balls, cast bullets, and sabots. Just an opinion. Tom.