Welcome to our addiction.

I've never tried out a Triumph, but can't imagine being more pleased than I am with my KRB. Shoots just about anything I feed it very wellas long as I do my part.
Frontier Gander is right about the configuration of the KRB stock, it fits me quite well, but it may not be for everyone.
I haven't found a reason to go over 110 grains in the KRB. Just hurts more.

Once again, welcome to the sport. It can be frustratingly maddening at times, but then you get the bugger dialed in ,... and it's like the clouds part and the sun's shining ,...all is right in the world, and all you can think of is , "I've got to tell Cayugad and the guys!"

There is no cure.

I'm just one step ahead of you Snook. These other guys know a lot more about the art and science of black powder shooting than I do. I just got into shooting a muzzleloader last March. I got a Knight KRB7 and have been very pleased with it. The gun was easy for me to learn to operate and I like the ease of takedown for cleaning. I'm going after elk in Colorado this fall so my choice of shooting components has been with that in mind. I've tried both platinum powerbelts and Hornady Great Plains Conicals. They both shoot very accurately with the looseffg 777 powder. I haven't tried other BP's. I will say that 120 grains behind a 338 gr. powerbelt will kick the snot out of you.The 80 gr. load behind the Great Plains is much more pleasant to shoot.
I've noticed the same thing others have mentioned about the high comb of the KRB stock. I can get down on the sights, but I have a thin face and I have to move forward on the stock to do it. I like the sights themselves. I like them much better than my buddy's Omega. They are fairly fine sightsand are easy to shoot accurately,even with my aging eyes.If you are planning to scope the gun, this may not be a factor for you.

Welcome to the forum. 100 grains of Pyrodex and an appropriate bullet will kill anythingin this hemisphere. Muzzleloaders do kick, especially with a heavy bullet: Get a real good scope. Tried a whole bunch of cheap scopes: Presently they reside inthe trashed scope box.

I would lean toward the Knight rifles. I personally bought a new Knight Long Range Hunter last year. The rifle is fantastic. I own and have owned a couple of dozen MZ's. Including a couple of Omega's and Encore's(no Triumph's). They were grear rifles, but they were very finicky. Lots of loading and accuracy problems. I solved most of the accuracy problems, but the loading problems made me get rid of the rifles. I have shot a lot of Knight rifles. No trouble with any of them. So I have to vote Knight.

In my LRH I shoot a load of 120 grains of loose 3F Triple 7, and the Barnes MZ bullet. I will be working up a cast bullet load for my rifle this summer. But the MZ load is incredibly accurate. I just hate paying for the bullets.

Do not skimp on your scope. I consider a VXIII as the bottom quality to go with. I have a 4.5X14 with the B&C reticle on mine. The scope does a great job. Tom.

1. I am considering 2 guns: Thompson, Triumph.....or....Knight,KRB. The knight is a lot less expensive and it seems to me that the guns in effect are very similar. Which would you choose and please qualify why?

I own a Knight Disc (my first MLer) a TC Omega (my 2nd MLer) and a Savage (my 3rd mler). All three are accurate. I like the Savage the best because it is accurate as heck, can shoot 200 yards, and shoots smokeless powder so I only clean the rifle 2x per year. In fact it shoots best dirty. Either of your choices is a great rifle and since you specify $2000 is your budget I would go with the Triumph. By the way the cost of a Savage awith a stainless barrel is $550, tupperware stock, you can get a Laminated stock for another $100.

2. I like my Trijicon TR22 scope. I am thinking of mounting one of these on the rifle I buy. Do BP rifles have that much more of a kick than say a 30-06?

If you shoot light loads, then they kick less. If you shoot 150g of Pellets of powder it will hurt like an 30-06.

3. There seems to be a lot of back and forth between 100 grains and 150 grains. If 100 grains does the job then what benefit would I derive from 150 grains? Flatter shooting? More kenetic enrgy? etc.

In most cases 100g does the job, especially if your in the woods,if your trying to shoot over bean field 200 yards then you may need the 150g or 120g of loose or 130g of loose. Many of us shoot loose, since is is cheaper and we can work up more accurate loads.

4. There are so many bullets out there to choose from but I just want to get the same performance that I get from my Hornady ammo in my 30-06. Is this possible or do the BP guns just punch a hole and go on through. On that note why do BP guns use such huge ammo? Would not a smaller, lighter, yet faster flying round be favorable?

Sure a lighter bullet will travel further and be flatter shooting, several on here shoot .40 cal ShockWaves 200g in their 50 cal MLers and have excellent results. Bigger bores shoot bigger bullets with more mass at lower velocity but have a lot of killing power,what would you rather be killed with a bowing ball going 50mph or a golf ball going 500mph, or a 300g bullet going 2000fpsall would kill you,all would have a lot of energy. Most MLer bullets expand, that the the reason for the large hollow points on most bullets, however there are newer longer range bullet that have a large expansion cavity below a plastic tip, Hornady SST are a good example of this, ShockWave (made by Hornady) but sold by TC is another and Barnes TMZ, Parker Ballistic Extreme are all examples of MLer bullets designed for longer range. The inline MLer was basically designed very similar to a 45/70, go look at the 1000 yard black power 45/70 shooter and see what they shoot. big bullets going 1200-1400 fps has big rainbow trajectory, what was the famous long range Sharps rifle? A 45/70. So MLer are basically 45/70 rifles who are "hand loaded" from the muzzle.


5. Any other BP rifles out there that you feel I overlooked? Money is not really an issue in purchase but I would like to keep it under 2000 dollars for the complete set up.

Your looking at two excellent rifles choose whichever fits you best by handling it. If you ever desire go go smokeless, consider a Savage, but I would buy the TC Triumph first because you learn a lot about MLing with that gun. I now only shoot MLers for deer hunting, more of a 1 shot challenge, I feel more killing power than a 30-06--- with a 300g huge bullet going 2000 fps. So get the TC, shoot it and fall in love with MLing (I predict you will since you said you were anal), then buy a Savage, use the Savage in Gun season (1 shot is all ya need) and use the Triumph in ML season, that is what I am going to do this year. Last year i used my Savage the whole time (both MLer and Rifle). They are all fun. Accuracy of Savage, see my web site, for bullet selection and powder selection over the last 2 years:

http://www.the-gleasons.com/this_is_my_savage_10_ml_page.htm

Chap Gleason