cayugad

A very good friend of mine called a few weeks back and told me that he wanted to ask a huge favor. Of course I told him to ask away. He then explained that he had a large buck that he'd been after and that if he did not get it rifle season, he wanted to keep trying muzzleloader season. But one small problem. While he's shot my muzzleloaders, he's never purchased one. So the favor was to borrow a rifle.

I then questioned him about the conditions he would be shooting, and he explained were on his farm he was hunting (I'd hunted that farm numerous times, even the stand he was going to use) . I told his his shots would be close, but quick, so he needed a short accurate rifle. He agreed.

So I mailed his a Knight LK-II. The Knight has a Simmons 2.5x20mm scope. #11 ignition. And a 22 inch barrel. Its short, easy to swing, accurate, and should fit the bill. I also sent him some .430 240 grain Hornady XTPs and some Green Harvester Sabots. I advised him to get a pound of powder in town and a box of caps and try the thing out first. I told him that the rifle had a sweet load of 85 grain of powder. I sent him instructions on how to clean it, prep it, every thing. Even a spare powder measure he could use, and a short starter.

He called me before muzzleloading season and said he had not got a chance to fire it, but was sure it would be fine. And that he'd bought some Triple Seven powder and CCI magnum caps. I had told him Pyrodex RS but the man at the store assured him that Triple Seven was a better powder.

To shorten this.. he never saw the buck he wanted the entire season. He settled on the last day for a 4 pointer at 30 yards. He said he pulled the trigger and it knocked the buck flat. He'd loaded one bullet the entire season and fired one time. He cleaned the rifle spotless l might add and mailed it back with a nice thank you note. And some items I will not go into.

My friend bragged to me that the scope was set perfect and that where he had put the cross-hairs was where that Hornady hit. He said the internal damage from that little rifle was very very impressive. And it fired perfect.

So instead of putting the rifle back on the shelf.. I took a pound of Triple Seven 2f, I had recently obtained.. and the returned sabots and bullets. Made up a new target and set it at 52 yards (where the prints in the snow are) and then fired.




I had to admit, that 85 grains of Triple Seven 2f did pretty good. I guess I could understand why he felt the rifle so accurate and lethal. As he bragged that the deer never took a step after he squeezed off the trigger.

In my case all was going fine until shot #8. I had swabbed as usual, loaded as usual, capped it, and squeezed it off. The cap fired but no BOOM.. I thought.. I was sure I had loaded that rifle. Capped it again, and like before the cap fired but NO BOOM.

Of couse by this time you start to doubt yourself, but I was positive I had loaded powder and projectile. The ramrod even indicated it was load. So I got out a trusty guitar string and picked the nipple good. Capped it, and the cap fired but no BOOM. Now I was not so sure, but I capped it again, and the same results.. NO BOOM.

So into the house and called it quits. Besides it was COLD out there. That wind was just raw. But I did have fun shooting to be honest.

Pulled the barrel, pulled the bolt, pulled the nipple, pulled the breech plug, and out fell a lot of powder. Ramrod pushed out a projectile as well. Looked through the breech plug and it was clean as a whistle. Blew through the nipple and could hear air. The only thing I found different was two spent caps stuck in the nose of the bolt. But the caps on the nipple were going off. So why this load did not fire. NO idea.

Its amazing how that little 2.5x20mm scope can help you focus at 50 yards and shoot that well. I mean granted they are not in the same hole.. but minute of deer would have been a dead critter if you know what I mean.

I will have to try this rifle again soon and see if I will fail me again.

Semisane

That's interesting Cayugad. The last time I shot my .45 Renegade I had a cap fire with no boom - very unusual for this gun. When I cocked the hammer the last cap was stuck in the hammer recess with two other caps. I pulled them out and the gun fired with a fresh cap. I didn't think anything of it at the time. But with your experience I'm now wondering those caps in the hammer caused the misfire. I have no idea how that could be, given that the cap did pop. But maybe????

cayugad

those knight LK-IIs like to hold caps in the nose of the bolt. Out on the range, it was so cold I never thought to look in there. So maybe that is the answer. The extra cushion. But then why would they fire and still not make it BOOM?

josh...just josh

Doesn't the face of the hammer, or bolt in this case, support the primer on the nipple when fired? What I mean is that at least on my Hawken, the face of the hammer shrouds the primer. I wonder if having another primer in that recess would cause the primer to not be as supported during that crucial time when the pressure is the highest, allowing primer heat and pressure to escape around the nipple... just a though

cayugad

that very well could be and for lack of a better reason.. I'll take that one. Normally the rifle is fool proof. One reason I sent it to my friend. Good thing he only needed to shoot it once.

lemoyne

Just my 2 cents. Caps are copper which is soft enough to absorb some of the energy from the hammer. All percussion caps release energy at a speed regulated by the blow that sets them off. 777 powder is harder to ignite because it requires a certain amount of energy with the flame, not like black which only requires the flame temperature. Think of it like this if you light dynamite with a match it only burn if you light it with explosive force like with a primer with the minimum amount of force required it explodes.

arcticap

Could it be possible that the swabbing pushed some fouling down in front of the flash hole that blocked the fresh powder from igniting?
Could some wet fouling or moisture have collected in the breech which dampened the primer flash?
Maybe condensation formed on the inside of the barrel after it was swabbed due to the cold air and the cooling off of the barrel that was still warm from the previous firing[s].
It's all pure speculation but the fact that the primer did ignite repeatedly seems to indicate that it was properly seated.

WV Hunter

That is pretty strange for sure. Considering it was all free and clear, it makes no sense. I've never had my knights not go off, ever. I can't imagine the cap firing, but there not being enough fire to ignite the powder. Also hard to imagine that a spent cap in the way could cause it, but who knows. ??? Keep us posted on what you find.

arcticap

One last thought concerns what percentage of alcohol is being used for swabbing. There's 70% and 90% alcohol, of which the remainder is water. Under some conditions, I wonder if the 70% alcohol takes longer to evaporate due the higher water concentration?
Maybe the evaporation rate of 70% alcohol shouldn't be taken for granted when it's not at room temperature.

cayugad

Well today I took the same rifle, same everything. Even shot at the same target. And I had 10 of the 240 grain .430 XTPs left. I fired ten times, doing every thing the same as yesterday, and all 10 went off perfect. So maybe it was a dab of too much swab solution. I really can not say.