oldsmellhound

Well, I finally made it down to the cabin for a couple of days to do some turkey hunting and try and burn up a couple pounds of T7 in range sessions. I bought a Knight Vision last year that I really wanted to have some serious range time with. It was delayed because I had to send it back to Knight to get a firing pin problem fixed. I discovered that they fixed it, sort of. Instead of never firing, now it fires 90% of the time as long as I snap the action shut with a very sharp motion. It seemed to get more reliable as time went on over the 2 days, but I'm still trying to decide whether or not to send it back to Knight again.....



Anyways, I really wanted to see what this rifle could do. I do really like the design, the weight, heft and the way it shoulders and shoots. I really, really want this to be a great rifle, my go-to gun. Unfortunately, it has had some teething problems. Apart from the boom-stick no go bang issue (which is a big deal for me), I had trouble getting what I consider good accuracy. Now last fall after I bought it, I shot some really good groups with T7 FFG.



Now granted this was only at 50 yards, but has the potential to shoot 1 - 1.5 MOA at 100 yards, which is very good in my book.
So I was out of T7 FFG, and only had 2 cans of T7 FFFG. Normally this is not a big deal, but I wonder if for some reason this Vision doesn't like the FFFG. I started out with several loads of 110 grains of powder, which this rifle had seemed to prefer from the last session. None of the groups (with different projectiles) are worth posting. So I dropped the charge down to 100 grains and shot some groups at 60 yards to start....



This was with the .40 cal 200 grain XTP with MMP blue .50/.40 sabots. Honestly, not that great for 60 yards. If it would have been 100 yards, maybe not so bad.




This was with the 200 grain SST transplanted into the same MMP sabot. Also not too impressive for 60 yards, although if you subtract the flyer on top it would be about a 1" group....



Next up was the 185 grain Lehigh, which I would like to use this hunting season. Only a 3 shot group this time because they are pricey to shoot. Not bad, not great either, but maybe some potential here....




So I tried shooting a 100 yard 5 shot group with this load. This is what I would call "acceptable hunting accuracy". It will get the job done, but there is room for improvement.

I do believe this rifle has a lot of potential, it is just taking some work to get there. I wonder could the difference in powder size (FFG vs FFFG) make that much of a difference? I did notice that the FFFG produced a noticeably sharper recoil than the FFG.

To contrast that, I shot a 5 shot group with the same bullet from my old CVA:




Now that's what I'm talking about! Not MOA accuracy, but hey, what do you expect for a $120 rifle and a 4 power scope?




I shot a lot of other rifles and pistols when I was down there.




First time I ever shot my SKS off a bench for accuracy. It did better than I thought- all 10 rounds were "minute of bad guy" at 100 yards, and I think the main limitation was the horrible standard battle sights and creepy, heavy trigger pull. With a good trigger and optics I think it could shoot 2 - 3 MOA easy.

I also did some mowing while I was there, lots of fun:




Oh, yeah, and I got a turkey.



Spotted it 200 yards away, and slid on my stomach through the grass for 40 minutes stalking it until it presented with a 37 yard shot. 9" beard and turkey breasts will be in the oven tomorrow!

Back on topic, anyone else with a Knight Vision have this problem with failures to fire? Even after Knight fixed it? Also any ideas on the accuracy issues? Thanks for any replies....

W.W.

Oldsmellhound , remember 3F powder is about 15% hotter than 2F. I believe I would try going back to the 2F powder for a slower burn time and drop your charge to about 90 to 110grains . Now if you were just whating to use up the 3F I would drop your charge to about 80 to 85 as you did in the CVA .
Now for your fireng problem try using the Winchester W209 primer in the blue box I think it will help.

corey012778

you can pick up an pack of wolff springs for around $9 plus shipping, you or an gunsmith willing to do the trigger work.
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=2...-UP-SPRING-KIT

good shooting with opens sites anyway with the old battle rifle.

nice group with the old cva too

oldsmellhound

It is hotter, and I could feel it in the recoil. I was hoping to find a heavy powder charge that works in this rifle and set it up for shooting long range, that's why I wasn't trying lesser powder charges. It will just take some more experimenting...

The primers are not the issue - I used Winchester 209's, T7 primers and Federal 209's. The times that it doesn't fire, the firing pin is not hitting the primer at all- no dent in the primer. It is a mechanical issue of some sort, but I can't figure out for the life of me why it would work 90% of the time, but not strike the primer the other 10%.....

oldsmellhound

Thanks for the tip Corey! I've had that old SKS for almost 20 years now, and actually really like it.

cayugad

Well if that Vision was not 100% reliable, it would be going back to Knight with a note to shoot it until it fails and then perhaps fix it right this time. Nothing I hate more then to got through the bother and expense to send a gun in and then it comes back not fixed. CVA and Traditions did that too me. I believe me, I was not happy about it.

As for your rifle.. This might sound crazy but how old is the powder? Also since to changed to the 3f, that might have made all the difference in the world. I have some rifles that love 3f powder and others that absolutly hate it and love 2f.

I would get a pound of Pyrodex RS and a pound of Triple Seven 2f and go back and try your shooting all over again. Since you want a hot load, start with 100 grains and work up from there. I know a lot of people hate Pyrodex because you have to clean the rifle that same day. But it is one of the most consistent powders out there. The only powder I like even more is black powder.

Also did you change your swabbing techniques at all? And was the barrel getting hot? Were you letting the rifle cool down between shots? All things to try.

Congratulations on the turkey. Nothing better then breast meat off a wild turkey. I don't like their legs.. too strong tasting but the breast meat is wonderful. I had five hens in the yard the other day and I know its illegal, but terrible thoughts did cross my mind. Not my trigger finger mind you, just my mind.