Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders MK85 50 cal. wont go Boom!

picked up a nice Knight MK85 50 this one has the Musket cap primer, got some musket caps and the striker, just bearly hits the cap, but wont fire it, barrel is mint but the musket breech plug is pitted so I think it was added later. did the musket breech plug come with a diffrent plunger? it seems to cover the cap. Iv only had the No.#11 Knights before, had it apart several times cant seem to fig. it out. should I find a #11 breeck plug or go all out with a 209 plunger and Breech plug, the bad Muzzleloader season started today about 2 weeks early than it ever has before. Michigan DNR sucks!

I have an lk93 and have used both #11's and musket caps with the same plunger and breech plug. Good luck!

Are you sure you have a musket breech plug and not a plastic jacket plug? The percussion plug and nipple are two peice and the plastic jacket plug is a one piece.
Also, is the surface of the plunger where it hits the cap flat or domed and pointed? If pointed it's a 209 plunger.

Full plastic jacket breech plug top. Musket cap nipple& breech plug bottom

the MK85 has two safeties.They have two on their rifles, and they even offer the left-handed shooter a model with the thumb safety on the left side. But the difference between the Knight rifle and the competition is the location and operation of the safeties. The Knight thumb safety allows a hunter to move it off safe without upsetting sight alignment--and it is very quiet. The second safety is a knurled nut located on the rear of the hammer assembly. To disengage the safety, you rotate it to the left.

Make sure the knurled nut is backed off enough for the striker the hit the primer

Thanks guys, for the info, yes I know about the 2 safeties, I think tmitch has it! the breech plug is one peice and the plunger IS domed with a point in the middle! so I think I just need some of them red plastic Jackets????? I know ebay has them!

Yep, your rifle is set up for the plastic jacket 209s. If you can't find any real quick let me know & I'll send you a few to get you huntin'.

*You might want to check with your local gun shop to get you going this weekend. The ones by me usually have them in stock. Not sure about the big box stores or walmart.

Thanks Ill check in town tommorow! guess this is a better deal than I thought, on this gun!

Just to be sure, check the plunger face to be sure it has the little tit in the center of the face to pop the primers. The #11 and Musket plunger face is flat. It sounds like you got a late production 85 or somebody upgraded to 209 ignition.

Yes I double checked the plunger, it has the tit in the center! I have the little red primer holders in route! I have owned 2 other MK85s but they were with the #11 cap set ups Iv had alot of diffrent Muzzleloaders and the MK85s to me are the best for the money, this one is blued with a Walnut stock! probly be my muzzle gun till i cant hunt!

You will like the instant ignition and the decrease in the fouling in the receiver. The only drawback with the 85 is that the red plastic jacket system was an afterthought and there isn't much room between the plunger and the breech plug, so everything will be tight. It is tough to prime with gloves on.

Hit a small gun show this morining, and a fellow had a table full of new old stock, muzzleloading stuff, got a bag of a 100 red primer sleves, the take down tool and a caper, all Knight, and 1/2 price, Id have bought another bag of the primer holders but have one comeing from Fle bay.

Good deal! Let us know how she shoots

Help! got the red primer sabots, went to shoot, How do I know if this gun shoots the RED primer holders or the light orange kinda square ones? the gun will fire with the red ones BUT they are a real pain to put on and realy dont seem to fit well! also got alot of blow back, not sure id even want to shoot this without safety glass on! useing 90 grains of black powder, black sabots and 250 grain 45 cal bullets at this point im thinking of selling the 209 set up and converting it back to #11 caps! I fired it 2 times and had to pry the red sabot off each time, with a knife. I never had this much trouble with my old MK85 with the #11 caps.

Only the original Disc bolt action rifles used the orange flat primer holders. You're using the right ones, and yes, they are a pain and they do not contain all the blow back. If you're getting a tremendous amount of blow back it could be that the breech plug vent is worn out and oversize. (You did say it was pitted) Knight sells a tool to assist capping and uncapping the full plastic jackets.

I grabed one of the tools at the gun show, like the one pic. maybe the breech plug is worn out. it took me a few mins to get the red deal on right. Just not ment to be for this season i guess.

What you are describing is what I was talking about in my earlier post. The red plastic jacket is a pain to get on and off the breech plug. The gun was designed for percussion ignition and there just isn't enough room in the receiver to make the job easy.

There are actually three different breech plugs for the MK-85. The original cap, the red full plastic jacket type and a bare 209 plug. If you are shooting loose powder, the original is far better. The FPJ plug is a bear to de-prime and not easy to prime. The bare 209 plug is even dirtier than the FPJ type and will sometime eject a spent primer just like my M-16 ejects cases. The POS plastic Knight depriming tool for the FPJS is a joke. Even with all of the above problems, my Mk-85 is the most accurate muzzleloader I've owned and thats a bunch.

saddlering,
Are you using the tool to cap and uncap your rifle? I don't find it any more difficult to cap and uncap the plastic jacket than a #11 when I use the tool, but with bare fingers it is difficult.

Stoneybrook,
I don't recall Knight offering a bare 209 plug for the MK85, although the bare plug for some of their other models will fit. I don't know which one you're using, but if it isn't vented it will eject as you described. I have a Frankenstein set up on one of mine with a vented Remington 209 nipple and have no ejection issues. Dirty as hell though. At one time Knight did offer a Magnum Primer Conversion Kit for the MK85 that used a rifle primer in a small brass adapter that fit over the #11 nipple. I have one but find it's a bigger PIA than the plastic jacket.

it was listed for 1 year maybe 2 in the knight catalog. #M900027

I stand corrected then! Guess I've never seen one...... learn sumpin' new every day.