Taking apart to clean

backpackin · Sep 15, 2015

I have been muzzleloader hunting for a few years now but never really had a guru to bounce questions off of. I have an early in-line Knight model, really basic with a black synthetic stalk. Every time I get done shooting this gun I take it fully apart because its hard to get the breach plug and the nipple out without taking the trigger out. So each time I do this I separate the stalk and barrel to clean then put it all back together again after cleaned. My question is do you guys think I am losing accuracy or have mal-alignment of scope and stalk each time I take them apart? Do you guys totally disassemble your guns when cleaning them between shootings? I feel like if I just swab the barrel clean the breach plug and nipple will still be dirty and have potential for failure.

txhunter58 · Sep 15, 2015

You definitely have to remove the breech plug to fully clean the rifle. You won't get it clean and keep it rust free any other way. I remove the breech plug and clean the bore without taking it out of the stock.

Yes, removing it and replacing it in the stock can end up changing the point of impact a little. You have to be sure you tighten the screws up the same way and with the same tension each time, which can be hard.

By the way. When you see an animal and sneak up on him, you are performing a "stalk". The rear of a firearm is a stock.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)

Idahoron · Sep 15, 2015

I take my Knights fully apart down to the last screw every time I shoot them. I put breach plug grease on every thread even the one in the stock. And no your accuracy is not going to change. Will your point of impact change with a scope Maybe, but it doesn't affect my peeps.

heartshot · Sep 16, 2015

I shoot a Knight Bighorn that I bought 12-13 years ago. I take it off the stock every time when I clean it. It is 1 screw to take off the stock and two more to take off the trigger assembly. I have never noticed an accuracy change with my open sights.

GunCarver · Sep 16, 2015

I have a Knight Disc Original that I always take completely apart to clean. Never noticed any significant difference with POI. I suppose it is possible if you really put it in crooked or tried to really crank it down harder than usual, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

backpackin · Sep 16, 2015

Thanks for your input guys, last year I had a dissonance going on with my bullet and powder choice; the inaccuracy of it made me question everything else I was doing so I thought I would ask a few questions. Last year I shot the powerbelt 245 gr. with 2 triple seven 50 gr. pellets. Never felt like I could get it sighted in correctly, was all over the place. I have talked to one other guy who had the same experience with that combo. I went back to Pyrodex pellets and a Hornady sabot.

txhunter58 · Sep 17, 2015

I would say if you have a bedded action or if your barrel is floated, you won't seen any difference in POI. However, if your stock puts pressure on your barrel, and you don't tweek the screws the same way every time, you could see some change.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)

greatbasin · Nov 17, 2015

It sounds like you found a combination your rifle does not like..it happens. Anyway, I'm not a fan of pellets. I never could get accuracy out of them like I can loose powder. It seems they always come with some chipped up in the box and then they won't weight out correctly. I can measure my loose powder to within 1 gr. every time so its much more consistent for me.
Also, I do the same thing everytime I clean, load, and shoot regardless if I'm at the range or on a hunt. Then when I try something different I only change one thing at a time so I know what effect it has on the whole process.

trophyhunter · Nov 18, 2015

Backpackin: if you want a blow by blow on cleaning along with a helpful video check out YouTube.com search to see if someone has posted up how to cleaning video they have just about everything else on that site.

))))------->

TripleSe7en · Nov 23, 2015

LAST EDITED ON Nov-23-15 AT 05:13PM (MST)[p]Odds are it was your pellets last year that caused your inaccuracy concern. You must keep pellets dry all year-round. If you are going to the range, only take the amount of pellets that's needed for the range trip. Don't take 50 to shoot only 20, on a day where the weather might be humid or damp. Pellets attract moisture a-lot easier than loose powder.

So again, odds are, your new Pyrodex pellets brought back the accuracy because they are new and dry. Had you purchased 777 pellets again, odds are they shoot fine also, just because they are new and not contaminated yet.

Switch to loose powder and your powder will last/stay drier, much longer than pellets. Want consistent accuracy?..... switch to loose powder and don't take the entire jug to the range on humid or threatening weather days.

Keep your powder dry.