Knight LK93 misfired

[Johncatworth]

I took my son’s Knight LK93 .50 cal out, popped a couple of No.11 caps, then loaded with 85 gr FFF and a 248 grain Sabot round. Capped it and fired and….nothing. Waited ten minutes, capped again, fired….and still nothing. Repeated 4 more times, same result. Any recommendations? Thanks in advance.

[4V50 Gary]

Clean the nipple with a vent pick?

Or does it take a 209 primer? (hotter)

[Ricklin]

I always make a point to listen to the sound of the cap, you should hear the cap pop from the bore of the gun. Then put your ears on, caps are not that loud with the bore pointed downrange. If it is very quiet I can hear the air rushing out the nipple as I ram the bullet home.
I would start with a nipple pick before reaching for the worm. If you can get a zerk fitting to replace the nipple, a grease gun will push that ball out.
Lots easier to deal with this issue with a 209 gun, undo the breech plug and push the charge out.

[deerslayer303]

I had an LK93 very reliable rifle. Are you sure you have the rear of the plunger screwed all the way out until you see RED? If you don't the plunger will not contact the cap at all.

[Hawg]

Contaminated powder. Bore not cleared out. Wrong lube in bore is a possibility.

[Johncatworth]

I will try the 209 cap idea; Thanks.

[deerslayer303]

The breech plug in that rifle is set up to take a #11 percussion cap nipple. a 209 primer isn't gonna fit, and for that matter that rifle doesn't have a firing pin to ignite a 209 primer even if there was some way to change the breech plug to use a 209 primer. Again, remove nipple, remove breech plug (I takes a special wrench to do so) clean both, reinstall, cap it, screw the rear of the plunger all the way out until red is showing, safety off it will go BOOM.

[JasoninSD]

When you popped off the couple initial caps, did you have the muzzle pointed towards the ground and see any dust kick up? My guess too would be that the nipple is plugged up. Pull the breach plug, drive the bullet and powder out (from muzzle to breach) and then clean the plug and nipple. Reassemble and try it again. Don't forget to lube the threads on the nipple and plug before reassembly.

[Ricklin]

My brother picked up a nice none working Knight rifle for 150 bucks, bore is just as nice as the gun.
Misconfigured when he bought it, figured out the correct combination with the orange plastic 209 inserts and it is an excellent, accurate rifle. The local store had all the Knight pieces, plus was helpful in configuring it correctly, works great now with 209's. Knight rifles can be confusing.

[44 AMP]

Not sure if this is at all applicable or helpful but a friend of mine had a .50 "Hawken gun" (made from a kit) and it had an unusual habit.

The even after several popped caps and picking the nipple, it would still not go off. But, once you pulled the nipple and put a small amount of powder in the touchhole, put the nipple back on, and capped it, it would fire.

And after that, it would fire first time, every time all day long, without needing to put any powder under the nipple again.

The next day, (or anytime after that) it would do the same thing. you could waste a dozen caps, if you wanted to, with no effect, but once you put a little powder into the vent hole, it would shoot, and shoot every time after that without needed any powder under the nipple.

I have no idea why it did that, only that it did.

[Hawg]

I always dump a charge of powder down the bore of my Hawken and pop a cap. I do it to burn all the oil out of the bore but it never failed to fire. I don't ram it down or try to get it to settle in the breech. I just pour it in and set it off.

[Ricklin]

I am reliving my youth since retiring. I'll be down in the same area as the story below hunting deer come December.
Many years ago in my late 20's I hunted this area I found an excellent "blind" to set up in for the next early AM. My buddy was driving that morning, I got in the back and charged my old Hawken in the back of the van while going down a gravel road. We very quietly got to our blind just a few minutes before legal shooting time. Hmmm, which deer should I shoot? Had the whole damn herd in front of me. Spotted a nice buck hanging back from the rest, drew a solid bead on him and cocked my Hawken. POP, no bang and within seconds the herd was gone. When you ram your charge home, LISTEN for the air rushing out the nipple, that way you know it is not plugged!

[Prof Young]

My Hawken pistol had same problem. Pop the cap and no fire. I learned to put in the powder, hold the barrel upward at a 45 degree angle with the nipple barrel on the bottom and them tap the gun. Powder drifts down in to the nipple barrel and it usually shoots every time.

Life is good.
Prof Young

P.S. There are kits out there that let you convert a percussion cap nipple into a 209 holder. Not hard to install but kinda a pain to use.

[Ricklin]

My brother picked up a used Knight for very short money, like under 150 and the bore is pristeen, stainless rifle. It was misconfigured and would not fire.
He got online and got the correct parts, cost him 50 bucks or so for the pieces he needed for 209 primers.
Not at all impressed, yes it works, yes the primer is protected, it's just fidgety for lack of a better word. While the flexibility is nice, I greatly prefer my cheapo Wolf. No muss no fuss it just works easily and quickly. No tools for my breech plug, his requires just the right socket and extension for removal. No plastic inserts for the primer either with the Wolf.
Shooting both side by side at the range, I'm done and moved on while he is still messing about. The Knight is more accurate, for our deer hunting on the coast I'll take my light and handy Wolf, a shot more than 100 is rare. IMO my cheapo beats his high end gun at least for our purposes. If 150-200 yards he has the edge and it's worth lugging the extra weight. If you have hunted the PNW coast I think you might agree, I know my brother does.