Record-Book: Knight Muzzleloaders

Knight’s in-line muzzleloaders revolutionized the blackpowder hunting world. The company’s high-quality, .50-caliber Disc (left) and MK85 (right) rifles brought new levels of safety, reliability and ease of use to big-game hunters.

Smith with his monster New Mexico pronghorn antelope he shot at 200 yards with a .45-caliber Knight Super Disc rifle that had a synthetic thumbhole stock. The buck’s antlers scored 77 6/8.

: The author used a .45-caliber Knight Super Disc to take his best black bear ever in Saskatchewan. The bruin’s skull officially scored 21 14/16 and is number two for North America in muzzleloading records.

The author bagged his highest-scoring nontypical whitetail during the last days of Saskatchewan’s muzzleloader deer season with a .50-caliber Knight Legend. The massive 12-point rack, with a 9-inch drop tine, had a gross score of 175 6/8 and netted 165 6/8. The brute had a dressed weight of 235 pounds.

Thanks to Knight muzzleloaders, I’ve bagged some of my biggest and most memorable North American big-game trophies over the years due to the rifles’ accuracy, dependability and the ease with which they can be used and maintained. I’ve taken a trio of record-book black bears with the reliable muzzleloaders, the biggest of which is not only my personal best, but is ranked second for North America in national muzzleloading records. A whitetail buck and pronghorn antelope of record-book proportions also fell to Knight rifles I was fortunate enough to hunt with. When Knight Rifles inventor and founder Tony Knight, from Missouri, revolutionized muzzleloader design with his in-line concept in 1985, I was lucky enough to meet him and hunt with him on a number of occasions. After years of hunting with a traditional side-hammer front-loader, I embraced his line of modern muzzleloaders with open arms. The MK85 was the first model in the Knight Rifle line, and it had so many features that were superior to any other muzzleloader on the market at the time that I was immediately hooked on it.

The MK85 was designed for use with saboted centerfire bullets for excellent accuracy and killing power. The in-line design was more dependable and made the rifles easy to clean thoroughly, too. And, the rifles were also shorter and lighter, making them easier to carry and use. Double safeties made them safer, and they were designed for mounting scopes.

Legendary Hunts
During the many years I’ve hunted with Knight rifles, I never had a hang-fire or misfire. They were, and are, so reliable you could leave a load in from one year to the next without a problem. Although this is not recommended for safety reasons, I did this a number of times to see how long a load could remain in a muzzleloader and still perform properly.