RWS 1081 Musket Cap Question

[zdrew]

I recently bought a new Knight Extreme disc rifle.  This is my first Muzzleloader.  The clerk that helped me advised me to buy the musket nipple so I could shoot the Musket caps instead of the percussion caps.  I purchased some of the RWS 1081 caps.  During my first shooting session I had 3 out of 10 caps fail to fire.  The firing pin dented the cap and I could see that it hit hard enough to break the primer material in the cup but the cap didn't fire.  Seems like a 30% failure rate is a little high. Is this normal, could it just be a bad batch of caps or am I possibly doing something wrong?  I'm assuming it's not the rifle since the firing pin seemed to hitting hard enough.  Thanks for the help.

[SkookumHntr]

Those are the same caps that I've been shooting, I have shot 20 rounds or so and no mis fires. My buddy said he had several misfires tho like what you explained so that's kinda wierd!?

[bobcat]

I would guess that the fault is with the rifle and not the caps. You might try switching back to the other nipple that takes the #11 caps. That may solve the problem.

[arrowflinger]

I had the same problem with the same rifle. I sent an email to Knight. Knight was kind enough to tell me that the old rifles sold had a problem with the nipples. The newer ones are sold with an offset nipple. They sent me the new offset nipple and I hope Wednesday to see if this corrects the problem. Hope this helps.

[BULLBLASTER]

If it is like my disc extreme the bolt housing will need some work to operate correctly. They took care of me under warranty but it was slightly painful. Took 6 weeks. It is a pretty easy adjustment with a Dremel tool it looks like. Pm me if you want and I can explain better. Basically the bolt housing would not let the striker go far enough forward.
It may not be the same issue tho. Mine would not pop caps as new.

[BULLBLASTER]

I had the same problem with the same rifle. I sent an email to Knight. Knight was kind enough to tell me that the old rifles sold had a problem with the nipples. The newer ones are sold with an offset nipple. They sent me the new offset nipple and I hope Wednesday to see if this corrects the problem. Hope this helps.

Last spring when I was having the issues with mine I asked about the offset nipple and they told me they didn't do that anymore.  that seems like a bandaid fix for a real issue. 

[j_h_nimrod]

I have been working on this as well. It seems like tolerances in the bolt and breech plug separation are a bit variable and even a half threads difference will make the difference from a positive ignition to a misfire. I just Western converted my Disc Extreme, and if I had only followed the directions I would be having the same issue. There are two fixes I have found for this, turn the breech plug out 1/2-1 full turn or screw in the striker assembly 1 more turn. I opted for screwing in the striker as a loose breech plug, while safe, was less desirable to me.

[bear hunter]

It the rifle use 11 caps or buy after market nipple might help. The breach plug goes in to much. The older rifles are good but the new ones seem to fail alot with musket caps. The 11 caps work though. Good luck

[Sabotloader]

This is a know issue with some Knight bolt type rifles.  In most cases it is a very simple fix.

The fact is that the hammer is not reaching the cap.  There can be a few reasons why.

1.  The most common reason why is the secondary safety on the back of the bolt is not screwed all the way back and tightened in place (it can vibrate forward if not snug).

2. Assembly of the bolt may not be correct; especially if you may have disassembled your bolt, removing the hammer assembly from the bolt housing and then re-installed it. If it is not assembled correctly the hammer may not extend far enough,

3. Your current breech plug may be to short - either because the Plug it self is to short or you have used an after-market and shorter nipple in the breech plug.

After checking the items above - open and close your bolt, hold the trigger back when closing this will allow the hammer to move forward. Visually check and see if the hammer is touching the nipple or very close to touching.  Next check the secondary safety and verify that it is not resting on the hammer cocking piece. There should be a small gap between the bottom of the secondary safety and the cocking piece.  You should see one thread of the hammer assembly in the gap and NO red color of the stripe that goes around the hammer assembly that indicates the hammer is cocked.

To disassemble/assembly the bolt correctly screw the secondary safety in as far as it will go - make sure it is all the way in.  Looking from the rear - now turn the cocking piece clockwise until it stops turning. Then turn the cocking piece back counter clockwise on full turn and align surfaces. Hold the cocking piece in place and turn the secondary safety all the way out.

This picture is an attempt to help with the alignment.  When assembling the bolt surface A and surface B need to align. As well the striker tip and detent in the bolt housing.



Now if you feel everything is correct and the hammer does not reach or get very close to the nipple stack the nipple - you are probably going to need to contact Knight for an updated breech plug.

Sure hope some of this helps

[zdrew]

Thanks for all the good information. Hopefully I can get it sorted out.