VT Ridges

I am eager to buy a new (my first) Muzzleloader. I like the break actions but do not like the ones with hammers. I ordered the new Knight Vision, but the order was cancelled because Knight delayed putting them on the market.

I've seen the Pedersoli, looks nice but I am concerned about the 1:27 twist and I don't know anyone that owns one. Does anyone own one of these? How does it shoot?

Are there any other break actions with out the hammers that I am missing?

I will be hunting whitetails in northernNew England. 100 yard shots are pretty rare, but I am little fussyabout accuracy. I used a friend's Black Diamond last year and was impressed with the way it shoots,just wanted a little more of a closed action and a little more balance.

I would appreciate any help.

Thanks.

cayugad

Off the top of my head I can not think of another hammerless break open rifle. Be sure this is going to be legal to hunt with in your State. Some require an exposed ignition, others a hammer.

As for the Knight Vision, understand this is a new model just hitting the market. I wonder if Knight found or felt they could improve on some part of the rifle and for that reason delayed the introduction into the market. I usually do not endorse the purchase of any new model rifle hitting the market for the first time. I like to watch them for at least a year and see if there were any flaws in them. I'd rather let someone else put up with the new production headaches. Take the Tradition's Pursuit when it first hit the market. Great looking rifle with a reported terrible pull to the trigger. They fixed that and now have a good rifle on the market some claim.

The one advantage of buying a Knight rifle is, if there is something wrong, they are going to make it right. They have a great customer service in my experience with them, Other opinions may vary. So if you wait for the Vision it might be to your advantage to purchase from a company like Knight since you are so positive you want a hammerless rifle. Otherwise look at the Omega or the Revolution.

sabotloader

VT Ridges

Remington is suppose to be bringing a new one out also this year. I have not seen it at all. It has been featured in a couple of magazines and a few were put out to the public on a limited basis with full production to begin in the spring of 2006.

They are suppose to run from $250 - $650 per copy.

There has been all knids of speculation about where they are coming from, probabably across the waters but who knows. If they are an import and an import at those prices there might be some quality attached. Remington or Spartan Arms, neither have anything on their web site about it yet.

It will be interesting to see where the barrel is coming from and whether it is extruded or forged. The Rem 700 SS came with Douglas Barrels and Rem use Douglas quite a bit but who knows for sure until they get out to the public.

If you are in a rush -this one will not work but if you have time to wait a bit, actually there should be a lot of 2006 guns coming out soon.

Good luck in your search...

Criggster

I'm just curious why don't you like the hammer variety? I've got a optima and I really like it, although I had to put see-thru mounts to compensate for the hammer.

VT Ridges

One of my very first hunting rifles was using my fathers Winchester Model#99 30.30. Itgetscold in Vermont and never got used to the hammer with gloves. The Vermont ML season is in December and it will be cold. I have a Nikon scope I want to mount on it and the clearance concerns me even with a hammer extension. I have lifted both theOptima and the Encore and love the feel. They actually fit me the best so far and by all accounts both are great shooters. Mostly it's what you're used to I guess.

Triple Se7en

I don't have any problems using my Omega hammer with thick gloves on.

VT Ridges

cayugad,

I live in New Hampshire now, home to Thompson Center Arms, Green Mountain Barrels and Bill Ruger. There are few restrictions here, but I do have to pay attention when I leave the state to hunt. Particularly, with so many small states within a few hours drive. I better do some more home work.

I havebeen looking at the Revolution,whilenot a break action, it looks easy to clean and closes up tight. It seems there are a few good deals on them nowtoo.

Underclocked

VT, avoid the Denali. Had one here - had being the operative word. There is no parts support in this country - not even extra breechplugs. The action is not that friendly for cleaning, the forearm mount is insane, the scope mount is likewise, the finish on "blued" sections is lousy, the color case hardening barely qualifies as such, the coated stocks chip and peel, the owner's manual is not written for the model you will actually have in your hands, there have been at least three variations so even parts nomenclature is confused and/or missing, the trigger is non-adjustable, the breechplug has a unique design being very long but having an extremely deep inset in the face of the plug making for a very short flame channel, and I just didn't like the rifle.

On the plus side, bore seemed fairly well done and the buttstock had a good recoil pad.

VT Ridges

Underclocked, great info, thank you. I recently had some similar issues with a Benelli R1 Rifle.It worked out, but I don't want to go through that again.

Thanks again, that's exactly what I needed to hear to rule it out.