The book I have says scopes are not legal but fiberoptic and laser sights are. It says smokeless is legal but I agree the Savage is not in my opinion a starter type of muzzleloader. It is a great gun but one you can really get into trouble with if you are not completely in tune with the powders and loading etc. Since you cannot use a scope the extra distance possible with the Savage would not be of any advantage. I would get a decent US manufactured inline of some type (go check out a few and find one that you like) and set it up with a good peep sight and spend a lot of time shooting until you know what you and the rifle are capable of. Most rifles out there will shoot well enough to hit what you can see with non-scoped sights. Limit your shots to 100 yards and have a lot of fun. And by the way stay away from smokeless powder with any of the other muzzleloaders even though Nevada says it is legal the rifle manufacturers do not want it used in any of the rifles I am familiar with other than the Savage. Very dangerous to use in a muzzleloader not designed for smokeless. It will likely cause barrel rupture with bad results to the shooter like severe head wounds etc.