A $500 ML rifle is considered moderate-priced.

Not only should you consider the rifle quality, you need to look at the fine print of the CVA warrany vs that of Knight or Thompson. The latter two cover your rifle literally for life. Thompson even claims it will replace your barrel if you can possibly wear it out. It has freely changed my twenty year-old T/C triggers, locks & actions.

Take a look at the new owners manuals for CVA, Thompson & Knight. You will find powder grain & bullet grain restrictions in the CVA manual. Plus, an additional $200-$300 for the right muzzleloaders opens the "I'm Hooked" avenue you may succumb to in a year or two. Once you're hooked, it's a nice, reassuring feeling knowing you have a quality firearm in your hands. I use my MLs for all hunting these days. Very seldom do I blow the dust off my centerfires or shotguns anymore because MLs are more fun ... more challenging.

Buy a moderately priced ML for starters. Even your resale value will be an improvement if/when you ever sell it. The price differences in this sport are not enormous from the moderate priced ones to the inexpensive ones -- but the quality/warranty of the mid-level Knights & T/Cs (for example) are enormously different from the inexpensive ones from CVA, Traditions.... etc