I almost bought the NEF sidekick back in january whenthe wood/blue barrel one (26inches) was $109.00 and I think the S/S was about 40.00 more(they had some crazy sale that lasted about a week). I did some research on the sidekick its a really good gun for the money. The ramrod isn't great and you may want to replace it. If mounting a scope you will need the base and offset hammer spur-18.00 from NEF. TheNEF site is www.hr1871.com. I think that the ramrod has a different thread side for ML attachments therefore you may need an adaptor for cleaning accessories if you keep the present ramrod. There is no problem with the breech plug its the wrench that they give you to remove it thats junk so just use a socket and ratchet toget the breach plug out. You are probably wondering why I did not buy one well my friend gave me an omega s/s as a gift since he wanted me to go ML hunting with him. I myself bought a CVAkodiak .50 cal nickel barrel MOBUfrom www.midsouthshooterssupply.com for $99.00 when they had this one day sale back in may. Too bad you need the guns now as they have some great sales in january on a lot of the online sites. One last thing the NEF has only a one year warranty whereas the CVA has a lifetime warranty. If you want to read a write up on th NEF go to www.chuckhawks.com LIAF