Hard to learn? Not at all.

Example:
My sister and her kids are from California and spent this past Christmas with me here in Michigan. These kids did not know which end of the rifle was which before we started.

In a matter ofabout four hours worth of firearmsinstruction, detail dissaseembly and reassembly and training, I had my two nephews (14 & 21) and my niece (15) shooting at 50 yards targets and none of them have ever fired a ML before in their life. My niece and youngest nephew never shot anything before.

They were loading PRB'sthemselves, pulling dry balls on a couple of times and shooting up almostthree pounds of powder over two range outings.

I gave my youngest nephew a used but unfired before my buying it at a garage sale 50 caliber T/C Greyhawk with all the accessories and trimmings for this past Christmas.

My niece was shooting my T/C 50 cal New Englander and my oldest nephew was shooting my Investarms 50 cal Hawken.

My niece outshot both boys every roundand was inside of 5-6" most of the time at 50 yards. A true natural! She wants a rifle of her own. So, I have since pieced together a 50 caliber New Englander of her own. I will ship deliver the rifle and complete accessories personally to her this summer for her 16th birthday.

They had an absolute great time and the kids have been out with their "Pappa" (My stepdad) several times since the 1st of the year shooting the Greyhawk.

I also have a 50 cal T/C Hawken that I am refurbishing for my stepdad as he really enjoys taking the kids and likes muzzleloading as well.

You will get from muzzleloading what you put into it, much like any hobby or activity.

If you invest your time for practice, employ patience, follow the manual that comes with the ML and always ask questions like here on the forum.

Budget-wise you need to determine what you can afford.
For a quality used or new rig and all the accessories andtrimmings, plan on $300-500+ depending on the setup.

There are a couple of routes you could take.

I would suggest a quality used or new percussionsidelock for both targeting fun and effective hunting with PRB's or Conicals to get started with. This will be the least expensive to shoot:
[ul][*]50 or 54 caliber Thompson/Center Hawken, New Englander, GreyHawkor Renegade or[*]Lyman Great Plains or Trade Rifle.[/ul]
Another option would be a more modern inline ML if you mostly wanted to hunt. If that be your flavor then there are a wide variety of quality choices from Thompson/Center, Knight, NEF, Savage and others.

Best of luck and hope to hear of you making smoke soon!

Tahquamenon