Hi BushMan,
I don't own a New Englander, but do own a couple of Greyhawks (stainless/synthetic NE) and a couple of Black Mountain Magnums (fast twist NE). They're a good basic gun, reliable and accurate.

My .50 1:48 Greyhawks shoot best with 90 gr. RS, a bore button,and a 350gr. Maxi Hunter. PRB shoots good with 70 to 80gr. RS a .015 patch and a bore button. It will shoot sabots reasonably well, but only the lighter weights. 240gr. and above pistol bullets are too long for the slow 1:48 twist. The New Englander also has a 1:48 twist and should be very similar to the Greyhawk in its likes/dislikes.

The Greyhawk's shorter 24" barrel makesit a joy to carry. It's a very good treestand or blind gun. I think it balances better than any other ML I own. The wood stocked NEs have a 26" barrel; synthetic versions have 24".

The 1:28BM Magnum is designed as a sabot shooter. It's the same style as the NE, but the fast twist barrel and special breech make it a different animal.

The New Englander'sa straighforward gun with little to go wrong. Once broken in, the single trigger usually develops a nice feel...a set trigger isn't needed.

One negative is worth mentioning. The 'snail' design (around the nipple) is in two pieces. The front piece, which holds the nipple, is part of the breech and attached to the barrel. The back piece, which shields the shooter from blast and cap fragments, is part of the tang and extends down over the lock plate. This means that to remove the lock for cleaningor to clean thoroughly under the rear snail piece, the tang must be removed. The tang is held on by two wood screws.

I believe removing and replacing those wood screws every time youclean the gunwould open up the screw holes in a wood stock. A synthetic might fare better. I've gotten around the problem by smearing grease liberally over theback part of the snail and over the area where the snailextends overthe lock plate. When I clean I just wipe the dirty grease away and regrease. Once a year I remove both tang and lock for checkup and cleaning. No problems found yet. But if you're one of those who likes to remove and clean the lock after every session, you might have issues with this.

BTW, New Englander barrels will drop into a Greyhawk and vice-versa. Same thing with Black Mountain Magnum barrels. New Englander barrels in .50, .54 and 12 Ga. are available from Fox Ridge. They make a dandy shotgun...FWIW
Bob