It would be wise to listen to Cayugadand others concerning pellets with the Firestorm.Thompson Center is a reputable company...but to say that the Firestorm is reliable with pellets is just advertising hype! I learned this the hard way...having many misfires with the pellets.Any muzzleloader that depends on pan powder for ignition should be shot with real blackpowder in the barrel!As for the powerbelts...if you have to use them, use no more than 80gr of powder. These bullets do weird things(and none of them good) when used with larger charges. I do think that a tang peep would be an improvement over the stock fiber optic rear sight. My aging eyes have some trouble focusing with the factory sight.