Looking at the ballistics, I am quite unimpressed for the improvement over my lowly Omega given the price differential. Simply buying a horribly expensive gun that gives a MARGINAL ballistic improvement does not give the hunter the ability to drop deer at 300, 400, or 500 yards. Just like slapping a Nikon Omega scope gives them the ability to shoot 300 yards, despite what the marketing hype indicates.

The key limitation is the ability of the shooter. Trophy, you say everyone uses a rangefinder. So what does it matter if your trajectory is just a few inches flatter than a 200gr Shockwave out of a "normal" muzzleloader? Within ranges that wind drift is still manageable, the improement is relatively insignificant. Scroll down a bit and you'll see that I had no problem dropping deer out as far as 338 yards this season with an Omega and a relatively modest 110gr charge behind a 200SW.

Is the max range of my Omega shorter? Yes, 400 yds is about all it'll do. I know other Ultimate shooters and they perform the same at around 500 yds. Of course it took me 4 years of having the ability to shoot 400 yards before I actually had to shoot over 300 yards. I don't go around purposely setting up long shots.

The limiting factor of MLs today is the bullets. It doesn't matter how much pyrodex/777 you pack behind the charge, the BC is the same and any advantage will be marginal. Now throw a centerfire-twist 45cal barrel on and work up high BC .357 bullets and you may have something. I don't know if ML sabots will work well in a 1-12 twist but it'd truly be a long range ML. Range advantages are modest and only apparent on the envelope, and wind drift remains a serious issue at the envelope.

If someone has a buck standing at 275 yds and can't shoot it, it is the SHOOTER's issue, not the gun. Any scoped ML can make that shot if the shooter is practiced, knowledgable, and capable of it.

I hope if you're shooting at game at 500 yds you keep your finger off the trigger with 10 mph wind....4 feet of wind drift is more than a small issue to deal with.

This company seems to have a core group of Michigan shooters they periodically send around the message boards to hype this gun. I frequent numerous ML boards and this post is similar to ones there, some new member with few/no posts giving the same marketing points out. Even one guy who is a known member on the board, but doesn't talk about the Ultimate for quite awhile, then about the time I see it posted on other boards again he posts there like it's a new thing he hasn't talked about there before.