wondering if any of you have advice or a pitch that would push me over the edge either way
You' re right. You definitely don' t want to even think about getting into muzzleloading or getting another gun. I mean come on....who really needs another gun, especially one that would probably mean you would need to go and get some accesories for. And of course....having this new gun and accesories would mean more time spent tinkering and shooting. And then of course, you would have to end up spending time in the field hunting....so you could justify the purchase of all this new stuff. Oh, and don' t even think about the possibility of killing a whopper in a season designated only for m/l hunting. Then that would just add to your taxidermy bill.
Yep...Don' t get the m/l.