Thanks for the responses so far, I am encouraged! Yep, changing out the original sights just about killed me . I'm almost embarrassed to bring it to the range when others are around.

I agree 110% with buying a good quality rifle, price is (almost) no object. I like my Pedersoli, is that considered a quality rifle? It's OK to say it's junk if you think it is. What brands are considered quality rifles? And you don't have to twist my arm to get me to do a lot of shooting; I probably went thru 300 patched roundballs this past summer! Or at least that's a lot to me.