jdscot3 ihave no true expience with cva muzzleloaders. but i do own a couple of their hunter single shot rifle's i do like them. but as far as muzzleloaders you may want to also check out the t/c impact for less than 250 bucks. it's a fine shooting gun can either use pellets or loose powder. i perfer the blackhorn 209 powder. and another good muzzleloader is a traditions ultra light persuit. although you can shoot either pellets or powder their breech plug is bare minimum for bh209. sells around for 290 bucks . but just getting into muzzleloading is a whole new world & i would say that i believe i enjoy them the most either way good luck