the deerstalker is a great rifle. I own a traditions as well and the deerstalker, IMO the lyman is a much better built rifle. As you will read in various posts, every rifle is different for what it likes to shoot. Mine shoots RB just fine and I also like powerbelts as they load easily. With the RB I started out with 60 gr of BP and worked out a good load from there. I think it likes 75 gr of BP the best, shooting RB. I only shoot out to 50 yards as thats all these tired eyes can see and here in the north central PA woods you dont get many shots longer than that anyway. I am a relatively new guy to BP and this is my experience with the rifle. There are a bunch of folks on here that have shot for years and will give you good advice.