I originally bought an inline to extend my hunting season and got hooked! My Encore can shoot 1" groups at 100 yards so my slug gun sits in the safe now. Most of Maryland is shotgun only so if a deer was more than 80 yards away, I just sat there and watched it. Now I feel comfortable taking a shot at one. I think that inlines are easier to shoot, easier to clean and can be more accurate than a similiarly priced percussion or flintlock. I have seen some pretty accurate percussion M/L's but they cost several thousand dollars.

As far as your original question about why an inline. I bought mine as my first M/L because inlines were available. If only percussion or flintlocks were around, I probably would have bought one of them. There are a lot of M/L shoots at my range and I'm leaning towards buying a .36 caliber percussion that I could also use for squirrel hunting.

And last, about your comment for a cheap M/L. My first inline was a .50 caliber CVA Magbolt 150. It shot great and I got a spike with it my first year. I was just a little dissapointed with the quality but what do you want for $140.