Savage 10ML-IIBSS, smokeless (preferably) or not. It's the best built muzzleloader out there. I own or have owned a total of six muzzleloaders (two Traditions, one Knight, two T/C's and my Savage 10ML-II), and the Savage is by far the best of the bunch. It's the most accurate, least expensive to shoot (with smokeless), highest performance, best quality and most feature packed production ML today.

Just some of the features include:

Genuine Gun Barrel Quality steel barrels (416 stainless or 4140 chrome-moly) that are made just like a CF rifle barrel (forged as a blank, drilled, button rifled and turned down to contour), not the soft steel extruded barrels that are common to the lower quality muzzleloaders. The rifling is held to the tightest tolerances in the industry (+/-0.00025"). It's the only muzzleloader I've shot that I can't feel the variations in the barrel/rifling as I load it. It's the same pressure all the way from the muzzle to the breechplug.

Fully free floated barrel, pillar bedded receiver, Accu-Trigger, very nice laminate stock (if you choose that version) with FUNCTIONAL checkering, good quality aluminum ramrod, Williams fiber-optic open sights, totally sealed priming system that almost completely eliminates blowback and is totally water tight. Positive primer extraction.

The only things that I don't like are the lack of a decent recoil pad and the fact that to get the bolt out the rear action screw has to be loosened possibly disturbing the bedding of the rifle. Spending $50 to install a Pachmeyr or Limbsaver pad is a godsend if you shoot the full power smokeless loads.

After owning my 10ML-II, I would not buy another muzzleloader regardless of whether smokeless is legal to hunt with or not.

Mike