MLKeith

There is a lot of talk about spanish made rifles due to questions about how the barrels are proofed. I think it is mostly just talk although I do not load my spanish made rifle as heavy as I do my T/C Omega. American made rifles generally have better overall quality control and most of the triggers are usable as received. Some of the Spanish rifles (Traditions, CVA in particular tend to vary a lot in quality and trigger pull weights). My Traditions Pursuit was absolute unusable as received. T/C and Knight have real good warantee with T/C probably the best as they warantee the rifle for life regardless of where you got it. If you buy a used one they still stand behind it. As for .45 vs .50 I would not buy a .45 as the .50 is more popular and bullets etc. are easier to find. If you want to shoot flatter with the .50 all you have to do is buy the sabots that take .44 caliber bullets instead of the ones that take .45 caliber and you have almost the same thing as a .45 muzzleloader. If you want to hunt elk you then have a rifle OK to do that with too by just using the heavier .50 cal conicals or .45cal bullets in sabots. Depends on how much you want or can afford to spend. There are quality american made rifles from NEF, Marlin etc. for the same price as the cheaper CVA or Traditions rifles. If you can spend the money the T/C rifles or Knight are great. I never had a Knight but the talk is they are good. They use a primer carrier which I do not care for but that is a personal thing. Good luck and welcome to the muzzleloading group.