Advice needed please
 

Ok so I have decided to buy a muzzle loader/black powder gun. I was in Wal-mart and they have the all black stock TC Omega Z5 kit on sale for $249. I have read that this is a good gun, but I think if I am gonna spend that kind of cash I should be getting closer to something that I really want. Thefour things I am looking for in a gun is-

1. Sealed/weather proof breach.

2. Cammoflage finish.

3. I want to be able to put a scope on it later.

4. I want it touse a 209 cap.

Can any of you guys point me in the right direction? Are there any other things I should be looking for or concerned about? I am not the kind of guy that upgrades every year so I want a gun that I will use for a while. I am looking to spend around $200-$250 on the gun, but if I can get a decent gun and decent scope for that cost I wouldn't turn it down. Thanks in advance guys.

RE: Advice needed please
 

Get the Omega and be done with it, that gun is worth the money.

RE: Advice needed please
 

Because of the money amount you state and the requirements you want, check Cabela's Black Powder rifles. I understand they have a Winchester Apex in camo with a stainless barrel for $229.00. This would meet your requirements and you could put a scope on it at a later time. If you try and get into an Omega with camo, you're going to go well into the $300+ range I suspect. The Apex is a Omega copy cat kind of, so it should be what your looking for.

Also from some of the posters on the board, the Apex is said to be a good shooter. I personally have no experience with it.

RE: Advice needed please
 

The only requirement of yours that Omega does not meet is the camo, if you wait a while and get lucky they will keep marking it down I got one last year for 160 as for the camo I would skip that any way it is mostly a thin coat of plastic that will get scarfed up and the blue black is as good as you need for any hunting situation that I have ever been in. Lee

RE: Advice needed please
 

The cammo is a flexible requirement. How good is the New England Firearms Sidekick? I can get one of those for $149. It is Wood/Blue finish.

RE: Advice needed please
 

Sidekick is a good rifle. Plan on spending $35 extra for a replacement ramrod as the one that comes with the rifle is a joke. Hubbard Outdoors makes a decent replacement one that is longer when extended and a lot stronger. I also added the .25ACP conversion breechplug for mine as the stock plastic carriers do not impress me. I also do not like the stock breechplug removal tool. The .25ACP replacement uses a standard 7/16 socket (that by the way is another $60). Now the Sidekick is up to $244 and if you decide to scope it you may have to replace the stock with a monte carlo design for another increase in cost or add a scope pad on the stock wood one.

RE: Advice needed please
 

So it is looking like the Omega is going to be the winner. I would still like to hear some input on the Winchester APEX if anyone has any experience with it. Thanks

RE: Advice needed please
 

Well I own an Apex. I love it. I gave $179 for it at bass pro, blued/black com posit. I really can not gripe about anything other than the trigger has just a bit of over travel. it holds -1 inch groups at 100 yards and right at 2 inches at 150. anything under 100 is just a ragged hole. as for as the sealed breach, lol, I shot a deer a week ago with it in the pouring rain, and whipping winds and it worked fine. I was soaked, the ML was dripping, and it worked perfect. I have it topped with a Bushnell 1.75-4.5X32. It is easy to clean, very simple layout. I think ether of the ones you are looking at are ok, I just am a bit partial to the Apex. ;)

RE: Advice needed please
 

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=null-cat20815&id=0026883215431a&navCount=5& podId=0026883&parentId=cat20815&masterpath id=&navAction=push&catalogCode=6IS&rid =&parentType=index&indexId=cat20815&ha sJS=true

RE: Advice needed please
 

Well thank you guys for all the advice. After doing research all night I found that most people recommend the TC Omega over anything else in my price range so I bought it in a kit for $249. It had everything I wanted except cammo finish so I thought it was a rather good deal. Off to watch the DVD and get started. Any other advice you guys can offer to the new owner of this gun? Powder? Primers?Other stuff that is good for me to know? Thanks.