I'm just getting into BP hunting, recently got a Hawken style percussion that I love , and have a daughter who is interested in going out with me next year. My experience is with archery/rifle hunting so any suggestions for a muzzleloader for her would be appreciated.

She is 14, but is 5'6" 115lbs or so, and strong enough for a decent size gun I think. She likes inlines and is looking for something that will work for both deer and elk. I assume a .50 will be the prefered caliber. As simple and easy to shoot at possible, she does very well with her .22, but has very little experience with anything bigger. She would like a "pretty stainless steel barrel," but that isn't a super high priority as far as I am concerned. Oh, and she has to come up with half the cash herself, so price is a factor. I'm not saying cheaper is better, but the less she has to come up with the better, since she doesn't have a ton of money making opportunities.

Any suggestions for a quality rifle that meet all or most of these criteria?

How about the winchester apex.. Ive heard nothing but great reviews on it. And the best part, you can get a stainless steel barrel and camo stock for $229! Go to cabelas before they sell out of them. Reg price is $430. All of the reviews ive been reading, the shooters have been getting 1" groups at 100 yards with the factory open sights and a 295 grain powerbelt. Seeing how you want to hunt elk, the Apex is a great conical shooter.

First off are there any State laws that forbid certain styles of muzzleloaders? If not, then perhaps a Knight Wolverine LK-II. They are small, light weight, accurate, have a shorter then normal stock for small people, excellent shooters, and very reasonable. You can pick them up on the auction sites for some very reasonable prices. Plus you have Knight's outstanding customer service. They are open breech and work off a simple #11 cap hammer striker system.

You could load the Knight with 80 grains of loose powder and a 240 grain XTP for deer and see if she could handle say a 100 grain load with a Barnes 250 Expander for elk. Get close and get a good hit and the rifle and projectile should do the rest.

Another choice would be a White Bison in .504 as a Kit. I think Doc sells them for $240.00 . 70 grains and a conical for deer with open sights.. good to 100 yards. 85 grains and a conical for elk. Also Whites do not seem to have bad recoil. At least my Ultra Mag does not. I can do more checking into the G series Whitetail or Bison, but they are very well made rifles. I am sure if you contacted Doc and told him this was for your Daughter, he had some he made for his kids when they were growing up. He might make you a good deal or give you some good advise...

Just some thoughts... its great that your daughter is interested in the outdoors. You're a luck man.

It sounds to me like you are doing a great job raising your daughter. I do not know if you are close to any large stores that stock ML's. But if you are take her shopping. Let her make some of the decisions. And I agree with her the SS is pretty. Try to get herthe best rifle you can afford. I am sure she will take care of it. And it is something that she will remember and cherish for the rest of herlife. My best friend has a daughter, and she is 1 1/2 years old. She is so cute. I have been saving up some money, because I am sure there is no way I will be able to tell her no. Tom.

I agree, having her pay for half of it is a great idea and I applaud you for that. I'd take her and let he see what she likes. Obviously if she picks something that you don't feel is a good rifle then you can explain to her why you wouldn't chose it but she's going to be the one huntin' w/it and she'll enjoy huntin' a lot more if she has a gun she's proud of. I love hearing parents gettin' their kids involved. Makes my day

That doesn't really answer your question I know. There's more qualified people here to answer that than I so I'll leave that up to them.But honestly nowadays I don't think there's any "horriable" MLs out there.

dmacl,

Hey its great that your daughter is interested in BP hunting. There's alot of great rifles out there and you'll get some good suggestions. I thought I'd give you little information about loading and the recoil one can expect.

I introduced my 14 yr. old nephew to ML with 50 grains (Pyro P) and 270 BB Ballet. This load has a muzzle velocity around 1400 fps. The recoil is nuthin for a ML but I dare say the boy noticed it. If you've ever shot a .270, thats pretty much it, not bad, but enough to smart ayoung oneif the rifle is notfirm to the shoulder. Most of our shooting has been with .490 prb in my traditional which he can shoot all day long.

If you have a place to hunt where shots are gonna be close, you can get away with lighter loads and have all the thump you want on the game. With light bullets, Pyro P and 777 can deliver the same muzzle velocity as BP with less charge volume and substantially less charge weight which means for a given muzzle energy, they will have less recoil. How much chargeone needs depends solely on how far one needs to be able to shoot. So you have a lot of leeway on that.

Good luck with it and congratulations on your new hunting companion.

I think Dad will want to borrow this one. Sorry for the lousy pic offered here.
http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/36_440/products_id/33815

This is the less expensive synthetic stock model. Surprisingly, they have it listed as being a half-pound heavier. Not sure about that!
http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/36_440/products_id/33813

That stainless steel laminated Omega really looks nice. Is that the one you hunt with Triple Se7en?

I would also look at the New England Firearms system which can be available not only in BP .50 cal but in different barrel and caliber configurations for shooting different game from shotguns to your most popular centerfire calibers.

I bought one with 6 different barrels ranging from .50 cal. 223, 270, 22 Hornet, 20 gauge bull barrel slug gun, 12 ga. slug barrel.

It's an extremely well put together system, not that expensive, easy to clean, ACCURATE, stable and well worth the money.

Oh one other thing. If you can't stand the wait till next year to take her ML hunting. You can even hunt small game with your muzzleloaders just as soon as you get hers. I use 20 grains 3f Goex and .490 prb which is good at the muzzle for 930 fps. It's recoil is just a little more than her .22 and it shoots pretty flat to 35 yards. I can get part of the roundball on a 1"circle between 8 and 35 yards by aiming for dead center.

If you add 1 part cornmeal to 4 parts powder, shake in flask or horn each time before loading powder measure, you'll get the same velocity and won't need to swab all day. I've enjoyed the small game hunting since the big game seasons haveclosed. Keep us all posted how it all goes.