[align=left]I was about to dig deep into the wallet and buy either the T/C Encore ProHunter or the Triumph when a buddy informed me of the H&R Huntsman. He told me it's the best muzzleloader he has owned and assured me I would not be disappointed. Any comments on this would be a great help to me....Thanks






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Welcome to the forum. It is good to have you here.

The H&R Huntsman is able to change out barrels. The NEF Sidekick which is the same rifle with a few inches of barrel missing is not effect by the center fire rules. From all I have read, the Huntsman and Sidekick have great out of the box accuracy, and a great trigger. Their ramrod I have read is not the best. Plus I believe they need a primer holder. Whether I would compare them to a Pro Hunter or Triumph, since I do not own any of the rifles, I could not say. I have read a lot of good reports on the Pro Hunter and Triumph as well.

I don't think most people would think that an H&R Huntsman is better than an Encore or a Triumph. I don't have either of these rifles, but there is a TON of Encores out there, and they are considered one of the best MLers available. The Triumph is a new rifle, but basically it is an improved Omega, and there is a TON of omega's out there, I have one. For ease of use and cleaning I would say buy a Triumph. If you want to shoot CF, then buy an Encore and get an extra barrel. The H&R looks like a great gun, and that would be an excellet first choice as a starter gun. Myself I bought my first ML 8 years ago and bought a Knight Disc, used it 5 years, shot a lot of deer, then bought a TC Omega, used that 3 years and then bought a Savage 10 ML for accuracy and long range hunting. So buy the Huntsman, then upgrade in a few years to an Encore, after you get some ML experience. MLer are fun and very addicting in use, i.e. you will either love it or hate it. If you like bow hunting, think of it as bow hunting out to 100 yards, and you will be about right. If your only going to buy 1 ML gun in your lifetime, then I would make it an Encore Pro hunter. Excellent rilfe and you can do more with it later if you want. Chap

Hatcher88

As I do not own a NEF I have read some pritty good reports on them, But if you want to save your self some money in the long run I would go ahead and get a more Expencive gun now and not worry about upgradeing next year or the year after, as you and I both know everything is getting so high now , that a top of the line ML
that mite cost you 400 - 500 now mite be 500 - 600 next year look at the price jump in amo gust from last year.
I am a BIG Knight fan my self they have some of the best rifles made IMO . The Disc Extreme & the KRB7 are among the best shooting ML I have ever owned, unlike a lot of other top of the line ML they will shoot saboted bullets and Conicals with Extreme Accuracy and they have some of the best barrles in the Industry ( Green Mountain ) They have some of the best BoreConsistancy in the Industry .
So if I were you I would probbably do some more reserch on differant ML before I jumped on one . But any way you go AS a Bowhunter myself you are going to be a Smoke Pole Addict for life it is very Addicting .

Ron

I have a Huntsman and like it alot. Very accurate rifle for the price. Great trigger out of the box. As far as swaping barrels you can only put a shotgun barrel on the Huntsman receiver. The factory will not fit a centerfire barrel to it. The Huntsman receiver is supposed to be sent to the factory to have a shotgun barrel to it. Some buy second hand barrels and do it themselves. The cons are: Ramrod is terrible and will break when you least expect it. Works in a pinch but I always carry a breakdown ramrod. Breech plug removal tool causes people to cuss and bust knuckles especially if the breech plug sticks and is difficult to work with once you put a scope on the rifle. The orange primer adapters work well but they allow alot of blowback to get into the receiver which can be nasty to clean up. I upgraded to the 25 acp breech plug which allows you to use 25 acp brass and small rifle primers.The new breech plugseals the breech real well. I don't get any blowback and can remove it with a rachet wrench.
It's a good accurate rifle but needs some upgrades to be truly happy with it. The Encore (I had one before the kids claimed it) is about as accurate, can swap any barrel you want to put one it without sending it to the factory, easy to clean, but costs more. I liked the Encore real well except it did not fit me too good. I'm short with short arms and had to put a youth stock on it and it still felt unbalanced.

Sounds like you were already headed in the right direction before your friend derailed you. I can't comment on the H&R but I think if you had bought either the Pro Hntr or Triumph you would be at the range loving life instead of scratching your head trying to figure out which one to buy.[8D]

The only way to get a huntsman now is used or send a H & R frame to the company to have one fitted. H&R also stopped making the Sidekick this year.

I have the H&R Sidekick instainless. The gun is very accurate. I have had no problems removing the breech plug. I use anti seize and clean it thoroughly. It cleans very easily. Remove the breech plug, break it open, turn it upside downand I push a brass brush through it and then a patch. The inside shines like a freshly cleaned shotgun barrel.