Welcome to the forum. I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said, so all I'll say is there's some great people and a lot of knowledge on this board. Welcome to the addiction that is muzzleloading. Come on in and get comfortable.

i spent the first 6 months of the year deciding on a new ML and while everyone i hunt with said, "buy a Thompson Center" when i handled them i wasn't especially impressed by the feel. the day i purchased my smoke-pole i handled every .50 cal TC made as well as the bone collector editions of each side by side to a CVA optima and still found the break, trigger and swing better on the CVA.
at the range i wasn't disappointed in the least. the thing replicates shots time after time so long as you don't get too lazy with cleaning it up. no regrets whatsoever!

1st Muzzleloader
 

I have no professional association with Traditions but I won't shoot anything else. I shoot a Vortek and a Canyon. When I bought the Canyon I asked Traditions what load and bullet they recommended and the tech guy said 100 grains of powder or pellets and a 250 grain saboted bullet.

As far as I know all the ML makers say their guns will handle 150 grains but that is the MAXIMUM. 100 grains of powder is more than enough for anything but the biggest bears. My Vortek will put 2 in the same hole at 100 yards and the Canyon will shoot 1" groups, both with 2 White Hots pellets (100 grains).

Lastly, while I am a Traditions guy, I've only heard good things about the Impact from other hunters. Hope this helps.

I appreciate all the warm welcomes and info. Could anyone explain the open-breech law to me for the Northwest- WA, OR, ID, etc...? Can anyone recommend a low-cost open-breech rifle that will pass muster for my trip to Washington? Thank you for any help in advance.

My guess, is the open breech law is to keep MZ hunting closer to the traditional roots. With 209 primers, you're one step closer to the CF world. Since you get a special season with the MZ, they want to make sure you have a unique weapon.

I'm hunting CO this year and it's no scopes and you must use a full bore conical. A little different but the same principle as the NW States.

I suggest a used Knight LK or MK model. Both can be bought reasonable and the have some great accuracy. Just make sure you get one with a well maintained barrel.

I bought an Impact for my 9yr old for his first hunt last year. He took a big doe with it at 30 yards (50 yards is his limit) using 60gr of BH209 powder with a Barnes 250 gr TMZ bullet. It was a complete pass through, that load has plenty of knock down power for the range he is allowed to shoot. When shooting this combo, for me, it feels like shooting my .243, mild recoil.

Don't worry about buying the Impact, you made a good purchase. Being able to remove a section of the stock for smaller framed shooters is a nice feature along with the rifles lighter weight.

The first black powder rifle i started my son and daughter on was my T/C white mountain carbine 50 cal. loaded with 60grs pyrodex and a 200gr speer hollow point bullets with the black sabots. The rifles small size is perfect for small frame kids to start on and it is a very good hunting rifle for anyone. It shoots sabots bullets and full size lead bullets with very good performance. Its one black powder rifle that will never leave my home as long as i breathe.

Glad to see you made here. More traffic that at ND.

:D Al

congrats sound like you are about to have some fun. I along with others agree that 80 to 90 grains is a good starting point. A good 200 to 250 grain bullet will do the job on most everything you will hunt in the US.