Buddy of mine asked me for a muzzleloader recommendation in the $300 - $500 range. Are there some decent ones for that price?

you're better off looking for one you like then ask what we think of it. There are a few in that price range.

CVA Wolf,CVA Optima CVA Accura V2, CVA Accura MR, Traditions Strikerfire, all great rifles and in the 300 to 500 range.

Those are for inlines of course.

Some of my favorite sidelocks in the 370ish - 500 range are as followed:

Traditions Hawken Woodsman, Traditions Mountain Rifle. Both notch shooters right out of the box.

"If you don't have the money or time to do it right the first time, where will you get the money or time to do it over?"

There's a big difference in quality and ergonomics with muzzleloaders. Don't be like the rest of us. The sport gets addictive and can get expensive. I'd rather spend more money for a quality muzzleloader, than to buy one and end up wanting another.

If you want to have enough leftover for a reasonable quality scope such as a Vortex Diamondback HP and prefer stainless, i would look at the CVA Optima V2. You can usually pickup a Diamondback HP on sale for about $200 and the Optima V2 for about $260. Sometimes less when they have a big price reduction.

MidwayUSA had the Accura MR on sale for $299 just recently also. Thats a huge savings over typical retail.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/81...ic-stock-black