Not all the good muzzleloaders are expensive. Look at the Sidekick or Wolverine.

A $500 ML rifle is considered moderate-priced.

Not only should you consider the rifle quality, you need to look at the fine print of the CVA warrany vs that of Knight or Thompson. The latter two cover your rifle literally for life. Thompson even claims it will replace your barrel if you can possibly wear it out. It has freely changed my twenty year-old T/C triggers, locks & actions.

Take a look at the new owners manuals for CVA, Thompson & Knight. You will find powder grain & bullet grain restrictions in the CVA manual. Plus, an additional $200-$300 for the right muzzleloaders opens the "I'm Hooked" avenue you may succumb to in a year or two. Once you're hooked, it's a nice, reassuring feeling knowing you have a quality firearm in your hands. I use my MLs for all hunting these days. Very seldom do I blow the dust off my centerfires or shotguns anymore because MLs are more fun ... more challenging.

Buy a moderately priced ML for starters. Even your resale value will be an improvement if/when you ever sell it. The price differences in this sport are not enormous from the moderate priced ones to the inexpensive ones -- but the quality/warranty of the mid-level Knights & T/Cs (for example) are enormously different from the inexpensive ones from CVA, Traditions.... etc

I have no doubt that a Savage Muzzleloader is a fine quality rifle and very accurate, although I have never shot or even held one for that matter. I have read too many posts on other forums of people that used them hunting and some of the shots they have made are remarkable to say the least. That is not to say that other black powder rifles are not able to do the same kind of thing.

One point I want to address is, it sounds like you do not want to get into BLACK POWDER RIFLES. I mean by this you want a muzzleloader but the idea of the mess and fuss of black powder is not appealing to you. It sounds like what you want is a muzzleloader that acts like a single shot centerfire rifle. Well then the Savage is for you. You can load and shoot it as a muzzleloader and when using smokeless powder you do not have to worry about the cleaning aspect like many of us.

If you really want to get into Black Powder rifles and have some fun, then a Traditional Style Rifle would be the way I would go. I would personally get a .54 caliber Thompson Center Hawkins rifle. I say this because you wanted to hunt elk possibly. Many States do not allow a .45 caliber rifle for elk or other big game for that fact. The .54 caliber can be loaded down so even young children can shoot it. They are a very user friendly gun once you learn them.

The other reason I suggest a Thompson Center Hawkins is you mention all these young people coming up in the sport that will be using the rifle. Well if you can find a better warranty then a Thompson Center rifle, let me know. If it breaks, they fix it. Also a tradtional rifle is a lot of fun. You have to learn to use them. Not like some of the inline rifles out there that you dump two or three pellets down them, seat the projectile, 209 primer it and then fire. Traditional rifles are something totally different. Not that hard to learn and a lot of fun when all the smoke floats out and around them when you fire.

I own a lot of rifles. Inlines, sidelocks and flintlocks and love to shoot them all. But my real passion it seems are the sidelocks and flintlocks. The inlines are great do not get me wrong. But I know that with the right powder charge and projectile in my inline, I can shoot out there at long distances and hit every time normally. With the traditional your range might be limited but the fun is not.

Its a real experince to hunt with a traditional rifle. I am sure what ever one you get you will enjoy. Good luck with your purchase.

I am not a fan of bolt-action rifles, but if I were to buy only (1) ML during my entire life, it would be the Savage smokeless. You get a very strong piece of equipment that's darn accurate -- plus you can shoot the best of both worlds... ie... smokeless or blackpowder/substitutes.

(Edit) If I had to keep changing the costly vent liners in the Savage while using blackpowder-only, I would not get the Savage. Instead, I would purchase a T/C Encore with several centerfire barrel options for the future.

who could ever only buy one muzzleloader in their life time...

My point on this thread seems to have been lost again on the virtues of different fifles out there. I tried to simply state that I would not spend a lot of money on my first muzzleloader because many who buy them end up not shooting them because of the work involved. You all know this three hours at the range and you took 20 shots.

Cayugad my first ml was that CVA I talked about on the other bb and it has turned me into a ml shooter. $100 and a few trips to the range and I was hooked. I bought a Renagade for my second rifle (a kit no less). Then a Scout Carbine and finally an Encore. It was the fact that I liked the sport kept me going.

Other people I know just bought them for the extra few days of deer hunting and did not want to take the time to be a shooter with these rifles.

Muzzleloading even with a Savage is a comitment well beyond that of a cartridge shooter and that is why I think you should start off with something that won't break the bank and work up to the magnum rifles after you know you can handle them.

And yes a traditional rifle is a great way to start that's how I started.

WOW... thanks for the quick replies. It's clear as .....mud . I dont think that I need to worry about powder charges any more w/ the smokeless than the blackpowder, since I do reload for my rifles and have no desire to blow my own nose over into california w/ an overcharge[]. Please keep the comments comeing.
Cayugad-your exactly right!! I felt that the savage would be more like a single shot rifle than a traditional ML. the muzzleloader season would be fairly long for the kids and would really add to their hunting time, and your right...I dont feel like all the mess of blackpowder,at least now. Who knows, when all the kids get going I my very well own several ML's of some sort.