I am thinking of purchasing a stainless muzzleloader, and have narrowed my choices to a Remington700ML or a TC Omega.

Pros and cons of each?

I prefer break-actions (Omega). Assuming both are used, so do a thorough inspection first.

Are there any laws in the state you'll be hunting that designate open or closed breech? The Remington is an open breech design and not suitable for Blackhorn 209 use. Compared to a sealed breech gun it will have a substantial amount of blowback fouling. Also the bolt action adds and 3-4" to the overall length compared with some of the other action designs. The drop action Omega is a sealed breech with little to no blowback and one of the best designs for BH 209 use right out of the box. The Remington can be converted to a sealed breech, but add on another $100+. Kept clean and maintained both work well but if there are no restrictions I would go with the much simpler Omega.

We don't have sealed/open regs, but do require the use of open sights.

I would be interested in BH209 use at some point, so the Omega sounds a bit easier from that standpoint.

Is the Omega easy to disassemble for cleaning? Any known issues with the Omega?

Drop the block, unscrew the breech plug & clean it and the bore, that's about it.

I've had both. Sold the Remington. Still have the Omega.

Shorter action so shorter overall length for same barrel length. Feels better at the shoulder for me. Cleaner at the breech. Much easier Cleaning. Accuracy about the same.

The Omega is very simple in design but its not a break action. Its more of a falling or drop action style. The barrel does not tilt up, the action and trigger assembly tilts down. Blackhorn ready without any changes too.

With a "bolt action" muzzleloader you get 5-6 inches of extra steel in the "action" that serves no useful purpose.

The T/C Omega was the most successful rifle launch ever, the T/C Pro Hunter was #2. I have owned both the 700 ML and an Omega, I wish I still had the camo stainless Omega. I hated the Rem 700ML (stainless 50) so much I sold it for $200.00

There is no comparison between the two rifles, For an entry level muzzle loader the Omega is still a perfect choice. The Omega barrels were made on the same tooling that made the T/C Pro Hunter barrels...enough said.

Just wrap the breech plug in plumbers tape and apply ample lube to the breech plug threads. Did I mention the T/C Omega has one the best factory triggers??

Doc

Hey Dakota Deer,

If you decide you want an Omega, let me know. I've got a 50 cal Stainless/fluted barrel with camo thumbhole stock like this one that I'll make you a deal on:

If you're talking about the original 700ML then get the Omega. I have never handled an Omega but I owned one of the original 700ML and I sold it for $150 and was glad to get rid of it!

The new Remington might be different but if it were me I would find a Savage 10ML, yes they're not very pretty, but neither is the Omega, but using smokeless powder blows the other rifles out of the water.

One is a smokepole and the other a smokeless pole. One is a blackpowder-only ML and the other isn't. I treat this sport like it's intended to be treated. I accept it's limitations and will never attempt to turn my MLs into centerfires.

One side of my rifle safe are centerfires. The middle-part are shotguns. The right-side are blackpowder-only muzzleloaders. All three have their own hunting seasons / hunting areas/zones, here in Michigan.

One long gun-style I shoot up-to 100 yards. The other up-to 200 yards. The 3rd style I shoot 200-400 yards. I never bring one style into another style's backyard on Opening Day.

Also, if I'm using my smokepole on a ridge with a long look into the woods, I respect my yardage limitations. It's all part of this wonderful sport. Telling my hunting buddy later that I saw a big buck 75 yards beyond my shooting range, is all part of the sport. Telling my hunting buddy a week later that I could not see any part of the 8" kill zone on that whitetail in my crosshairs, so I passed on the shot, is all part of the smokepole adventure that day.

Respect what that smokepole can / cannot do.
Have a blast using it, for no other gun style offers this much fun.
Only squeeze that trigger, knowing you aimed on vitals and a humane kill follows.

Omega and day over that piece of junk Rem calls a muzzle loader

If you're using a break action sealed breech muzzleloader, scoped, 209 primer ignition, BH 209 powder firing saboted jacketed or monolithic bullets, you have nothing to crow about treating the season "as intended" any more than someone using a Savage 10ML.

No offense intended but do you really think that using an in-line muzzle loader loaded with 777 and sabot bullets is doing it the way muzzle loaded season was intended? You might have an argument if you were using actual black powder with patched round balls but if you're using an in-line your argument holds no water IMO.

Here in Wisconsin I was against the ML season because it turned into basically a single shot centerfire season with all the in-lines. When they legalized magnified scopes in the ML season I said the heck with it and got a Savage 10ML and put a Leupold 3.5-10x on it.

Triple7's statements are hypocritical plain and simple. He parrots this blah blah blah "as intended" on numerous forums while shooting boat tail bullets in sabots. He talks about his Knight Vision rifle with plastic jackets for the 209 primers as if its a the best thing since sliced bread.

He gripes about people using expensive bullets for deer but forgets his fancy boat tail bullets are not cheap either.

He needs to take another 7 year hiatus and allow the industry to advance in peace. Ive never seen anyone post so many times on topics that do not interest him.

I have a good buddy from S Texas who I took on a mountain deer hunt back in VA. We were both shooting traditional sidelocks. It was a really great trip, didn't get a deer but he did see deer, bear and turkey and he took a nice tom with a patched rb.

For about a month or so after that he couldn't stop talking about it, waxed eloquent on the virtues of the traditional rifle, how he might never hunt with a modern centerfire again and so on and so forth. Then he went deer hunting on his home place and shot one of the nicest bucks ever seen in those parts at 200 yards with his .340 Weatherby.

When I saw the deer it was truly breathtaking. I had to ask, "so, what was the first thing that went through your mind when you saw him?" His reply was priceless:

"I'm glad I'm not hunting with that f***ing muzzleloader."

I have an Omega, both sons have Omegas, we all had something else before the Omega, none of us are looking for another muzzy gun.

As happens with other things I like: Thompson no longer list the Omega's on their website.... I don't think they are making them any longer.

Be Safe,

T/C Triumph is the closest to the now-gone Omega. The Bone Collector model has the most bells and whistles.

I have had 2 of the 1st 700 mzlds.no longer .I do have an Omega also a flinter that was given to me from my dad. The Omega is a snap to clean .

I have one of the first Omegas, the trigger pull sucks. They fixed that after a couple years. Check before buying used.