Looking for suggestions for a descent muzzleloader for my 12 year old... Definitely out of my area of expertise on this one so looking for some insight.

Thanks,

Jim

I'd try to find one of these:
http://www.bing.com/search?q=knight...it&qs=ds&form=QBLH&scope=web

What pursuit do you contemplate? Big game, small, targets???

Big differences there....I'm thinking caplock regardless. Start him out right in any case. Round ball guns do the job without a lot of recoil. .45 maybe .36 and get him a coonskin cap.

I'd look at the TC Impact. It has a spacer at the butt plate that can reduce the LOP by 1".It fairly ligthtweight, not a lot of bells and whistles,but accurate. D&T'ed for scope if that is desired.Usually can be found for less than $400 OTD

Yep, T/C Impact or CVA Wolf.

THAT ^^

Got my Impact this past summer for $225 to my door from Bud's. They're up a bit to $222 plus shipping.

Actually, I bought him a .32cal Squirrel gun years ago when he was reading the Gary Paulson Tucket books. Sad to say, we have yet to shoot it.
Now that we live in Nevada, with a youth mule deer tag, he can hunt with bow, black powder, or any weapon with one tag according to the season. So, looking for a mule deer muzzle loader. Was thinking .45cal but it doesn't look like they are nearly as popular as they were 10-15 years ago; no sign of a youth model looking on the web.

Jim

Did you get the CVA or the TC? How does she shoot?

Thanks,

Jim

I got the base model Impact. Put a 2.5x20 Leupold w/hvy duplex reticle on it. I'm using Hornady 250gr HP/XTP's,BH209,Federal 209A primers,and black Harvester Crush Rib sabots. Had hand surgery so had to keep my powder charge down for the season. Used 70 units of powder by volume. No time to chronograph the load but 2 shots touched at 100yds after scope adjustments. Didn't connect with any game so can't comment on performance.

My SIL has an older CVA Wolf. We had the breech plug modified for BH209. He uses the same components as me except he uses the red Crush Ribbed Harvesters and 80 units by volume of powder.

Ah, for The days when a good used T/C Seneca was behind every tree!

One of them in .45 would be the ticket.

Where TC missed the boat with their Senecas was the stocks.

They were made for a very tall man with long arms. As I recall, the LOP on them was over 16".

I have 2 friends who own them. One of which is 5 foot 10" and the other is 6 feet, and both of them brought the rifles to me to shorten the stocks.

TC Should have offered a "youth stock" and also a "Normal Man's Stock" for them. But all they had was a tall man's stock.

True! I bet the ratio, back in the day, of T/C Hawkins i sold to Senecas was 10 to 1. They were just not a popular here as The Hawken. But then again the vast majority of muzzleloaders I sold in those days (late 70's early 80's) was to fellas all wanting to go to
Hunt in New Mexico. Naturally, They gravitated to larger bore rifles!

I remember that CVA sold a little rifle they called "the Frontier". Offered in .45 and .50 calibre. I built a .50 from a kit for wifey. That little rifle was the kickingist ml I ever shot! Chalk up another with funky stock design.

Yea, My Hawkin is 13&3/4 LOP

A Cherokee in .45 would be nice as well. I bought a well used Cherokee with both .32 and .45 barrels. Unfortunately the .45 had the barrel milled to accept rimfire rings to enable scope use. The .32 had been neglected and had some rust issues. I am still happy with the deal though as I only paid $100 for the combo about 15 years ago. I bought it as a setup for my son who then decided that although he was a shooter, he was not going to hunt. I have used the rifle for a bit of squirrel hunting, but it begs to go deer hunting.

Knight Littlehorn

https://www.knightrifles.com/product/littlehorn-youth-reaper-buck-muzzleloader/

From the photos shown on that web site, it appears it is built the same way as a TC Black Diamond. With that type of bolt design , you cannot use BH209 powder with it. might be wrong.

Knight Wolverine hands down.

TC White Mountain Carbine would do the trick.

Cannot use Blackhorn 209 with any plunger-action MLs like the Little Horn and Wolverine.

I have a NIB Remington 700ML youth 50 caliber with an extra adult stock and some other odds and ends.

I also have an H&R Huntsman 45 caliber.