For me a muzzleloader is a primitive weapon to be used in a primitive weapon season, if I had a super cool smokeless ML range/dial/shoot setup I'd use it in the rifle season. Same with a scoped 209 primer rig. I think both the smokeless and 209 rifles are super cool, how capable they are is amazing. But they aren't for me, I shoot flintlocks with real black powder and a patched round ball. I'm in it for the hunt. Not saying I am right and others aren't at all, this is what it is to ME and why I use what I use. My flintlocks get about double archery distance, I try to keep it at 100 and in, 100 yards is a fairly long shot but if you practice they are accurate and lethal at 150. If you are going to stretch the distance beyond 100 get a bigger bore, 54 and up, further up is better. Wind is a huge factor as you get long using a round ball too, they make a 22lr look awesome when comparing wind drift. Working on a 62 and a 67 cal for the tags I hope to draw next year. Shoot your first game animal with a rifle that was state of the art circa 1750 and tell me it wasn't cool and that it didn't charge you up like your first game animal with a rifle or your first bow kill. I'll bet you can't.
