I have owned and used both the I have owned and used both the wood stock & blued steel and the synthetic stock & stainless and the synthetic stock & stainless steel version of the A & H bolt action inlines in .50 caliber for about 5 years now. I have used them to take 6 whitetails and 2 elk as well as several exotic rams and deer. The guns I own date back to the time period of when Ted Hatfield and Niles Burkett owned A & H together. Ted moved on to be an editor at Sports Afield and is now with Bear Advertising. Niles just sold the company to North American Arms last November. I visited with the new owners, Doug and Ray, at the SHOT show and they have stated that not only do they intend to maintain the quality that Niles had built into the A & H line but that they will be improving it and bringing out some new models.
As with all muzzleloaders, you will need to invest the time to develop the best shooting load for you gun. My wood stock & blued steel model likes 777 powder and 310 grain sabotted Trophy Master Bullets from Lawrence Wood. The synthetic stock & stainless on the other hand prefers GOEX powder and 410 grain Buffalo bullet conicals the best. Each rifle will shoot 1 to 2 inch groups at 135 yards with these loads and will still have enough energy and accuracy to kill out to about 160 yards.
Good luck and happy hunting!
