Questions about inlines....

[IMshooter]

Gents, I could use your help.  I have been thinking about getting an inline, but really do not know where to start.  I've handled some at the store, but nothing really struck my fancy.  The purpose of this gun will be to hunt elk.  I do know I want fiber optic sights.  I prefer wood stocks, but most seem to be plastic.  What are your thoughts on the various ignition systems?  Do 1/28 rifled barrels do well with conicals?  Which brands/models would you recommend?  Is there any advantage of a .54 over a .50?  Thanks.

[Buckskins & Black Powder]

Brands such as Knight, CVA,Winchester,NEF are the  brands you look to when you have to shoot a conical. I have a Winchester X150 that is an amazing conical shooter and isnt even picky about what conical you put down the bore. Seeing that there is no highly mass production inline in .54cal, A .50cal shooting a big conical, 348 grain+ for elk will take them down quickly if you do your part.
The Winchester i have is for sale if you are interested. Take a look in the for sale forum for muzzleloaders.

[simonkenton]

I know what you mean, inlines most all come with plastic stocks.
The one company that made beautiful wooden stocked inlines, Austin Halleck, went out of business.
You might still be able to find one NIB on the internet, like this one, but this one sold 5 weeks ago.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=83866186#PIC



These are accurate rifles and well made. They will shoot conicals well.

Yes the 1:28 twist is good for conicals.
You could also buy a Savage with a blued barrel and plastic stock, and buy a nice maple stock from rifle-stocks.com for $70 or so and put the Savage on that. But, the Savage won't shoot conicals, you have to shoot sabots with the Savage. If those are legal for you you would have no trouble working up an elk load with the Savage.

[30-06man]

Savage is the best when it comes to smokeless because it is the only one I know of. Then you got T/c which is one of the best and you could go with the 25acp conversion if you want but if you don't want to it really isn't hurting anything. Then you have Knight which is turning out more new guns. They have one in their new KRB (knight rolling block) out this year and they are offering it as a limited option with walnut only from their site heres a link. http://www.knightrifles.com/catalog.aspx?catid=KnightRifleFeaturedItems
 They also have out a new KP1 which is like the encore with interchangeable barrels but it is only offered in synthetic and the laminate wood. They are all good guns. I would look into T/C, Knight and CVA. Those are some of the best. As far as conicals I like these http://www.blackwidowbullets.com/bulletcalibers.htm. I would go with the sabots in a muzzle loader though and get something like an Encore, Knight KP1 or a CVA Optma Eliet because they can all be changed to rifles and shotguns and you can buy barrels. Those will have to go through an FFL if you get the interchangeable ones. Look into the T/c Omega X7 which is a light weight version with cinnamon lam stocks.