Some years back Numrich had a bunch of .30 muzzleloading barrels for sale cheap. Being a dumbass, I only bought one. It took me several years to find a suitable breech plug, get it breeched and fittings put on it. It is a drop in for my .50 T-C Hawken and works like an itty bitty charm. I searched for six years before I found a .285 Lyman RB mold. Those little pills load very easily and shoot well enough to hit a soda cracker or NECCO wafer about three times in five at 25 to 50 yards. As I use it as one would use a modern .22 that's plenty close enough for me. The nicest part is the very light report and even lighter recoil. It is, however, far too heavy for a small kid to shoot. I cut the barrel to 24" to make the rifle balance the same place it does with the 28" .50 barrel and it's still about 3 1/2 oz heavier than the .50. It's easy to load and as easy to clean as any other m-l rifle.
Three Hawks