After inspecting this modern muzzleloader, the obvious question that sprang to mind was why would practitioners of a sport so deeply imbued in tradition want to use such a high-tech firearm? The answer is that most traditional shooters have not made the jump to modern rifles. On the other hand, these firearms are proving very popular with new shooters coming into muzzleloading. The motivation for these novices to try in-line blackpowder rifles is fairly simple to understand.

"They're easier," Meredith pointed out, "easier to shoot, to load and clean. Whereas the old style was a lot more detailed as far as cleaning."

That simplicity of use is just one part of why more folks are trying these guns for hunting, though it is an important one.

"The cleaning has always been the big drawback," Meredith continued. "With these guns, you pull the breech plug out and clean it just like you would any centerfire rifle. So, it's real simple."

Thus, Meredith added, anybody who has an interest now can try this type shooting without being intimidated.

"The guns feel more comfortable," he noted, "feel more like a modern gun. The others were more straight stocks. They were arm guns rather than shoulder guns; they had the big cutout in the butt stock. It took a little more expertise to do it with the older style guns."

His points proved to be right on the money. My few past experiences with firing a replica muzzleloading rifle had been confined to shooting ranges. The effort felt awkward at best and reinforced the feeling that I was far from ready to confront such a firearm out in the woods and aiming at live game.

Shouldering the Kodiak Pro 209 was a different story all together. It did, indeed, have that "modern" feel, and sighting out to 100 yards with the attached Bushnell scope was a breeze.

But just because in-line muzzleloaders have become all the rage for primitive weapons hunts, don't get too set on the idea that these firearms are a new fad.

"Everybody thinks the in-line is something new -- a new concept," Meredith noted. "It's not. They had them during the Revolutionary War. They just didn't look this way.

"They didn't go over too well," he continued. "Right after the Revolution, the percussion cap came into being and that was such a great innovation over the flintlock, nobody continued on with the in-line theory."

From Meredith's perspective, that was not a particularly good move.

"I guarantee you, if Daniel Boone had one of these, he'd have hung that other gun up!" he mused.

As history actually played out, it was the late 1980s on through the 1990s that saw general acceptance of and then dominance of the market by in-line muzzleloaders. So much so that today companies such as CVA have abandoned sales of the replica rifles that formerly were the core of their business.

Once on the range, it was easy for even a novice like myself to make the transition to this modern marvel of the muzzleloading sport. Loading 100 grains of powder was as easy as dropping a pair of pellets down the barrel, then ramming in a .45-caliber bullet. Setting the scope to shoot 1 1/2 inches high at 25 yards put the rifle dead on the bull's eye for a 100-yard shot. Even better, to keep the rifle shooting accurately only required running a damp patch through the barrel after each shot, along with doing the same with a lightly greased patch after every fourth shot.

Such ease of use and accuracy at 100 yards were inconceivable before the introduction of modern in-line rifles. But it is not just the rifles that have improved.