So there's a new concept in muzzleloading out on the market

Federal Ammunition has teamed up with Traditions Firearms to introduce the "FireStick" muzzle-loading firearms using new system.

Basically, the rifle has a divided breech. The bullet (any regular .50-caliber muzzleloader) is loaded in the muzzle, as normal, but right near the breech end, the barrel constricts to seat the bullet. In other words, the bullet is seating on the steel of the barrel, not on the powder charge.

The powder charge is held in a FireStick. It looks like an all-plastic shotshell, and it holds a pre-measured amount of blackpowder substitute. It's waterproof, and there's a spot on the face of it to insert your preferred 209 primer cap. There are two "boom" levels, 100 grains of powder, or 120, and the FireSticks are color-coded.

The rifle is a break-action design, so after you've loaded a bullet in the muzzle, you break open the gun and insert a FireStick in the breech end. You can insert the primer before or after, as you wish. Then you close the gun up, cock it, aim, and shoot.

The difference is that you can easily remove the powder charge from the gun simply by breaking open the rifle and pulling out the FireStick, just like removing a shell from a break-action shotgun. Unloading is now super-easy, and doesn't require firing the gun.

You can also easily remove the bullet simply by tapping it out from the breech end.

The new system is suppose to be more accurate because the bullet seating is consistent and the powder charge is uniformly packed and measured.

So I think this is pretty cool. It's safer, because you can unload the gun easily when maneuvering around or over obstacles, climbing into tree stands, or getting into vehicles. You can also easily check to see if there's a FireStick in there, as well as a bullet. And of course it's easy to clean because the barrel doesn't have a closed end.

Here's links:

https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/federal-firestick-capsule-muzzleloading/371930
https://www.federalpremium.com/muzzleloading/firestick/

Federal is charging about $2.80 per FireStick, which seems reasonable. Bullets are about $1.87, primers are about $.10, so that's less than $5 a shot. They can't be reloaded, though... at least, not yet.