if your budget is in the $700 range, you may want to consider one of the less expensive GPR (Great Plains Rifle) designs, or a used Hawken- type Thompson Center. T/C no longer makes their "hawken type" rifles, or so i am given to understand, so you will have to find a used one. The GPR is made by Lyman, and is still in production. Some folks prefer the Lyman to the T/c because the Lyman has more drop at heel and is not a potential 'cheek slapper.' I haven't had any such problems with my T/C, but everyone has a different personal geometry so, if you go this route, see if you can fire one, or at least try each for their fit.
T/C made rifles with 13/16 (across the flat) barrels and also with one inch (across the flat) barrels. Mine are the one inch "renegade" and they're fifty and fifty four caliber. I have heard of .36 and .40 caliber barrels in the 13/16 size, but i've never actually seen one. Fifty is the most common.
As regards the cost of shooting, remember that there are 7000 grains to a pound. With a 35 grain target load, you'll get 200 shots to a pound of powder. (a pound of powder will set you back about twenty five bucks, if you don't buy in bulk ... thus, you will spend about 13 cents a shot for powder if you're running target loads) i can't remember what a box of 100 roundball costs, since i cast my own. figure a buck for a flint, and fifty shots, so add two cents for wear on the rock, and you're probably looking at 25 or 30 cents a shot.
if you shoot .40 caliber, you will probably run about 20 to 25 grain target loads, so you will shave a nickel off the powder cost, so there is some savings, but not what you'd get all excited about... remember also that you're going to be shooting about three shots a minute at the fastest. now you're looking at maybe sixty shots in three hours, and that assumes that you're shooting as fast as you can load, that you never go downrange to pull targets, that you never swab the crud out of your bore, and that you never stop to admire the other guy's rifle, have a cup of coffee, go to the restroom, or any of that stuff... and you are in incredible physical shape ... can you do seated curls with fifteen pounds for three straight hours? me either...
figure thirty shots will fill an afternoon nicely ... now the actual saving is under five bucks ... i like my .40 caliber because it looks cool, because i built it myself, because it's pretty accurate (at close range) and because it doesn't recoil at all ... it's a Southern Mountain Rifle.
i am, admittedly, a sucker for the SMR design ... there is something that appeals to the less-is-more user built aesthetic in me, but this is a personal preference, and i wouldn't think of trying to foist off my preferences on anyone else.
if you are good at building things, you might be able to get a kit and build your own ... i just looked up Track of the Wolf's "kit" ... it's about $820 ... here's a link:
https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Cat.../SOUTHERN-MOUNTIAN-LONGRIFLE-FLINT-PARTS-LIST
a bit over your budget, but save up and there you go - but there are pitfalls: the first is that these are not kits so much as parts collections: this is most definitely NOT a tab- a- into- slot- b proposition ... you'll need a good book (i like
The Gunsmith of Grenville County by Peter Alexander, as well as some tools, and next thing you know, you're in the low four figure range... another risk is that, if you hack up the project, you will convert eight hundred dollars worth of parts into a four hundred dollar gun ... depends on your skill, and how well you can lock into the learning curve.
sorry if i got a bit long- winded, and i hope this helps. go in with 'eyes open.' once you have fired the flintlock - well, there's a magic to it. to paraphrase the little green Star Wars guy, once rocks banged have you, forever will they dominate your range time.
good luck, and
Make Good Smoke!
