Here's a pic of a .69 caliber M1 Springfield like the oldest critter we have. Ours is missing the ramrod and has a broken mainspring, though. We've though about getting a replica, but haven't acted on it yet.
Years ago I had a replica very similar to that but in .58 cal.
Was coming back home in my truck from hunting one evening and hadn't seen any moose all day when I get stopped by the MNR....
When he asked me if the rifle was loaded ....I explained to him that the only way to unload that rifle was to fire it....and then since I was using black powder and not pyrodex, it would be a big job to clean it with soap and water.....so I had just removed the primer cap to make it safe.
When I explained to the officer the sequence in loading that rifle and that you had to literally be over the muzzle to ram the maxi ball in place....and that since a cartridge consists of three elements Bullet, propellant and primer I didn't consider my gun loaded...
That officer was very nice, since they had no rules about muzzle loaders, he said he would get back to me..
Three months later, I get a phone call from him telling me that his bosses in Toronto had finally got back to him, and agreed with me on my definition of a loaded muzzle loader..:lol: