What a timely post. I called H&R this very morning on the same subject.
This is my situation and what I found out:
My son has outgrown the 20 ga. Y/M Ultra Slug Hunter that I bought him last year. And since he thinks dad's 12 ga. USH Deluxe in the laminate looks really cool, of course he wants to upgrade to the 20 ga. USH Deluxe. I called the dealer who I purchased it from last year and he is willing to take the Y/M in trade for a new 20 ga USH deluxe, so the out of pocket shouldn't be too bad.
Dad in the meantime wants a muzzleloader. But most times it is very difficult if not impossible for me to get back out to the woods for the December M/L season here in Michigan. So I don't necessarily want to make a huge investment for something I may not use. But it would be nice to have the option of going should the opportunity arise.
Anyways, I forgot that that the 20 ga. USH deluxe was on a SB1 receiver. After the light went on I called H&R to see if the fore-end for the muzzleloader barrel was available in the laminate and this is what they said:
YES. The muzzleloader barrel with a laminate forend is $10 more than the standard wood conversion. The only difference is that the fore-end will not have the checkiering that you would normally see on the USH Deluxe.
I'd like to hear if anyone has previously done the muzzleloader conversion on their USH. My initial thought is that with the additional weight that it should absorb some extra recoil and this combined with the Monte Carlo stock should enhance its accuracy.
My only concern would be inter-changing the muzzleloader barrel and the scoped slug barrel and hoping that it was still zeroed in each time the barels were switched.
I would really appreciate to hear anyone's experience or opinions before I do this.
Thanks!
