Yes, Traditions have their barrels made in Spain. Is it a spin off? Yes, so are many others out there. Thompson Center's design of the Omega caught on real fast and all the other gun makes are cashing in on it as well. The older model Pursuits had some trigger problems but from a post I read recently, they have corrected that. You might want to make sure that rifle has a good clean trigger that does not break hard. Other then that I have heard they are good shooting rifles and balance well.