"I am considering a new purchase of either the Encore Pro or the standard Encore. What big advantage does the pro have to merit the extra cash?"

$400 is a good deal on an Encore.Personallydo not believe that the Pro-Hunter is worth the extra cash. To me the stock feels all wrong.

My Encore isbluedand walnut stocked. It was bought with a .50 M/L barrel. That gun is deadly accurate with the 250 grain SST/Shockwave bullets and110 weighed grains of JSG FFG.The gun makes three shot groups smaller than one inch at 100 yards with that load.

"This is an aside, but with the recent purchase of TC by S&W, do you feel the design will drastically change making it impossible to buy barrels for these guns ten to twenty years down the road (thinking of my son)?"

Do not think that the design will drastically change. Additionally, there are several well known makers of after market barrels.