RE: you've got a $1000..what gun would you buy?
Well I am going to go out on a limb here with all the in line shooters. But If I had $1000 (along with the MLs I have now) I would wait a bit and get another hundred or two and get an original St. Louis Hawken.
Now If I did not have a ML, I would get a nice used T/C Hawken, fit it with a new Green Mountain barrel. Then I would get a CVA Optima Pro and a Nikon Prostaff scope for it. The balance of the $ would be spent on powder, bullets and other extras.
I know there are a lot of Encore shooters out there but I don't think I would spend the money on one. IMO you can get just as good of accuracy with the CVA as you can with the T/C.
But you know what they say about opinions!?!?