I think a lot of guys (especially the younger crowd) often times confuse "cheaply made" with a gun that simply doesn't have a purty piece of wood on it, or high luster bluing, don't get me wrong, all that stuff is nice, but I honestly don't think it matters much on a gun that is going to get dragged through the brush on a regular basis.

Honestly, it is the kind of snobbery you speak of, which creates a divide within the sport, very much like the middle-class/upper-class divide, with as many folks that are wanting to take away our rights as gun owners and shooters, we best stick together.

Anyway, the T/C's look pretty nice in my experience, I held a couple at my LGS, and I thought it was a lot of gun for the money, I don't think you could go wrong in getting one. As for the Marlin and Savage rifles, I can't say that I have really ever heard anyone complain about them, most who purchase them have been completely satisfied, and I'd be willing to bet that most of the folks who trash them have never even fired one.