Sure does seem that since S&W took over the reigns, T/C has certainly gone down hill.
TC was on its way to the bottom of the hill years before S&W took over. i bought a TC Encore muzzleloader in 2006 and outfitted it with five centerfire rifle barrels along with quality scopes.
1. The hinge pin was out of round. Bought a new hinge pin from Bellms.
2. There was side play in the barrels. Now i have a model 37 Winchester shot gun that was bought new in 1950. That old shotgun has no side play in the barrel to this day.
3. When i installed the first center fire barrel and tried to fire the gun, it misfired. Yep, had a hammer extension on the gun and the Encore did not like a hammer extension. Bought a stronger Bellms hammer spring.
4. Three of the centerfire rifle barrels had excessive headspace. They were sold at a loss.
5. One had to disassemble the gun in order to clean the muzzleloader barrel. Not to worry, TC had a spiffy new ejector that cured the problem: It cost extra, of course.
6. The ramrod thimbles on the muzzleloader barrel were loose because the swcrew holes were not tapped deep enough.
One good thing came of my Encore misadventure: Some of my bolt action guns got new Leupold and Zeiss scopes that came off the sorry TC rifle barrels.
TC touts their guns as "made in America." Made in America by whom?