Ditto on this quote

The marks from hunting probably wouldn't be bad but mine come from things other than hunting and I think that makes it worst!

Mine seems to get dings while in the safe. It's a little crowded in there.

I assume that by performance you mean accuracy. I have to agree with the quality part of that statement, to some degree, but I can in no way agree with the accuracy part. I own 2 Thompson Center side locks and 2 Traditions side locks. One Traditions is still in the load development stage but the other shoots as well or better than my Thompson Centers, with a barrel that is 4 inches shorter and at one third the cost. Both, by the way, have the same twist rate. Plus I actually like and prefer the single adjustable triggers on the Traditions more than the double set triggers on a Thompson Center. To me it's just a better trigger.
Don't mind me fella's. I'm just a cheap skate and would like people like me to be aware that there are affordable and accurate options to the high dollar line of muzzle loaders.

Seems this is a stealth gloat. Perhaps others, are as happy for you as i am!

"Stealth Gloat" Ha Ha Ha! I never heard that one before.

If by necessity this is just fine. We had one rifle in our family when the kids were little. When the boy grew, we had two rifles, and they played a big role in feeding us. More importantly, they helped us boys live like our genetics wanted us to. Our boy still has those two rifles. They have endured. They have endured.

If you are a cheap skate by nature, you need to change. You need to experience the feeling one gets when one handles a fine rifle, or tool. To me there are many better feeling than gazing at, or holding a fine rifle, but a fine rifle is is a fine rifle. My life has consisted of using fine tools on the job, and seeing and appreciating how they worked, endured, and felt. The abuse a fine tool takes on the job, shouldn't be, but is. In my eyes and hands, a fine rifle is the same as a fine tool. It feels better than a cheap tool. It looks better than a cheap rifle. It endures.

Few things are prettier, or feel better, than an old worn, well built, tool/rifle.

I have downsized a bit!

[QUOTE=ronlaughlin;3941476]If by necessity this is just fine.

If you are a cheap skate by nature, you need to change. You need to experience the feeling one gets when one handles a fine rifle

It is not by necessity.
It is by nature.
And I'm sure you are right about the feeling one gets when holding a fine (expensive) rifle.
But I am a hunter at heart and I have been one long before I could hold a rifle. I just don't see how a more expensive rifle with better fit and finish could add to the satisfaction and excitement I get when I harvest a deer with the less expensive rifles I own. As a matter of fact, the 2 deer I harvested last year with my $275 Traditions Pursuit were just as rewarding to me as the countless number or deer I have taken with my twice as expensive Thompson center Hawkins.

I agree. Accomplishing something using less than best equipment, would certainly be more rewarding.