Went to Gander mountain in Rochester NY and bought the last Optima Pro. Blued barrell w/ black stock in .50. Went with my wife thinking they wouldn' t have anymore but the clerk found one more in the back. Wife thought it looked pretty (?!), and I took that as a go-ahead. I shoot southpaw so the two-sided cheek piece and break open design is a plus. You know, I actually like (and I don' t think I' m just rationalizing the purchase because of the price) the feel of the Optima better than the " real" Encore. The Optima seems to have a longer LOP which makes it come up nicely. Given what I' ve been hearing, these are a pretty hot number so I' m glad to have one. Guy came in while I was processing it and offered to buy it from me.

Looking forward to reading old posts about what it likes to eat and etc.

rhetoric: Congrats on the new gun. I purchased the Optima Pro in .45 cal. a few months ago. The accuracy is pretty good and the gun does handle nicely. I put a 4x fixed scope on mine and I' m having shots touching at 50 yards. I' m going to sight in at 100 yards in a week or so. I might get the .50 cal. barrel for it next year, but have to wait and see. I kind of like that barrel option. Good luck shooting your gun!!! Later, MaxWell

Congrats - let us know how it shoots