She came in the mail 2 days ago....got her unpacked...This is a fine rifle....better than the pictures.
The seller told me he had bought her from one of the on-line shops (don't know if I'm allowed to name them? so I won't)...anyhow the first rifle that came with his order didn't pass muster, so he sent it back...talked to someone there on the phone. Somehow he got the guy interested in doing some real "customer service". Guy calls him back later..says he went through all of them they had in stock (over a dozen) and hand-selected one he thought would do. Sent the replacement.
And that's what I just got. Excellent fit and finish, beautiful, nicely grained dark-colored stock...very, very nice looking rifle for a mass-produced gun. She's in perfect shape, obviously well-maintained, and almost broke-in with about 100 rounds through her. Doesn't look like it was shot hardly at all. And just one flaw. The original ramrod has a corroded spot on the "ram" end. Seller told me he didn't use the original ramrod, but had used a "replacement" synthetic rod. The original sat in the box and got that spot on it. Other than that, this rifle doesn't have a fingerprint, nick, smudge, scratch or ding anywhere.
And she took a nice big Ohio buck last year, so she's already "blooded". He used .530 round ball and .018 pillow-ticking lubed patch over 85 gr. of Pyrodex RS and shot sub-2" groups at 100 yards with her.
I've been doing some "shopping" around and got me a couple lists of "accoutrements" going...but most will have to wait a few weeks while my wallet recovers a bit. Still, I got her for just a few dollars more than what I was thinking of paying for that new Traditions originally...Y'all's advice turned out really, really well. And I thank all of you for it.
Cain't hardly wait to get the stuff so I can shoot her...and I can do that in my back-yard once I have some "holy black" and the stuff to clean her with.
Wooo-hoooo....
