Just picked it up tonight, so know nothing about shooting performance at all.
Briefly:
It is a beautiful gun-- dark walnut, with good mineral streaks in the forearm and buttstock.
Weight: 6 lbs. 7 oz. on Lyman electronic trigger gauge (with ramrod + factory iron sights). Neutrally balanced as is. (T/C calls it "approx. 5-1/2 lbs." They could use calibrated scale, or one that is calibrated for accuracy.)
Trigger pull: 4 lbs., 5 oz. - - - VERY crisp, no take-up.
Muzzle to breech plug barrel length: 22.75", call it a 22" effective barrel length sans QLA. (Thompson calls it "24"-- the ATF would call it 22-3/4". In any case, you have 22" of barrel you can actually use.)
Firing pin selector is on top of hammer: rimfire, neutral, center fire. Would make a heck of a cool .17 Hornady Magnum rimfire with a barrel change, I suspect.
It is such a clean looking gun that scoping seems almost a shame-- it really is attractive, as is. Don't know what to put on it as of yet-- even an old Redfield 2 x 7 x 32 looks garish on it, the bigger scopes are just way out of place.
Every other muzzleloader I've got is a heavy pig in comparison, this is a cute gun. If it groups with 220 grain Dead Centers or 275 gr. Powerbelts, it may well be the only .45 worth having as a 209 fired sabot shooter. The only decent .45 I've seen where the gun size complements the caliber, as everything else is little but a .50 cal. ML with a smaller hole in the barrel.
All I can tell you, Rich, until I shoot it. One sweet handling, apparently very well-made gun. Locks up tight as can be-- had to whack the hinge pin smartly to get it in. Blueing / fit / finish are all excellent.
