I bought my encore in the mid 2000s. A couple years later TC came out with the encore pro hunter with better recoil pad and a different breech plug that takes less turning to get out and some other minor improvements. They were also significantly higher priced. I was at a very nice local sporting goods store about that time and there happened to be a TC rep at the gun counter. After hearing him talk about how great the “new encore” was I piped up to tell him that recoil pads could be replaced, the swiveling primer extractor was already available, and if had to get a tool out for the breech plug who cares if it takes a few turns less. He tried to tell me about how I should unload after every hunt. I told him I had accidentally left mine loaded for a whole year and it shot just fine. He looked at me like I was the biggest idiot he’d ever seen. That’s was fine, I thought he was selling snake oil and let him know.
