I just bought a Traditions Vortek. It pretty much has all the bells and whistles of every other fancy brand, but was the least expensive in its category. It has a thumb-hole stock, rubberized coating on the stock with mossy oak treestand pattern, fluted barrel, breech plug, etc... It shoots excellent! I think I spent somewhere in the 300's on it, maybe 400, I cant quite remember, but I know it was way cheaper than TC... It's basically the same gun as any other, but, with the big namers, you're paying for their advertisements.