How did I buy a new rifle that's been discontinued for nearly a decade?

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Aim1

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I'm not sure if I got bamboozled here or not. I just bought a "new" Thompson Center Encore Pro Hunter XT .50 cal muzzleloader w/ weathershield from a well known store. Or so I thought. When I got the box it said exactly what the online ad said it was. When I opened the box and quickly inspected the gun at the FFL it appeared correct. I had to go quick as the FFL had a family emergency he was attending to.

When I looked at the rifle today I noticed that the box said everything correctly, Thompson Center Encore Pro Hunter XT .50 cal muzzleloader w/ weathershield but the rifle barrel actually said "Endeavor" on it. And the barrel appeared dirty although I'm not sure if it had been fired and not cleaned or if it is a preservative in the barrel. The Speed Breech XT appeared new and clean.

I may not be correct but from my untrained online investigation the Endeavor was discontinued around 2010 and renamed the Pro Hunter XT as the box said. So either this is a used rifle or it's been sitting around NIB for at least a decade.

Also, I paid $644 this rifle wherein I have seen it for around $950 at other online places.

Nothing in the ad said "used" firearm and I don't think they even put use firearms on their website.


1.) So, was I bamboozled here?

2.) I was expecting a Pro Hunter XT, not an Endeavor, even if it is new did I get a lesser rifle?

3.) Does this rifle look used?



I've included some pics.

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Hmmmmmmmmm........ "New, Old Stock" comes to mind, something a gun might do is sit on a shelf for a loooooooooong time before getting sold.
Howevewr, a used gun IS a used gun, and all that should be noted before sale by the seller, for sure. Used is used.

I think you did well if you got what you wanted. I much preferr bolt action rifles made before 1945, and the arms that were a spell after the American Civil War, so being 10 years old ist bad at all, unless you need some new technology, or the absolute latest in cartridges......
 
Reminds me of the time I walked into my LGS. On the Air Rifle Rack was rifle that I thought was a Chinese Clone, did not even look at it. Got back in my car and thought about it, turned around any found out it was the genuine thing. Over 20 years old. A classic. I paid less than the MSRP by about half. The Dealer did not know that it was worth 3 times the amount above MSRP. He told me he found it sitting in the storeroom attic after all these years.

Congrats on your new rifle. Hey, it might even be better than the newer models. Sure looks like a fine BP.
 
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It does happen. I bought a brand new in box Smith and Wesson 3913 (4913/3914....whatever the blue version is) sold as new by the FFL two years ago. They hadn’t been made for more than a decade. However, Smith and Wesson found a stash of some state’s (NY, I think) police order that was never shipped. The box was dusty as heck, but it was brand new. I’ve since sold it, but I should have kept it. The trigger was just so heavy (DAO) and I couldn’t justify carrying it over my PPS.
 
It happens. Big box stores like Walmart and K-mart buy guns literally by the tractor trailer load to get good prices and send them to distribution centers. They are then sent to stores as needed to be sold. I've seen, and bought guns from them that were 5-10 years old according to the date stamps or serial numbers.

Many years ago California K-Marts stopped selling guns. Those guns were pulled off the shelf and stored for years before finally being shipped to K-Marts in other parts of the country to be sold. I was in our local K-Mart and spotted a Marlin 336 in 30-30 at a price that just seemed too low. When I asked to see it and looked at the SN I could see that the gun was nearly 15 years old. And the faded price tag had been on there 15 years and the price reflected what they sold for 15 years earlier.
 
Ok, got a hold of TC customer service and they said it's legit. They said the Thompson Center Pro Hunter XTs .50 cals are still coming with the Endeavor barrel on it.
 
OK, you got your answer, but just curious if there's a serial # on the box, if so, does it match the one on the rifle?

Did you ask the company if they send the barrels out dirty like that?
 
OK, you got your answer, but just curious if there's a serial # on the box, if so, does it match the one on the rifle?


The part number in the ad matches that of the the box. If the serial number on the weapon matches the box, you received the correct rifle for the box. Factories do fix things and send them to the range for function testing. Factories are not 100% about cleaning barrels afterwards as the assumption is, the weapon is not going to be on the shelf for long.

Based on the price you got, you ought to be happy!
 
He told me he found it sitting in the storeroom attic after all these years

It can happen, especially in some of the older, smaller shops. I got a very good deal on a gun because the seller had a shop with his dad, as well as a full time job. Well dad passed, and he got a promotion so no time for the shop, so he simply shut it down. He sold off most of his stock to another dealer, but had a half-dozen guns left so they went into storage in his basement. Time passed. His sons graduated from college, and he retired. Then he finds the half-dozen guns, still NIB, and sold one to me at the retail price from 20 years prior. :D

Another time a pawn shop was selling a Japanese made Charleville musket on GunBroker.com. Nobody seemed to want it, even with a matching bayonet and scabbard. So I snatched it up for less than half of what an Italian repro goes for these days. When it arrivesd.., it had been a wall-hanger and a lecture piece. NEVER fired.

Sometimes a blind hog finds a good acorn.

LD
 
AND some of the lib-leaning states require an FFL transfer of even traditional muzzleloading firearms. I bought a couple T/C Cherokee rifles from a friend here who lives in Illinois. My FFL in NC had to send his license to effect a transfer. His FFL had to ship the guns to my FFL due to IL state firearms law.

Its spreading.........
 
AND some of the lib-leaning states require an FFL transfer of even traditional muzzleloading firearms. I bought a couple T/C Cherokee rifles from a friend here who lives in Illinois. My FFL in NC had to send his license to effect a transfer. His FFL had to ship the guns to my FFL due to IL state firearms law.

Its spreading.........
Of course it is. Illinois, California, New York and others are test beds.
 
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