Pappy,
I'm totally "D-O-N-E" with "anything" interchangeable..."ever again"! My luck has been 100% with all of it...100% "BAD". Thompson Encores, Contenders and the like have proven a nightmare for me. Never happy with the groups. Never happy with the stock configuration. Never happy with the eye relief...Never happy...."AND"...It just ain't T/C stuff.
I had a Colt National Match 45 and an "Ace" 22 L.R. conversion unit. The 45 shot like a ball-a-fire. You install the Ace coversion and the groups sucked! I wound up selling the Ace conversion for enough money to but a Colt Woodsman / Match Target...and it shot one ragged hole! Now I have 2 complete pistols that "both" shoot.
I had a Ruger 22/22Magnum convertible. The 22 Mag would group and the 22 L.R. wouldn't. I sold that revolver and bought a Colt Diamondback in 22 L.R. and another in 22 Magnum. "Both" shoot better than you can lie about.
OK: You get my drift. The final straw was my custom T/C encore in 45 caliber (muzzle-loader). I tried loading by pellets, Black powder by weight, black powder by volume, Pyrodex by weight, Pyrodex by volume, Shockey gold by pellet, weight, and volume. 100 grain / 120 grain and 150 grain loadings for "all of the above". This was over a course of "2"...count them "2" hunting seasons. I contacted T/C and they told me it was due to the forearm and I bought a fix for that...Same result. Then they told me it was due to too much "cheek" pressure on the stock!!! "WHAT"!!
That was it..."SOLD"...and I ain't lookin' back. I'm sure other folks have had good luck with everything I have mentioned above...Great! I ain't gonna' try again. I like bolt-action / straight-shootin' rifles. I have way more money in the stuff than the law allows...but we're now talking about long...L-O-N-G range shooting. If it ain't one hole at 100...It's a clean miss at 1100-1200 yards!
OK: Rant over. Thanks anyway Mike.
Best, Capt. Chris