The factory made guns in general have some oddities, but they are great for getting started, especially if you can get one use at a decent price. We paid next to nothing for my pistol since it was put together from a kit it looked like and someone had lost the forend cap screw, and it has been a lot of fun and plenty accurate for my purposes. It had some gas leak at the bolster, but that was easily fixed with some red Loc-Tite on the threads and properly tightening it down. If that fails, I may have to just replace the bolster, or I've been considering getting a vent liner and Pedersoli flintlock to allow it to convert both ways or maybe just use it as a flintlock exclusively. Have you found your flintlock to provide reliable ignition? I know some other imports have had issues with lock geometry, poorly centered vents, etc.