2 cents here. I purchased a first time T/C ML and it looked great in pictures; just what I wanted. When I unboxed it, it still looked great plus the barrel was in excellent condition. Very happy. I then couldn't wait to spend at least $10,000 on all the "stuff" I would need to shoot it (little did I know). Then one day in the sunlight, I noticed a formerly unnoticeable hairline crack from the breech to the screw on the opposite side of the lock. Hmmmmmmmmmmm, so I took it to my gunsmith and he said that he could fix the crack by taking the barrel off and putting a screw inside to stop the crack and then glass bedding the area. $100.00. I called the seller's shop and told him what happened and would he be willing to share the cost. He told me no, but I could ship the gun back (at my expense) and he would give me a full refund; but I still loved the gun?? So now I have the cost of the gun, the original shipping cost and a reshipping cost to send it back or keep the gun and have the gunsmith fix it for $100. So I decided to keep it and pay $100. He fixed it and said "it wasn't going anywhere"; which I assumed it wasn't. At that point I decided to just shoot PRBs so as not to give it too much stress by trying to shoot conical or whatever. Then after doing some shooting, I took the barrel off and noticed there seemed to be some holes on the edge of the bedding around the breech on the lock side. Being "new" to ML, I determined that they must be some sort of VENT HOLES??. Then one day while I was sitting under a tree in the snow during deer season, I wondered what the walnut stock looked like beneath the factory sprayed finish which was somewhat orange and didn't fill in the grain? Maybe I should get the stock refinished I thought. I sent it off to have that done and then got an email that said, "those holes were part of a long crack in the bedding that was maybe 8" long. OK. Well, being that I still really "loved" the gun, I had him epoxy and fix the holes and crack. Once that was done, I had him refinish it for more money, and after several weeks, he then sent it back. It was beautiful curly walnut and what a great job he did.. But then when sighting it in, I found that the elevation screw on the rear sight wasn't working and I needed to get a new screw to fix it. After weeks of searching, and I mean searching, I found that the screw did not exist in the world anymore. Gone! ##*&$@$@3##%!! thought I, (looking back on what I had spent so far), was all of this for a gun I couldn't shoot anymore?? And what would my wife say if I ever decided to tell her that I bought a muzzle loader??? Then after calling TOTW, they said they just got in a completely functional used rear sight that would fit my gun. $85 later because it was considered "rare", they sent the sight (not including shipping). I then had my very rich gunsmith install it for $40. My point for Big Sky is, unless you REALLY, REALLY, love that gun, send it back for a refund. Trying to get compensation for this or for that, is going to start to ---- off the dealer. Plus, suppose you do come to a financial agreement and you work it out, but then you find something else you hadn't planned on or didn't see, what then? Good luck. And do I still really love my gun? Of course.
