The Brits in general seem to have done a better job of maintaining their guns. They practiced preventive maintenance. Once the season was over, it was back to the maker for anything the gun needed: reblacking, recutting checkering, pretty much anything and everything. As long as it didn't take the gun out of proof.
A lot of Americans, on the other hand, viewed guns more as tools and didn't worry much about them until they broke. I've never owned an American classic of high enough grade to know whether that also applied to really expensive guns . . . although I now own an Ithaca Flues 4E 20ga that looks to have been pretty well cared for, but with an issue or two that will need attention before the gun ever sees the field.
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