"--- handling grace as being hand made."
Good "way with words," pod. By now, I'd think most on this board would understand that "balance" or, to quote pod, "handling grace" to suit a current owner would be as much an accident of good fortune as for the stock to properly fit. Certainly,oth stock fit and handling can be modified to fit a current owner --- for either a machine made or hand fit gun.
IMO, the mystique of the "hand made gun" stems from the true superiority of a closely hand fitted gun to an ill fitted gun, whether hand or machine. Currently, machines can make parts that fit closely "enough" to make a very, very robust gun. Aerospace materials and machining have seriously surpassed the strengths and fits needed for mere guns. The "goodness" of any gun depends on the materials it is made of and the properness of fit, whether done by a talented machine or gunmaker. BTW, there are formalized classes of part fit (see Machinery Handbook or similar) ranging from "sloppy" (running fits where there is likely to be a lot of foreign material) to press fit (a bearing race onto a shaft). The class used depends on the materials and operations. Gunmakers of old learned how the fit should feel for the various parts and fitted them to this feel.
DDA
