The admiration of old things is fully understood. It is a great pleasure to take an old gun apart and see the thought that went into its design, the marks left by the craftsmen that built it. No argument on that score.
However, we can do the same good work today, if we want to (and that is a big IF)with modern machines.
Why CNC has not brought down the prices? Bruce Owen, production manager of Purdeys in his article in Shooting Sportsman 14 years ago posed the same question and answered it by throwing the ball onto the marketing departments. The implications are shocking. to me anyway.
Ribs are an abomination. When I mentioned the tinning it was not to imply there is something better. These strips that do nothing but provide a hidden recess for rust are not needed. Alex Martin built ribless guns, the French Darne is usually seen with no bottom rib. The Boss OU had no top rib. There are modern alternatives, ie removable light weight strips that can give any rib shape the shooter wants yet be light and removable so the barrels can be inspected and lubricated.
Go to artsgunshop.com and watch the rib relaying video. It is sobering to realise that rust can start to eat your barrels unseen between useless ribs.
The one undeniable quality of the older well made guns is their handling and elegance. Personally I do not care for makers' names, engraving or figured walnut. I have handled so called second tier guns, like Midland, Osborne, Leech, Horsley, Martin etc that had handling equal to any London top three. I believe this handling and "bespokeability" is reproducible, especially now that CNC machines are widely used and can be programmed to incorporate slight variations that would make a shotgun fully custom. An example is Perazzis CNC stock making. But we are not quite there yet. Most makers use the machines to maximise "efficiency" in turning out indifferent shotguns.
