In an effort to "improve" the Mauser rifles and actions bought from Germany, English gun makers resorted to a bizarre set of alterations, typically having to do with the bolt handle knob. They were bent 90 degrees or replaced with an ebony knob, in large part I think to create a distinctive point of recognition for the maker.
Those makers seemed to cling to the notion that a bolt rifle should be taken down from the shoulder and cycled between shots. None of the English makers that I am familiar with made a bolt rifle which was particularly easy to cycle from the shoulder, unlike the pre-War American made rifles such as the Newton, the Winchester Model 70 and the Remington Model 30, and converted military rifles done by Owen, Hoffman, Niedner and Griffin & Howe and others of their ilk, the Lee Speed being the exception which proves the rule.
I have always felt that English makers regarded bolt action rifles the way American makers regard bolt action shotguns: an inexpensive expedient, not worth spending a great deal of time beautifying. Not to mention the "Not Invented Here" prejudice which attached to most of them.
