I think the point was the use of the term "best".
What is the definition of "best"? The one usually stated is that a "best" gun is one combining the best materials and manufacturing quality that a maker can muster. Well, maker A doing well below his "best" can outbuild by far maker B doing his utmost, so which gun would be "best", the one made by A or by B?
There is a more serious and quantifiable aspect. Bruce Owen, former Purdey production manager, wrote in Shooting Sportsman that since the advent of CNC machines they were forced to use modern and superior steel grades, not the old carbon steel, for actions. The old steels cannot stand the forces applied by thenew machines, he wrote.
SO the new generation Purdeys with this improved steel would be described as "bester" since the pre CNC models were "best"?
See the difficulties with this "best" label now?
Last edited by Shotgunlover; 03/14/15 05:24 PM.
