Clear design objectives help. Here is an attempt to build a spartan SXS, neither boxlock nor sidelock, but offering the feel of a best gun at low cost:
http://www.oplognosia.com/english/sideBySide.phpBear in mind this is a PLASTIC prototype. Some who saw it assumed it was a working gun and went on a rant crticising it as if it were a finished product offered for sale. Some details, like the opening lever and monobloc are test ideas.
The design process starts with three basics, the barrels axes, the steel characeristics and the pressure curve of the load to be used. Everything follows from there. The action is fitted to the barrels, in the design stage, even though the barrels are the "consumable" part during the gun's service life. Sounds mysterious but it isn't.
