Maybe a better point is what percentage of British or American guns were built as best guns? I think we built less than 5% as best guns here. Might be as low as 1%. Our lowest grade is about the game keeper level but built in truly large numbers. It’s the mid range guns that I think the Brits out built us. Both as lesser known makers, provincial makers or second or third quality guns. Also the British gun trade was a almost endless creator of improvement up until about WWI. Lefever was as well but most of the other may have ended up with only a few model changes from inception to end of production. In part that was because we picked the most successful designs to copy, not invent.
Dynamics of a gun can be vastly difference and to some extent a personal choice. Quality in all but a small number of guns seems to be better in British guns. I’ve seen the inside of my British locks and my American locks. Fit and finish goes to the UK on internals.
John does make the observation right now you can buy extremely high condition major name double guns for about 20% of the cost to have them built today. And mid range guns are going for far less than that. Guns are scrapped because all but the most simple repairs are not economical. He went over a mid priced gun that needed a bit of tidying up. To do it on the cheap was 2K pounds and to do it right was 7-8K pounds. This in a gun which would sell for less than 2K if pristine. Sad truth is most doubles are going to sell cheap and suffer from lack of proper repairs. It is a buyers market.
So I give them credit for great guns but anything that is electrical, refrigerators, or daily driver cars goes to the US. Oh and dental care we win as well. Politicians are a bad draw with both sides wishing their own into their enemies. Rumor is Brits learn to enjoy warm beer because Lucas still makes all controls on what would be refrigeration if it ever worked.
