Robert I can come up with one gun that had a bigger impact than Flues. The A-5. In fact had the head of Remington not died just short of his meeting with John Browning I suspect that Remington would have become Brownings maker for the rest of his lifetime. Winchester had long lived off the Browning patents and had bought many which they never even produced just to keep them off the market. Browning wanted a royalty for each gun made and Remington was willing to give him that. Both would have made millions.
Emil was very talented, but John Browning was the Einstein of gun design in my book. How many of his guns are still being made today? How many of his designs of his were in production for 50 plus years. A-5, all the Winchester designs, Superposed, machine guns, BAR, pistols, you name it. It has to be close to 20. Find another designer who has three.
Every body wants the high end business it is like the lure of big breasted, good looking ladies with huntable land. Just too few for us to all be happy. Fact is that there is not enough high end business to go around and it is often split up so much that no one can survive off it. Every town had one banker and two or three other rich families which might have been a market for a high end double. They also had 500 other families with less money who were a market for a lower priced gun. I would rather sell 500 than three guns. Smart business plan, smart management and the only way to stay afloat in the gun business. Had Emil had his way Ithaca would have folded in months if not a few years.
