The hardest part of the entire article for me to believe is that all those mentioned Winchesters were "Over Engineered". Good guns Yes, but exactly what is "Over Engineered" anyway. Even the much maligned '93 Mauser buried its case up to the extractor groove while the cone breech of the model 70 left virtually the entire solid portion of the case head hanging out in the open. no they don't have a reputation of blowing off case heads, but the Mauser design certainly has a higher built-in margin of safety in that aspect. The Browning designed rear locking system of the Lever action Winchester has proven reliable for the cartridges for which they were chambered but if modern higher intensity cartridges are tried to be used then case stretching becomes a problem, "Over Engineered" Hardly!!. Etc, Etc. Over Engineered & Ergonomic are two highly overused terms IMNSHO.
PS; Look at all the Black Powder proofed Damascus bbl'd guns which have many years later passed Nitro Proof, perhaps they were all "Over Engineered".
Last edited by 2-piper; 06/06/09 10:07 AM.
