Mike, I'd probably be regarded as a socialist if I moved to the US, I believe most Swedes would... ;-)
Hunting in Sweden is something that all social classes have done for a long time. The Swedish farmer has always owned his own land and from the Viking age through to modern times he has been generally more free and had more rights than his counterparts in Europe. But he was poor, the last famine in Sweden was in the 1860-ies when the Bourgeoisie of Paris sent money to the poor suffering people of northern Sweden. (Over one million Swedes emigrated to the US during 1870-1820) So what you say about poor Mexicans and wing shooting also applied to Sweden. My late grandfather born in 1899 was notoriously cheap when it came to rifle ammo, only using the 6,5x55's he "borrowed" during his time in the army during World War 2. He also owned a Husqvarna 17 or 20, can't remember which, and a Swedish rolling block rifle in 12.7x44. His farm was situated just 10 miles from the Husqvarna factory.
In the southern parts of Sweden (Scania) an around the capital Stockholm there are many stately homes. There a more English or continental style of hunting with more wing shooting became fashionable among the landed gentry during the late 19th century. There are much more good quality vintage German guns, rifles and drillings in Sweden than British ones. The taste in guns was certainly more Germanic than Anglo-Saxon, and German guns were more choked than British ones. But wing shooting is and was a very marginal form of hunting in Sweden.
Another proof of shotguns treated as rifles are the many Aimpoints, Docters and Redrings sold to Swedish hunters to be used on thier shotguns today.
