Well, lets lay it to rest with some data.
My 1891 W.C. Scott Premier Ejector was retailed by Read and Son of Boston for $275 in 1890, probably around $400 in 1891 post Mckinley tariff act. It is best quality in every regard. Weight and balance are flawless.
Could anyone provide a equivalent game gun made for the American market that approaches this quality and price?
At that time, America was making dime store guns and some pimped out competition guns for live bird shoots. Nothing near that price range or labor level.
As a non-sequitur, I find all these claims that Americans were the best shots to be bizarre. Annie Oakley laments in her letters that she was an abysmal shot with her LC and other guns when she arrived in England and attempted Brit pigeon shoots. It was only after Charles Lancaster (Thorne) built her a fine pair of guns and mentored her for months that she could do what hundreds of Brit competitors could. She was awestruck by the difficulty of British shoots compared to the American ones she was most familiar.
Hence, these points don't really support the ongoing narrative of this thread very well.
Last edited by Rookhawk; 04/15/13 09:38 AM.
