Well, this thread just won't die. As noted, steel has gone way up, there is only so much that modern eqipment can do on some designs. The larger problem is that there are fewer places to shoot, the younger population is forgetting rural roots, if they ever had any. Farms are mostly corporate holdings, with only seasonal type workers instead of the old family traditionals.
If, (when) Cerberus sells off Freedom, will it be a bloc sale, or will it fragment into the individual companies? H & R would have a hard time standing alone, even Marlin/H&R would with the factories being reloacated. Given a Zillion bucks, someone like me could make a selection of barrels, improve a few things, and go broke doing it. Everyone here gets one free barrel from me. That is looking back through my rose colered glasses at my "hero" companies (levers, single shots, and double shotguns). A problem noted on, of all places public radio) is that guns are very durable, so it is hard to make someone need or want another.
