Like them yes! I find that the price is absurd though. I always thought almost all lever guns should be takedown by design in this day and age.
With the advent of air travel I think the idea of standard models in takedown form should have become more common then they are and not at the insane markup either.
Likewise as cars have gotten smaller and will continue too again a compact package for transport makes a lot of sense.
In my life time since 1973 the only thing the industry has really focused on is how can we cheapen the production process. In almost zero cases not passing any saving on to the customer at all. If not for the handful of truly skilled gunsmiths just about everything great about American made firearms would have disappeared from the earth. Even then prices have gone through the roof even though I know that the workers are not reaping the whirlwind of those insane price increases in the last 20 year. At the same time quality control, fit and finish have declined to an all time low you would have to look at WWII and WWI production in non-USA locations to find such abysmal fit and finish that is the norm of today.
Lastly look at how easy it is for 20 or 30 companies to all disappear because of hedge funds and over leveraging of assets by the companies and short selling by the by these mega conglomerate like but not limited to the Freedom Group. A diverse market place with sound and modern marketing, product integration and conservative money management with out the Keynesian economic model!
We need a return of skilled trades, apprenticeships, strong manufacturing base and a system that encourages it's employee's to innovate if it means leaving the company! It is not just about the good of the company itself obviously that is fantastic but what is good for the industry , community, the customer and the state and the country.
America is made great by our focus on the individual history has proven this to be true. That said sometimes we cut our own throat to spite our stomachs by not joining together to do what is best for the many outside of extremes! It should not take a world war for us to pull together for what we all need for prosperity at each level. I do not mean this as a partisan thing either because that is such a limiting point of view. I think Maslow Hierarchy of Needs applies to people of all beliefs, companies, villages, towns, cities, states and the nation.
Imagination, Hopes, Dreams, Hard Work, Adventure, Opportunity these are the things that inspired Americans and those that wanted to become Americans for hundreds of years! Even when we were just a collection of colonies!
God Bless Gunsmiths and Machinist and the advanced tinkerer!
