Marks21:
You don't have to agree with any of it, as it's not an "all or nothing" situation. The change-over from hand-made to machine-made didnt't happen overnight, it was a gradual process that likely took a slow and winding road to finally evolve. There was no "internet" then and they weren't dealing with "Gen-X" workers. I'd guess that as skilled workers aged-out, processes changed as newer (and younger) folks took their places at the bench. The big shift really didn't seem to occur until after the 1913 event, and even then it would have taken some time to impliment. And, while you're right about the low-percentage of Graded or higher-end guns being produced, that doesn't mean they had to stop using the better or more-proper processes on the more-expensive guns. Modern firearms manufacturers have "custom shops" and I'm guessing that the folks at Fulton did as well. I'd also bet that they did as good a job as they could until the older "talent" was no-longer available. I've seen some post-13 graded Smiths that were still pretty impressive. The Field grade guns might have suffered from the mass-production process a bit earlier, but even in the Field grades that I've seen & handled, there are some pretty decent examples & they're out there still, even from the later years.
Last edited by Lloyd3; 03/17/24 10:11 AM.
