bsteele, the article was in the Shooting Sportsman, and it was a signed piece, not an intnerview, by Owen who was the production manager at Purdeys. I doubt that he was full of it. In his article he explained the advantages, technical and financial of using CNC machine. One financial advantage being the avoidance of "stock guns".
The part that shocked me was a question posed by Owen himself, when he asked if the cost cutting obtained via these modern means would be passed on to the customer. "that is a question for the marketing department" he wrote. The implications are obvious.
JohnfromUK, I tend to agree, the quality is not a primarily a technical thing. Sure, a quality shotgun must have a minimum of technical quality, but beyond that is that "feel" both in overal balance and in the manipulation of the gun, how it opens, closes, how each part works. However, even best makers are not consistent in offering that "feel", one of the best handling SXSs I have come across was a Henry Atkin, as was one of the worst, and they were both sidelocks of the same grade and same period, the 1930s.
