Re the British being outgoing businessmen and thus their goods conquering the world etc.
Atually they slapped on punitive import duties on imported goods in the colonies, while British stuff was tarrif free. That kind of gave them an edge. Having been borne in a colony I experienced the situation first hand.
In shotguns this meant that walking hunters resorted to mid quality English guns, like Midlands et al, based on prototypes developed for static driven shooting.
But even favorable tarrifs could not save the day, when more suitable Berettas, Bernardellis and Saint Etienne shotguns finally made it to the market place. Same went for cars, Austins were good, but Citroen DS, Opels and Lancias were way superior and got market share even at higher prices.
