Parker design is overly complex. I prefer a clean simple design but as 2-piper notes the internal finish level may have been required because of the design. It is not a superior design, not a Best gun in the British sense at all. It is what it is. A solid reliable gun capable of giving decades of service. But for that matter there are several others as well. I like Fox and Lefever, my son likes Remington 1894s and a small bore Smith I gave him.
Internal finish was always done only to the level required for function in America. Extra labor, to go past that point, was just loss profit and profit margins were always thin on guns due to cheap imports and the invention of simpler repeaters. Repeaters never took over the market in Great Britain like they did here. Remington got out of the double market early to make repeaters, then Winchester followed. Ithaca remained in both markets the longest. And I have not forgotten the Model 21. It was the personal pet project of the person who ran Winchester and I bet sales of repeaters made it possible from a money standpoint.
Truth be told there are no real American best guns except for a handful of the highest custom made high grade guns. Call it 1/2 of 1% to be generous. Where Boss, H&H and their equivalents were almost all Best or near best quality.
