By the late 1860's the materials, designs, and craftsmanship were available to make robust guns, guns that would endure long chronological time spans and endure many, many cycles of the action. A very pedestrian boxlock can be expected to give prolonged service if it is well maintained, not abused, and meets with no misfortune. For all guns, there is a certain element of "luck of the draw" for wear and breakage of parts. There was probably a lack of durability in the extra cheap JABC and bottom end USA made guns. I don't know of a Brit made conterpart to these.
I have very little concern over the reliability of most any gun. The parts that are likely to wear of break are easy enough to fix. If I correctly determine the current condition of a gun, then I should discount it sufficinetly to be able to afford to repair it when something wears out.
All collectables , guns included, are subject to pricing according to scarcity and desirability. Very few top grade guns were made in America. Many, many Americans want them, for whatever reason. Ergo, the price is way out of line with natural utility; the gun may well be worth the price as a collector's piece, but not as a shooter. Birmingham boxlocks are plentiful relative to the number of people who want them. Their price relatively low. I don't know of a single collector who runs a rest home for tired old Burmmies. There are a lot of collectors who run "museums" of high original quality guns.
Getting in a snit over American vs British guns is a waste of good snits. They simply are not comparable; they are shot and collected for differing reasons.
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