See my edited prior post which crossed your latest post.

You may well be right on the issue of the gunmakers concern about the top lever guns but the customers wanted and some needed the ease of reloading. I'm not so sure that the trekkers and ivory hunters were more accustomed to the shotgun; but they ordered their riffles hammerless and toplever!

No doubt the Jones underlever is a very strong design,many of which have stood the test of time, but how fast a gun comes off face has much to do with how well it was built in the first place. Replacing the pin or otherwise putting a gun back on face after years of use is no burden either. After the trigger has been pulled the first time all guns are somewhere along the journey to rejointing.

On the shooting issue, I hope your confidence matches your performance, even the best aren't 100%. Remmember too that most fatalities in Elephant hunting are caused not by the elephant which has been shot but by a companion elephant. Would hate to still be reloading that Jones underlever when Askiri comes storming through the bush!

My thoughts on what could be an eternal debate between a guy who owns one type of rifle and loves it and another who owns a different type and loves it equally!

JPK
PS I do hanker for an old BP double with a Jones underlever and hammers too!