tinker. That`s a very good point - gunmakers `ripped-off` each others designs continually. I don`t think that there can be much doubt that Anson & Deeley and W.W.Greeners were innovators though. W.R.Pape is now universally credited with inventing choke boring - you can ignore any patent dates re. that subject. Up until the advent of the modern hammerless gun - and for a few years before - there was probably more innovation from French gunmakers than from any other country. After the British hammerless gun appeared its` `form` gained almost universal acceptance and was `copied` just about everywhere. French gunmakers continue/d to offer individual designs however. The Belgians were never great innovators but were the best in the world at recognising a good design and actually manufacturing it.
Mehul Kamdar and I have recently been discussing how honest Italian gunmakers are at acknowledging the inspiration for their guns - just check-out the websites - but the same can`t be said for gunmakers in other countries - `Oh look, another German Greener............`
500Nitro. I cracked-up at your mention of `Mexican Rigbys` - a classic. There`s an obvious reference to the Spanish built actions there. As far as I know the derogatory `Mexican` term first came about when Fender started to make cheaper guitars in Mexico. Funny how there were never any derogatory comments concerning the quality of the Japanese built Fenders................
For the California Rigbys to gain acceptance their quality had to be at least as good as the `proper` Rigbys and preferably built on a copy of the original actions. A `downmarket` Rigby is a contradiction in terms.