I cannot read Ray's mind, but I can offer my thoughts.

The rifles are of a good, and interesting design. They look nice, or as JB would say they have "sex appeal".

Buying through Champlains gets you a life time warrenty.

However, they do have some quality control issues. Some parts of my rifle were not finished properly, and I have heard similar complaints from several other hunters in France. Their customer service in France really sucks (you only get a three year warrenty in France actually), and they are rather rude to deal with if you have problems.

The difficulty with Chapuis in my opinion is not the design, but at times the execution. They need to work on their customer service and their quality control.

Having said this, I really like my rifle, and in general I do like Chapuis.