I probably should have left the social commentary out of it, maybe I an just jealous of the tweed jackets!  But is difficult to explain the observation without some reference to sociology.  The observation is that the air gets pretty thin in the rifle market above 4 or 5 thousand dollars.  At that price the double gun guys are just getting going (new & used!).

The people at Shiloh have demonstrated that you can make and sell good quality rifles in volume for $2,500.  No one else has been really successful above that to my knowledge.  I don't have anything against Ballard, in fact I wish them every success.  I am just suspicious of any business plan involving selling high end rifles.

if anyone has checked out safari prices and esp big game trophy fees 
you'll find that it really a big boys game. yet there are enought people with deep pockets to keep the booking rates up. i wonder if these people have more money than brains . or is it a desire to "excel" and put a big one on the wall.

just recently an elephant was taken with a 45-70 and there is an sci record holder who hunts with a muzzloading rifle and has put a lot of animals in the  record book. but the category " taken with a muzzloader " has few entries and i suspect many of those categories were set up to accomodate this front stuffer.

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I agree completely. Plus, the birds don't usually involve either actual extreme physical exertion or actual extreme physical danger, two conditions that many of The Leisure Class seem to find at least moderately distasteful if not downright bourgeois, or 'common' as we say here in the South. My, my, the very idea!
I beg your pardon, my reverse snobbery is showing, Joe

Brent, I wuz snidely comparing a quail hunt or pheasant drive (shotguns) with a Kodiak hunt or elephant control (rifles). Last time I checked, bird hunting wasn't very dangerous unless you were hunting with Vice-President Cheney (ouch! & VBG).
Regards, Joe