I know that technology is supposed to make things better,,,,,,,,,
With rifles in general,,, they now tend to be lighter which should be a good thing for carry/stalking etc.
The steel is constantly evolving which also should be a good thing.
But,,,,,, the quality in general nowadays has fell away in varying degrees,, sometimes to absolute sh!t levels.
There may be some brands that still present good quality,, but alas, seem few and far between.
I've just plucked a general number and reckon the last twenty years has seen the worst of the decline.
Remember when you used to be able to go to a firearms store and physically pick up any of the average well known brands of rifle ??
The moment you held it in your hands,, you could not only see quality,,,,,,, but you could also feel it.
Then,,, throw it to your shoulder and cycle it.
It would generally be smooth and silky.
The "average" stocks back then mostly had some interesting and nicely configured timber.
Now, most all of that is gone.
The timber stocks are lighter in weight,, and nowhere near as dense.
Flat uninteresting grain with zero character.
And the finish is quite often not even complete,,,,,, with the surface not filled properly resulting in whisker grabbing that is downright annoying.
Most of the timber also I sometimes wonder whether it really is "walnut" even tho they may say that it is.
If you get a scratch, it quite often shows a totally different and pale timber that has only had the barest possible amount of stain.
Even the checkering is mostly (if not all) laser cut, and feels terrible.
The steel machining and fit up is generally atrocious compared to rifles made prior to twenty years ago.
It is not uncommon these days to find magazines that refuse to feed at all or have awkward inconsistent feed.
Rough surfaces and pockets of shavings, grit etc from manufacture still evident.
Recoil lugs that are a very poor fit is all too often as well.
Triggers are usually very heavy (probably a by product of the sue sue sue mentality)
And a lot have poor ability to be adjusted properly,,,,,,, which is evident by the prolific amount of aftermarket triggers and spring kits on the market.
I recently compared my old Sako 75 to a brand spankers new Sako 85.
The bolt in the 85 was sloppy and rattled compared to the 75 which (even allowing for age and wear) was smooth and no slop.
The stock was less dense by far compared to the 75
The 85 felt terrible (no quality feel)
The timber had straight, dull, and downright boring grain,,,, whereas the 75 has dense timber with grain that you only see now from custom stocks.
Sadly I have noticed that these issues are apparent in quite a lot of brands across the counter in general.
Even those that are considered to be sort of "top shelf" brands.
Where will it all end ?
Overall the general quality of rifles are terrible these days.
I do not fear death itself... Only its inopportune timing!
I've come to realize that,,,,, the two most loving, loyal, and trustworthy females in my entire life were both canines.