When your foreground is that good, you can coast a little on the background.
Most original American longrifles I have seen are pretty much the same as this German rifle, more or less, mostly less. However, there are some, a very few, original rifles that were for special people that exhibited a level of fit and finish like we currently see in contemporary carved and engraved firearms.
The more original guns I examine and work on, the more I am impressed with the idea that the original makers just had the attitude to roll with it. They would make the best of whatever screw-up they made. They wouldn't start over. They would patch up, if they could, and move on. A small slip or goof was just left. Even on a rifle that looks very nice overall, you will find lots of these things if you look hard enough.
Not that I would ever do it, but I should almost pay customers to bring me original guns for repair and restoration. I learn so much from the experience. You can take a gun apart and see how the original maker went about creating it, what problems they had, and how they responded to them. Mostly, I see all the same mistakes that I make, even on nice guns. It has served to make me much more relaxed and workman like about my work. I just make it, and if it isn't perfect, fine, nothing is going to be. If I screw something up, no problem, I fix it. Finally, don't sweat the small stuff. It is the overall impression that is important. Oh, and everything does need to fit, including fitting the customer, and work properly.
Even the work on originals, if it is not finely engineered or finished, it is neatly done. I don't know if I can really explain that. I will try with an example or two. On a rifle I am restoring now, the barrel channel, for most of its length was planed out over size in a sort of elongated "O" in order to not have to fit up the flats of the barrel. Only the last two inches or so of the breech and muzzle had the flats fitted. However, the rounded out section of the barrel channel was still smooth, even, and straight. The flats that were cut were neatly and precisely done, tapering out the rounded out section of the channel. This is the norm on almost all the rifles I have examined. Inlets are almost always neatly cut and bottoms leveled even when not seen under the patchbox, toe plate, or side plate. That is because that is part of securely fitting the mount. You don't see a lot of gouges and tear outs. They were using SHARP tools quickly and neatly to do only the work that mattered for function and external appearance. There was a balance going on and it is clear that for well trained gunsmiths there was an expected level of quality, seen and unseen. It is not the same as today, but it was not sloppy or careless work. I aspire to the same standards.
