In 66 years, I've handled more guns than some, less than others, but think I have a pretty good sense of "feel", as in, it feels "good", or it feels "warm". I have some old shoes like that. They may have been like any other, when they were off-the-shelf new, but now they look like I want them to look, feel like I want them to feel, and slip on an off with ease.
I enjoy the gun shops where you can take anything down and handle it, or even walk out the door to swing it at an imaginary target. Some of the new European doubles feel super, others feel like new shoes. I still see NIB Reproductions, and on occasion will heft one. I don't think any of them have the correct stock profile, especially at the heel of the butt. The radius is much greater than either a Meriden, or Illion gun. There is a resonance in the gun that transmits to the hand when you close it up. Not there for me in a repro, but I may just be tuned to a different frequency.
I had an old Benz diesel wagon that I bought when it was five. I drove it for years, and 300+K miles and lament the day the new owner drove it off. I could have replaced it with new, albeit only recently in a diesel, but I didn't.
I don't have to own something to appreciate it. I went over to CSMC the day after Christmas to exchange my new bore and choke gauge with one that had a micrometer barrel whose threads were more like a machine screw and not like a wine press. The one they sell is a copy of the old Chubbs gauge from England. They had one that worked OK, but before I left, I hefted many Parkers, and gave the Remington commissioned AAHE a good look-over. I spent a lot longer fondling a 230,xxx range AHE 20 with 30 " tubes. They both had eyeball appeal, but the 20 was warm. Sometimes a copy, however good it looks, is just a copy.
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