AS WITH food, art and much else, when it comes to firearms, there is just no accounting for taste. Much can depend on the influence of parents, mentors and friends, or books and articles on the subject, or it can simply come down to personal preference.
I grew up in Natal, historically a British colony, and during the 1950s it remained very English, so I cut my teeth on classic British side-by-side shotguns. Since then, I have never been able to get excited about over-under designs. The sporting rifles we encountered were pre-WWII bolt-actions by Jeffery, Cogswell of African rifles. Not so the hunting rifles emerging from Europe these past few decades. Likewise, the synthetic-stocked, ‘naked’ stainless steel jobs emerging from America evoke little aesthetic pleasure, though I applaud their many practical advantages.
