When I was a little boy my Dad used to take me to his friends gun shop in New Rochelle, NY. I often think of the dark wood and the deep blue/black of the steel on the firearms I saw in the shop. The fit and finish was impeccable and they all seemed a work of art. Im afraid that artistic quality has been lost on the guns produced today, except on the very high end custom shops. The labor costs and environmental issues are partly to blame, bean counters and lawyers probably make up the rest of the problem.