Alexander L. Johnson said:
I never made any mention of these guns being crude, I just said they made use of old parts. I know of one Southern rifle from the 1700's that did exactly that, not crude either. All I'm saying is that parts were not wasted, what practical arguement can you present that would say that a gunsmith in any region, would have thrown away an older barrel that might only have required freshing out when the alternative was either to purchase a new barrel or make one by hand. Simple logic dictates that if a barrel, that with a little work could be made to shoot like new and look like new, why go to the expense of getting another when the client would just have to pay more for it anyways. Why would a rifle built around an older "reworked" barrel end up being crude? If in the end you can make a product that works, and looks good to boot, with a cheaper (however not low quality) component than why wouldn't you?