Not for Nothing,
@Ontario Hunter, and while everyone is entitled to their opinion and designs they like, IvW is a Professional Hunter in Africa, so I would lean towards his point being accurate and not unfounded. Iron sighted bolt guns with a straight bolt that protrudes a little more will be faster and easier to manipulate under stress than one which is swept back. It also moves the bolt handle a little further from the trigger finger so when firing from the hip at a leopard who you didn't see until he was springing from 6ft, or when a wounded Brown Bear in the alders comes knocking, you lessen the risk that you break your trigger finger. They will require medium scope rings usually, but that's a sacrifice to make the bolt function more reliable.
The barrel band sling swivel mad8mme sense when all rifles sported 24" barrels and, when slung, a rifle so configured sits with the muzzle about head height and doesn't catch on high twigs as much. carry muzzle down solves this, but also risks filling the bore full of mud if the carrier slips.
The features on dangerous game guns all have/had a very practical purpose. Nowadays, some of them might be "fashion" but they still serve the purpose they were developed for 140 years ago.
What are people smoking? Are the people who buy this stuff (Assuming they exist) literally under the impression that old world craftsmen hand file each of these from a 100lb chunk of meterorite, then hand polish them with a cashmere rag and diamond dust while throwing logs of Macassar Ebony on a fire to stay warm?! If they were made of solid Silver maybe.... (wouldn't hold up well under recoil). Anyone who's paying $9k for scope rings and bases, has no concept of what it takes to make something like that (with a CNC no less). Thats a joke. Conspicuous consumption is all it is. I'd pay $9k for something that was ACTUALLY hand made... but these aren't. Tool and die makers make more complicated parts to much higher precision and much higher quality all the time and it isn't $9k.
