Actually the 721/722 Remington were considered the end of civilization as we know it by some. Here's a quote from the the 1958 issue of Gun Digest by then well-known writer Bob Wallack: “The motto at Remington these days…is ‘all for production,’ so their rifles are designed for ease of manufacture and to sell at a certain price. Every part that can possibly be banged out on a punch press is banged out on a punch press, much to the sorrow of any real gun bug. Such methods do not affect the handling qualities or functioning of a rifle, certainly, but neither do they add up to a gun that a guy’d want to own with pride.”
Before the 721/722 was the Savage 23, and a bunch of other "cheap" rifles that often are now considered classics. Just look at the price a "nice" 722 in .257 Roberts or a 721 in .300 H&H brings these days.
American mass manufacturing has always been aimed at providing the average customer a functional product at a good price. In fact that's one of the basic principles of capitalism. And now we're bitching about it.
