I'm with noKnees...a high percentage of the improvement is in components...and the lion's share of that is bullets. I have a friend who had the use of a Juenke machine for a weekend, shocking what he discovered. Some of the old hunting bullets were terrible. (a few of the new hunting bullets are terrible) And, in 1970, how many of us were match prepping, measuring and weighing? Now everyone can afford a runout dial indicator, a tubing micrometer and so on. Only the benchresters did that stuff. Let's not forget the operator and his optics, who had a 36X scope back then? I never even heard of a ladder test until 2005. With the interest in long range, we as consumers have demanded precision, and some manufacturers have tried to comply.
Are rifles better now than in 1970? I don't know...they are different certainly. But, having a small machine shop and many years experience...to me, when a manufacturer ballyhoos: CNC MACHINED! the warning flags go up. It all goes back to the machine, it's operating tolerances, quality control, accuracy of the D.R.O.'s controlling the machine. I am waiting to be impressed. So far my opinion is: CNC gets rid of skilled labor which make widgets cheaper to make. Which means guys like us can go buy an accurate rifle without the divorce.
