I think that could be saying that most of our country went to the hardware store to buy their rifles and shotguns before they went to the "top shelf" offerings of the big name makers like Savage, Winchester and Remington. Marlin, which I happen to appreciate, may have embraced this reality perhaps more than anyone in their offerings by the 1930s. Maybe Mossberg fits in there too but I haven't really paid too much attention to that make Although I will say Mossberg managed to do something huge that Winchester wasn't able to do - stay in business.
