shoobe01
Member
Sterling was the last one to get the dies and jigs. It's always been my understanding (from friends and relatives who have been things like tool and die makers, as well) that they wear out. Others have said for decades they even knew the production setup needed to be updated, and didn't for costs. And this was not necessarily the best timeframe for British industry, QA may have failed to stop the guns that needed rework to meet quotas or just out of ennui.
The Sterlings I have seen mostly had lots of play between upper and lower receiver, extra loose handguards, stocks didn't lock up firmly, etc. I failed to buy a couple a few years after I sold my Howa and finally had money to have more than one rifle at a time, and passed on them because of the quality.
Others were... not. CM and Howa guns I have seen (mine, and others I have not been able to buy or not been able to afford) are as loose and rattly as AR15s, so: essentially not at all. No notable play in any of those parts. My Howa gun had maybe a 1/2° of play in the right side safety lever, and that was all that I could find that wasn't nearly perfect. The scope mount was perfectly RTZ, for example.
The Sterlings I have seen mostly had lots of play between upper and lower receiver, extra loose handguards, stocks didn't lock up firmly, etc. I failed to buy a couple a few years after I sold my Howa and finally had money to have more than one rifle at a time, and passed on them because of the quality.
Others were... not. CM and Howa guns I have seen (mine, and others I have not been able to buy or not been able to afford) are as loose and rattly as AR15s, so: essentially not at all. No notable play in any of those parts. My Howa gun had maybe a 1/2° of play in the right side safety lever, and that was all that I could find that wasn't nearly perfect. The scope mount was perfectly RTZ, for example.
