Howdy Hey Jim,
Yes, absolutely right. The first six that LD built by hand in his garage were called "Simple Simons" He sold them by an invitation he made to some of the top shooters in the US at the time for around $1,000.... Just to prove that the USA could make a top quality air rifle too. Those shooters did very well, some winning championships in the first year they shot them.
That inspired Tim to mortgage his house and have some parts made to start production. Tim had the barrel blocks numbered, but also he had a lot of color choices, so customers were asked what color they wanted which messed up the numbering as far as timeline that the guns were made. No way do the numbers mean they were built in that order. I think that he still hasn't built more than 300. I'd guess more like 250 or so.
Simple is the key word for sure. But also durable. The barrel block is huge compared to any other air gun I have ever seen. It's so strong it securely free floats the barrel with incredible strength and durability. The simple clamping system locks the barrel completely with bolts, (not little set screws), with no possibility of moving... but at the same time, it's really easy to index the barrel and change it if you want. If you want to get the most accuracy from a barrel, you have to index it.
You can NOT index a barrel if it has a transfer port, unless you add a thimble of sorts, which adds more parts that can leak. Almost all air guns have transfer ports cut into the barrel. That is a spot that can disrupt or scar the pellet as it is pushed over it. And in most cases the air has to do a very sharp "U" turn to get behind the pellet to push it. A USFT hits the pellet directly behind the pellet with a better flow of the high pressure air.
On a USFT, you can see the end of the barrel.. Did I load a pellet? Flip open the swivel breech and check... can't do that with a gun with a transfer port.
Simple is better... just the facts mam.
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