And as a journeyman craftsman, I'm a bit disappointed that another ten minutes of hand labor wasn't applied. Sometimes, that's the difference between confidence, and a joy to behold. Still, it's an extra bit of enjoyment for me, as I go over the item, and spot those areas that will benefit at least me, knowing I lavished some unneeded TLC on them.
The extra study and labor that goes beyond the Marine's Rifleman Creed makes it more than a tool, and more of an extension of your mind, just like your eyes and ears. I am not my eyes and ears, but would be much diminished without them. Same for any weapon I take into my heart and mind.
Modern weapons are designed for minimal skilled fitting, because those skills and crafts are scarce and expensive. I can trust my life to those designs, but I will always gravitate towards the ones I put hours, weeks, or months of my life into, if possible. The Creed says, "my weapon and I are brothers". For me, my weapon is just a handsome piece of design and craftsmanship when in the rack, and becomes an extension of me only when I use it. It's just kind of hard to comprehend the difference until you try it yourself the first time, or buy a custom-made weapon that someone else built for you.
I thought everyone stripped, honed and polished the sear and trigger points of their own personal weapons just as a matter of fact. Then as I grew older I learned that some people are perfectly satisfied with the store model. Why that is I don’t know but I do know that some people will buy a car or truck, drive it everyday, get the oil changed on schedule, never wash it and sell it when it becomes too expensive to operate. Me, I always change the tires, sometimes the wheels, add a winch and a ramp. I just continually mess around until I figure it can’t get any better.
I guess there will always be the them and us divide no matter how large or small the crowd is.