You nailed it. “Bought out in the dry years and run by a bunch of suits in a boardroom.”
They did their MBA routine. Lot of US companies have been ruined by them and their complete lack of respect for the reputation of the product that made their company into a household name.
Browning, Marlin, Winchester, Weatherby, Remington...all bought out and what we cherish are the ones handed down to us.
How the heck can someone screw up a Marlin, or something from John Browning? They figured out how. Cheap materials and cost-cutting quality control.
No worries. Those original guns are still good fifty, or a hundred years later.
...and the MBA types typically dont understand how to run a company by putting Quality out in front of everything else.
The list of companies run out of business by these so-called “business executives” is long and illustrious.
when emphasis is constantly placed on short term profits, and appeasing your shareholders...your company WILL suffer. Guaranteed.