No, I believe H&R was the first - with a break open muzzleloader nearly 40 years ago. There has been a lot of "copying" since. And that design was based upon a break open shotgun which was probably based upon ???

Sort of a dead horse.

Lee, the issue of recoil is exacerbated by a poorly fitting stock. The Winchester 94 in 30-30 is hardly known as a recoil demon - but it is on my cheek. I would rather shoot a .338 Win Mag in a bolt action with a decent stock design. You have your likes and dislikes and some of the rest of us have ours. I will take an Accura over anything comparable that TC offers, and an Apex over the rest.

Or is it the American made thing? I can actually sympathize with that feeling but one has to consider value.

I have not been blind to CVA over the years. They've only recently started making anything that I regarded any higher than trash - but they are for dern sure making some nice rifles now.