with all my deepest envy:
I have seen what some Swedish has done about building vintage Harley motor parts, and now I see this...
...something in your water, maybe ?
Sweden has a long history of manufacturing and metallurgical prowess dating back to no later than the Viking era. Their artillery barrels are without peer in the world, and the US is a major customer when it comes to purchasing Bofors steel barrels, some of which are used on the AC-130 40mm Bofors gun.
The reason is that you had a very tough, sea-going people with access to the oceans and seas, who had a propensity for exporting violence in a manner that saw their influence spread across European, Mediterranean, Black Sea, and even North Atlantic coasts. During their adventures, they even named one of the largest land areas after a Viking warlord named Rus, modern and ancient Russia owing its name to him.
Most of the truly warlike Swedish peoples left Sweden and migrated to a new land of opportunity free from Lutheran State-controlled oppression, and have called America their home for a century and a half or more. Andersson, Eriksson, Johansson, Karlsson, Nilsson, Mansson, etc. are common Swedish names found all over the US, especially the Midwest Great Plains and Rockies. Most have been Anglicized as they spread to the British Isles and US. Many of you reading this have a Swedish last name, for example.
The hard winters basically weeded out all the lazy and not-so-smart people for centuries, until heated apartments came along. Guys like Spuhr are some of the holdouts.
