I know that the Fireball hardtail is a superior product -I can see that from Fireballs videos. And one day I would like to own a Fireball hardtail. But I grew up with RECORD vises -and they are very good -they built them for a very long time, and they knew what they were doing. They offer good performance to cost. I do get annoyed that you frequently compare grey cast iron Record No. 6 vises, that are / were marketed as affordable mechanics vises, with your hardtail -the nearest equivalent is the Record No. 112 which is made of ductile iron and marketed as an ‘engineers’ heavy duty vise. They are now made in China and the fit and finish, does not seem to be as good as the old ones -especially on the slide ways which will probably not help friction when clamping, and the core alignment for the mounting bolt holes seems to have shifted on mine also… but if they do actually follow the original heat treatment and material specs, it should hold up better than a No.6. Obviously the Hardtail will still beat it -and so it should for the cost and material weight -and of course good design, research and development!
I hope you do a performance test of the Record No. 112 and at least give Record a fighting chance! Love your products and the whole ethos behind them! -I will own many of them one day!