Is it me, or is the D35 taking a bit of an unjustified kicking here?

It’s not perfect, but nor are pretty much any of the 50s/60s/70s sporters.

Webley Mk3, beautiful finish, questionable handling, heavy trigger. Don’t start me on the Hawk/Osprey.
HW35, porous breech, poor internal dimensions. Silly barrel on the “E”.
BSFs, punchy, but mediocre finish, trigger that self-adjusts to unsafe over time.
BSA Airsporter, some cheapy bits. Quite poor by the time of the Mk4/5.
Milbro Dianas…
Etc.