Britain: The Great Makers
The argument can be made that one need look no farther than the United States to find a shotgun of glory, but the truth is that whenever fine-gun aficionados gather, the talk always turns to those shotguns made across the pond. We’ve seen that American-made shotguns are heavy and, while hand-assembled, are not really handmade, and both are distinctions that separate two people already separated by a common language.
During the Golden Age of shotgunning in Britain, from 1880 to 1939, British shooters preferred to have their guns custom-made. Those of lesser means most likely bought a shotgun for rough shooting, shooting game while walking cover behind a pointer or setter. A British shooter may also have needed a pair of shotguns for shooting driven birds. Although it was essential to have two guns if a loader was used, many of the shoots didn’t use loaders, and then a single gun sufficed.
In the case of fine shotguns, British, Scottish, and Irish craftsmen built shotguns just as tailors made fine suits. The shooter was carefully measured, and then the gun created for him. Included in this was the choice of cartridges, with the chokes being bored and patterned to exact percentages, using only those cartridges. During the Golden Age, shooters routinely purchased their shells—more properly, cartridges—from the gunmaker who made the shotgun. Many gunmakers loaded the cartridges they sold, while others simply got them from Eley or another ammunition company, with the gunmaker’s name on each shell and on the box. Whatever the source, the standard British cartridge is 2½ inches long and loaded with ⅞, 1, and at the most 11/16 ounces of lead shot. Heavier loads of 1¼ and 1½ ounces of shot were intended for waterfowl hunting. In either case, the bespoke shotgun was designed and made around whatever cartridge the gunmaker suggested or the experienced game shot requested. Because these cartridges were predictably light, British guns are also light in construction and weight. American gunmakers weren’t so lucky. Although some manufacturers offered proprietary cartridges, the average American shotgunner stuffed his shotgun with whatever ammunition he could get; hence, American-made shotguns are heavier and more ruggedly constructed.
Lest one feel that these lighter British guns might not be up to the task, I own a Henry Atkin that shoots as well today as it did when Mr. H. B. Duryea, Esq., took possession of it in 1900. It’s all a matter of the care and feeding.
The list of British gunmakers is extensive, and no attempt will be made to cover each and every maker here. The late Geoffrey Boothroyd’s extensive reference book, Boothroyd’s Revised Directory of British Gunmakers, lists hundreds of individual gunmakers. Some were simply suppliers of gun parts, including the incomparable Joseph Brazier, whose locks are found on Purdey and Henry Atkin shotguns, and many other fine guns. Even so, the fact is that there are hundreds of gunmakers, and one cannot possibly touch on them all.
The British gun trade is divided between gunmakers in London and Birmingham, and those in Scotland and Ireland. One of the problems with British guns that can catch the unsuspecting buyer off guard is the difference between a London-made shotgun and one made elsewhere in the Empire but carrying a London address. It’s an easy problem to overcome, since London-made guns are proofed at the London Proof House, and those from Birmingham and elsewhere in the Birmingham House, and each has its own unique proof stamps. I once owned a William Jackman Jeffrey shotgun whose rib bore the prestigious 13 King Street, St. James, London, address, but the proof marks showed that it was made for Jeffrey in Birmingham. The same occurred with a composed pair of Mortimer & Son shotguns. The address was Edinburgh, but the guns, as the proof marks showed, were made in Birmingham.
If you think I’m attacking the Birmingham gun trade, I’m not. The truth, however, is that London-made guns bring higher prices than those from Birmingham, and the address on the rib must be corroborated by the proper London proof marks. In use, and in practical terms, there probably isn’t one bit of difference in how guns from either place shoot, but having a London-made gun does possess a certain panache.
JAMES PURDEY
Perhaps no other name in the gun trade possesses the charm and allure of James Purdey. The company’s shotguns are all handmade, and have a unique delicacy that is attributed only to the very best. Certainly a devout Holland & Holland man would throw down his gauntlet and challenge that assertion, but regardless of personal opinions, James Purdey is probably the most respected name in the business. If it were not, it would seem superfluous that William Evans and Henry Atkin would have gone to the extra expense of adding to the engraving on their shotgun “From Purdeys.” The Purdeys took exception to their name being added to competitors’ guns for the purpose of self-aggrandizement, but that’s how it was. Purdey even sued Evans, but the judge determined that since William Evans had in fact worked at Purdey’s, he could rightly say that he was indeed “From Purdeys.” That lore aside, the fact is that practically any James Purdey shotgun will retain more value than virtually any other.
The entrance to James Purdey & Sons on South Audley Street in the fashionable Mayfair district of London. Said to be the makers of the world’s finest guns, upon examination, there is little to refute this claim.
Although one can order any amount of embellishment, most Purdey shotguns are very restrained, in true British style. The standard engraving pattern is exquisitely executed, tight rose and scroll against beautifully case-hardened sidelocks, all set off against deeply figured, dark-finished English or French walnut.
It all started in August of 1798, when James Purdey entered into an apprenticeship under his sister’s husband, Thomas Hutchinson, a stock marker. When his 7-year apprenticeship to Hutchinson was complete, young Purdey took a job with Joseph Manton, the father of the modern shotgun. It was Manton who perfected the double shotgun, and by the time James Purdey joined Manton in 1805, Manton was considered England’s premier gunmaker. There is some question about exactly when James Purdey acquired his own premises—Purdey’s states it was 1814, other evidence indicates it was 1816—regardless, it was the beginning of a dynasty whose reputation for making fine shotguns and rifles is uncontested. The company was ruled with a firm hand from the earliest days. The author Michael McIntosh once noted that “A similar intolerance for anything less than perfection would characterize every Purdey generation.” That intolerance has led to Purdey’s reputation for being the very best. There exists the notion that Purdeys are less than hospitable to those simply looking and not seriously buying. At one time that was true, but in September 2009, my wife and I dropped by Audley House, and we were warmly received. We were shown several beautiful Purdey side-by-sides and over-and-unders, and were told that today the sporting guns, mainly over-and-unders, were made so that they could be delivered in a few weeks from stock. Without our prompting, we were then led to the historic Long Room where portraits of noted sportsmen hang along with mounted birds and other trophies. It is in this Long Room that customers are taken to order their bespoke shotguns and rifles, and at one time it was strictly off limits to mere mortals. In earlier days the center section of the Long Room was open and overlooked the workroom below, and it’s company lore that members of the Purdey family more than occasionally looked down to be sure the workers were diligently working. Nigel Beaumont, the current managing director, dropped in and cordially greeted us, and later in a chance meeting on the street recommended a fine pub for our lunch.
Purdey’s famous Long Room that was once the office and was open down the middle so one of the Purdeys could observe the workmen below. It is here that clients receive preliminary fittings and specify their requirements for a bespoke Purdey’s shotgun. On the walls are photographs of famous clients and other ephemera from past decades.
On a tour of the existing London gunmakers, one would see workers filing, fitting, polishing, and machining various parts and partially finished guns. Yet it has been common practice from the earliest days of the British gun trade to acquire parts from various sources, then meld them into a finished gun. Few companies bored their own tubes; they were instead acquired in rough form, both inside and out, from noted companies such as Whitworth, Bohler, and Krupp. Actions were often filed in-house, but could have easily come from another outworker, as they were called and paid under that category. In many instances, stocks were made by one craftsman, actions by another, and the barrels filed by another, as the gun was shuttled back and forth across London by messengers until nearly complete. It was finally finished in the workrooms of the gunmaker whose name would be engraved on its action and barrels. Joseph Brazier is perhaps the best known of these outworkers. He and his descendants made top-quality locks for virtually every premier gunmaker, and they appear across the board on quality sidelock guns.
HOLLAND & HOLLAND
Joseph Manton died in 1835, but his legacy was safe. In that same year, Harris Holland opened his tobacco shop at 5 King Street, Holborn, London. He was a tobacconist and excellent shot, his shop was frequented by shooters, and many urged him to become a gunmaker. In 1840, Harris Holland became a “gunmaker,” but in name only. Holland in reality became a contractor who worked with the multitude of London’s outworkers to build his guns. Although this arrangement would seem to be open to the retailing theory of volume over quality, the fact seems to be that Harris Holland insisted on the highest quality, leaving the dross to others.
Over the nearly two centuries that Holland & Holland has been in business, their shotguns and rifles have been compared to and held in the same esteem as those from James Purdey as representing the epitome of the gunmaking trade. To be sure, there are others whose shotguns are Holland & Holland and Purdey equals, and some feel even better, but when fine guns come to mind, these two are the premier names.
Today, Holland & Holland makes traditional side-by-sides and a very popular over-and-under sporting-clays shotgun. Although you can purchase an off-the-rack side-by-side or over-and-under in one of their galleries in New York, Paris, or London, for Purdey and others, bespoke guns are still their stock in trade. Purdey attempted to establish a gun room in New York, but due to issues between Purdey and the landlord surrounding the installation of a secure room for the guns, the agreement ultimately collapsed, and their presence in the United States was short-lived. On the other hand, Holland & Holland has dwelt in New York for the better part of a decade. In 2004, they closed their gun room on 57th and Madison Avenue, one that shared space with several floors of very expensive clothing, and moved to a gun room–exclusive premises at 10 East 40th Street, Suite 1910, where they have a large inventory of new and used shotguns. It is here that those visiting New York, or who have a specific question or need, can go. Their inventory of shotguns runs from relatively inexpensive used boxlocks to pairs of London bests that can be ordered as bespoke shotguns.
The entrance to Holland & Holland’s London Bruton Street shop.
Holland & Holland’s factory on Harrow Road was built for gunmaking and constructed during the era of gaslights. The workbenches are arranged so that each workman’s bench is illuminated by natural light. At the time the Harrow Road factory was built, actions and barrels were made by outworkers in Birmingham, then finished and assembled at Harrow Road. In that age, the work was done completely by hand. Today, much of the rough work is done by computer numeric control (CNC) machines and by electric spark erosion machines. Although Purdey still hand-files their actions, Holland & Holland uses these work-saving methods, stating that it matters little how the extra metal is removed; rather it is the finishing that matters, and this is still by hand. These modern methods result in production-cost savings that are partially passed on to the customer, hence a Holland & Holland shotgun is priced slightly less than a Purdey.
Charles Boswell (1850–1924) apprenticed to Thomas Gooch at age fourteen. His apprenticeship finished, he became a sight-filer at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock. He began his own business in 1872, later establishing himself in fashionable London at 126 Strand. What is interesting is not the rather ordinary story of the Charles Boswell firm, but its most recent development.
The London gun trade—and the Birmingham trade too, for that matter—suffered greatly as a result of the Great Depression and World War II. (World War I didn’t do the trade any good, but it rebounded during the Roaring Twenties.) During the Second World War, many gunmakers’ shops were bombed out during the German blitz. By the end of the war, Britain’s economy was in a shambles, and a period of heavy taxation followed. The heaviest burden fell on the landed gentry, who supported much of the gun trade. As portions of estates were sold to pay taxes, and heirs were forced to sell estates to pay the exorbitant inheritance taxes, shooting began to fade. Through the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, the British gun trade contracted and contracted, until once-famous names became parts of consolidated companies. Churchill, Atkin, Grant, & Lang was one of those, and even in such a consortium could not survive.
Holland & Holland still hand-fits their shotguns to the thickness of smoke.
With the prosperity of the 1980s and ’90s, fine-gun aficionados began to believe that a market for fine shotguns existed in sufficient force to make the revival of some of the best-known names feasible. Sir Edward Dashwood, Bart., is one. He bought the rights to the E. J. Churchill name, and now operates a manufactory in the English countryside.
More recently, well-known shooting instructor Chris Batha purchased the rights to the Charles Boswell name, and has begun making exquisite over-and-unders under that name. How Batha operates is indicative of this new era of London Best shotguns.
Batha purchases top-of-the-line barreled actions in Italy, then the finishing is done in Britain, including proofing at the London Proof House. The engraving and hardening are done by British masters, and the resulting shotguns are of the highest quality and in the true restrained British style. The finished guns are breathtaking. I saw No. 1 at the Vintage Cup in September 2004, and Batha’s work was beautiful to behold.
An exquisitely engraved, inlaid and case-hardened shotgun.
Although Purdey and Holland & Holland continue to produce their shotguns in the factories their ancestors built, many of today’s “Best” guns are produced in the grand British style of using outworkers, each adding his or her expertise to the final product. Provided the basic materials are of the first order, the results meet expectations.
Today, one can expect to pay $100 to $250,000 or more depending on wood choice and engraving for a Purdey, a trifle less for a Holland & Holland—about $60,000 for their Sporting over-and-under and a shade under $100,000 for a Royal side-by-side—while a Churchill or Charles Boswell will run about $40,000. Granted, Purdey and Holland & Holland guns retain a higher used price than those from the lesser-known makers, but the newly revived names are beautiful examples of gunmaking, so perhaps it’s not all in the name.
BOSS & COMPANY
Although Boss made exquisite side-by-sides, their over-and-under is reason enough to mention them in regard to high-grade shotguns. Introduced in 1909, the over-and-under’s design was so exquisite that it is embodied in the designs of many contemporary over-and-unders. Its design essentially shared the market with the 1932 Browning Superposed design and the variations of each.
It was Robert Churchill who set down in writing his formula for proper shotgun marksmanship, although he wasn’t alone as is attested to by these and other books.
The brainchild of Boss actioner Bob Henderson, the design is the first to hinge the barrel on opposing trunnions that fit into matching cuts in each side of the barrels, just forward of the chambers. The cuts are not in the barrels but in the metal surrounding them. The barrels are locked to the action by means of bolts that project from the face of the breech and engage bites on either side of the lower barrel. Slim and sleek, the action is barely higher than the stacked barrels themselves. This arrangement allows the barrels to lie in the shooter’s hand very much like those of a side-by-side, and provides for the recoil to be directed into the shooter’s shoulder and away from the face. Furthermore, the hands lie on the same plane, which enhances the pointing aspects that good shotgun marksmanship relies upon.
E. J. CHURCHILL
Although Edwin John Churchill founded E. J. Churchill in 1891, it was his nephew Robert Churchill, who wasn’t a gunmaker but was a good businessman, who promoted the Churchill name. Churchill shotguns are beautiful specimens of the finest of the London gunmakers, and Robert Churchill saw to it that his products maintained that provenance. E. J. Churchill produced both sidelock and boxlock guns in several grades, but even the utility-grade guns were top-notch. What Robert Churchill contributed was both controversy and a system of shooting that bears his name.
Robert Churchill was a squat man, rather resembling a bowling ball with legs. He preferred shotguns with short barrels, and developed one with 25-inch barrels—named the XXV—that carried a very high tapering rib that was so narrow at the muzzle that it resembled a knife blade. Churchill’s theory was that, when shouldered, the high, tapered rib would appear to be much longer. Great controversy ensued from the other, more traditional, gunmakers and raged in the sporting papers of the late teens and early 1920s. By the mid-1920s, Churchill’s XXV shotguns were in great demand. Whether or not his XXV shotguns are the right guns for someone or anyone is a personal matter, but the fact is that they sold like hotcakes, and generated good income and cash flow for E. J. Churchill.
Churchill’s system of shooting is less controversial. Throughout the Golden Age of shotgunning, from roughly 1880 to 1939, all gunmakers maintained shooting grounds where their customers could practice, be fitted for a new shotgun, and, most important, receive instruction. Victorian society was deeply rooted in correctness, and hence it was correct for gentlemen and ladies who wished to shoot to receive instruction. Furthermore, one would scarcely think of starting the new shooting season without a refresher course to sharpen skills before the first shooting party of the year.
Victorian shooting parties were very much a part of the fabric of the nobility and upper reaches of British society. Americans also shot, but in canvas coats behind dogs, or in blinds with guides. The English gentry made a performance of shooting, with great emphasis on rules, etiquette, and good marksmanship. Dukes, earls, princes, and others who hosted shoots were known to stop the shoot if their guests didn’t perform up to their expectations. Any breaches of etiquette often brought a strong rebuke from the host, with the violator often sent packing, and, in the words of Robert Churchill, his copybook forever blotted in the eyes of high society.
Historically, fine gunmakers had their own shooting grounds. Holland & Holland still maintains theirs northwest of London. Here the author’s wife, Peggy, takes a lesson in the grouse butt with H&H instructor Roland Wild.
It was in this rarefied atmosphere that shooting schools prospered. All had their methods of instruction, but Churchill’s system seemed the best articulated. Certainly Churchill wasn’t the first to publish a book on how to shoot. Charles Lancaster first published The Art of Shooting in 1889, and Colonel Peter Hawker preceded that with his Advice to Young Shooters in 1859, but it was Robert Churchill who put it all together for the reader. The system was based on a smooth, consolidated move of the shotgun, from a level starting position to the shoulder, as the muzzles constantly tracked the target. As the gun hit the shoulder, the muzzles would be timed to be sweeping through the bird and the shot fired. Churchill maintained that no lead was necessary, but rather that the shooter fire right at the bird, and the momentum of the swing would provide the necessary lead. Most contemporary instructors discount this simplistic approach and acknowledge that some lead or daylight is necessary, but for better or for worse, Churchill marketed his XXV shotgun and shooting system. Both survive to this day. Of the two, the Churchill system of shooting is the most famous. That Holland & Holland still teaches this system of shooting with little modification at their prestigious shooting grounds just outside London bears testimony to its solid style and equally solid results.
One could go on for hundreds and hundreds of pages outlining maker after maker of London Best shotguns. The bibliography provides numerous sources to broaden anyone’s knowledge about these guns, and I direct you there.
BIRMINGHAM
There is little doubt that when comparing two shotguns of equal condition, one from a London maker bearing London Proof House marks and the other bearing Birmingham proof marks, the London gun would command the higher price. However, and it may be heresy to say so, the quality of one to the other may be undetectable. London was known for making a few guns a year by hand, while Birmingham names turned out many guns. They did this by using greater numbers of outworkers, who could each do their bit to several pieces a day. The guns were then put together into larger subassemblies, with everything finished either in the factory or by still other outworkers. Many of these Birmingham guns found their way onto the racks of big-name London gunmakers as lower-priced guns, yet still bearing the names of the London firms. The name on the rib does not always tell the story, and only an examination of the proof marks can tell the tale, and often then only part of the gun’s history. The bottom line is that while London guns are the prima donnas of the gun world, their less illustrious Birmingham cousins are often of equal quality.
Among the most famous of the Birmingham gunmakers are W. W. Greener, W & C Scott, and Westley Richards. Greener is now located in Hagley, England, and Westley Richards remains in Birmingham, although they have opened a U.S. agency in Bozeman, Montana. W&C Scott was bought by Holland & Holland in 1956, and production dwindled until the division finally shut down in September 1991. At one time, Holland & Holland made a series of boxlock guns, the Chatsworth, Bowood, and Kinmount, in the Scott factory. Those were among the last shotguns produced by Scott.
I equate guns from Greener, Scott, and Westley Richards to top-of-the line American shotguns. High-grade though they might be through engraving and highly figured wood, these are rugged, solid, workaday shotguns that seldom fail. The Greeners are quirky, in that many are fitted with the Greener side safety. Instead of the safety catch being conveniently located on the top tang, it’s on the side of the action, projecting from the stock immediately behind the action. Greener’s side safety is awkward to use until you get used to it.
During the Golden Age of shotgun making, many variations existed such as this Greener Side Safety.
One constant problem of identification is that of Westley Richards. Numerous cheap shotguns were manufactured in Belgium during this era using variations on the Richards name, most especially W. Richards. Only shotguns bearing the name Westley Richards and the correct proof marks are genuine, as the real McCoy always has “Westley” spelled out.
British guns can occupy entire volumes, and we’ve not even touched on shotguns from Scotland. John Dickson in particular made rounded-action guns that are things of beauty, and are copied by several contemporary makers. Irish shotguns can also be great treasures, if you are able to locate any.
TODAY’S BRITISH GUN TRADE
Some years ago, I was engaged in conversation with a gentleman whose passion was British guns. Becoming ever redder in the face, he proclaimed the gathering scandal of well-known British gunmakers buying Spanish actions around which to build their guns. For better or worse, many of the guns currently produced in Britain indeed use actions, and often barrels, from Spain and Italy. It’s not a major crime. In fact, many of the guns currently produced in Spain and Italy are of top quality. They lack the provenance of a London name, but are certainly wonderful shotguns. One only has to look at Chris Batha’s spectacular Charles Boswell over-and-under to understand that a London gun made on an Italian barreled action isn’t to be disregarded.
Although there are traditional gunmakers operating in and around London, the truth is that many guns are built on actions coming from elsewhere, but the fit and finish are in the hands of the maker whose name is engraved on the barrels and action, and that is in the greatest tradition of the British gun trade.
