Shooting Times & Country – 07 August 2019

Gunmaking

Wealladmire thegreats of gunmaking— but unknownartisans can

buildyoua superb gun ata fraction of theprice, saysRachel Draper

I havelearnedmyappreciation

ofqualitygunsfrommyfather,who

hasalwaysaspiredtoowna London-

madeBestgun.Hecurrentlyshoots

witha Boss,I shootwithanF. T. Baker.

Twoverydifferentguns,butboth

beautiful,elegantandverywellmade.

It wouldbewrongtocomparethe

twowithouthighlightingthefactthat

ThomasBossis admiredasoneof the

bestgunmakersinthe world.

Puredelight

However,whenit comestothe

enjoymentofa dayonthepegwith

anEnglishgun,myBakerprovides

mewitha senseofpuredelightthat

wouldn’tbeimprovedby a more

distinguishedname.

Sincethebeginningofthemodern

gunmakingtrade,established

craftsmenhavetakenonapprentices.

Everyonehastostartsomewhereand

theseapprenticesoftendeveloped

intotalentedgunmakersthemselves,

withcuriosityandanambitiousdrive

tobethebest.Thisis how the trade

has developed.

I

s it importanttohavea well-
knownnamedelicately
chiselledontoyourgun?For
someShotsit certainlyis.It
canbea symbolofwealthandstatus.
Forothersit mayhavelongbeena
dreamtoown‘thebestofthebest’,or
perhapsit is theguaranteeofquality
that’stheoreticallysynonymouswith
thefamousLondongunmakers.
Buthigh-endgunscomewith
sky-highpricetagsthatmany
peoplesimplycan’tafford.Butthe
realityis thatlotsofpeoplecould
afforda handmadeEnglishgun,of
exceptionalquality,if they looked
beyondtheM25.
Wheninvestingina gunfromone
ofthebignamesyouarepayingfor
thebrand,thefactory,theshopand
thesalesteam.Bygoingdirectlytoa
smallermaker,oftenanindividual
who’sdevoteda lifetimetolearning
theartofgunmaking,youarecutting
lotsofthosecosts.Asgunandrifle
finisherIanSweetmanputsit,“the
branddoesn’tcreateanddevelop the
A. SYDENAHAM / D. HADOKE / TAYLORMADE PHOTOGRAPHYproduct, the craftsmen do”.^

32 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

In 1780 JosephManton,arguably

themostprominentmanin

Britishgunmaking,startedoutas

anapprenticetotwosmall-time

provincialmakersinGrantham,first

JohnEdsonthenEdwardNewton.Not

muchis knownaboutNewton,other

thanthathetrainedfourofthemost

influentialgunmakersoftheGeorgian

era,JohnTwigg,RobertWogdon,

JosephMantonandhisbrotherJohn.

Newtonis describedinTheField

as“aprovincialgunmakerwhose

onlylegacyappearstohavebeenthe

workershetrainedwhosubsequently

tookhishighstandardswiththem

toLondon”.OnceMantonleftthe

guidanceofNewton,heworkedwith

hisbrotherandmadehugewaves

withintheindustry,sellingthefinest

flintlocksfromhisHanoverSquare

premisesfortheastronomical price

of 70 guineas.

Mantonemployedandtrained

makerssuchasJamesPurdey,

ThomasBoss,CharlesLancaster,

WilliamMooreandWilliamGreener,

all of whom went on to establish their

Name tag or price tag?

GeoffWalkerrespectfully

handleshisJoseph

Mantontubelock,made

in the early 1800s