The Field – August 2019

WWW.THEFIELD.CO.UK 91

andKenHuntasinspirations.Togetherwith
the engraving, the blacking, finishing and
chequeringforthepairareallcarriedoutin
EnglandbyEvans’teamofoutworkers.
I asked Evans’ then manager, Alastair
Phillips, about recreating a similar pair of
guns.“AWilliam Evansbest bespokeside-
by-side sidelock, which is made to order
and hand-crafted solely in the UK, costs
from£47,000andtakes 24 to 30 monthsto
reachitscustomer.Butif you’regunningfor
a quicker,lesspricyoption,thenewPallMall
is yoursforabout£15,000andcan be deliv-
eredwithinjustfourmonths.
Andthenewowner’sverdict?“ThegunsI
orderedinFebruary 2017 arenotanoff-the-
pegpair.Inadditiontothelengthyprocess
ofdesigning andexecuting the engraving,
allthefinishingwascarriedoutinLondon.
OnarrivalfromSpainthegunswentthrough
anexhaustivetweakingprocess:theywere
re-jointedandtolerances adjustedtoper-
fectbarrelfit;firingpinsandlockpinswere
rebuilt andreplaced.Following engraving,
plates and furniture were case hardened;
Teague chokes were fitted; barrels were
‘best’ blacked; trigger pulls and ejectors
regulated; stocks and fore-ends were cheq-

ueredwitha higherdensityoflinesperinch

than isstandardandthewoodall‘best’oil

finished. Finally, the stocks were fitted

withleathercoveredpadsandthegunsre-

assembled. Given the hybrid manufacture

andcraftsmanshiptothepair,patienceand

monitoring of the project was essential.

“Ironically,thegunsweredeliveredon 1

February 2019 andI waspositivelytwitch-

ingwithanticipationasI prayedforstrong

winds over the pigeon-roost woods and

cutmaizestrips.I couldn’tmaketheopen-

ingSaturdayrooston2 February.Monday

though was a slow office day, and after

lunchI strodeintoa littlefirwoodwiththe

No1 gunchoked½and¾anda pocketful

of cartridges.Afewpigeonbegantoflick

acrossthewood,notpausingtocirclebut

arrowing in from height, wings folded.

Finally a bird crossed high to my right;

theguncameintotheshouldernicelyand

swungthroughhisline. Hecrumpledina

mostsatisfactorymanner,and a couple of

handfulsmorefollowed.

“The guns have performed beautifully

onbothroostanddecoyedpigeonsthrough

FebruaryandI’mlookingforwardtofurther

sportingworkoutslaterthisyear.Thewhole

projecthasbeena wonderfuljourneyfrom

starttofinish,if I wereaskedforadviceto

offeranyonetakingthesameroute,it would

betomaintaincontactwiththemakerand

followallaspectsofthebuild.That,andstart

earlyenoughinlifethatyou’ll enjoy the guns

for many years to come.”

Above:shapingthestockintheGrullaworkshop

Left:thePallMalleasy opener that was chosen

byourreader

Farleft: beautifully engraved with moorland scenes

Advice? Maintain contact with the

maker and follow all stages of the build