Shooting Times & Country – 07 August 2019

Gunmaking

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 33

agomaynotholdthesamereputation

now.A craftsmanofwhomyouhave

notyetheard could become the next

bigthing.

It is theethosoftop-qualitywork

thatis distilledtoapprenticesthrough

thegenerations,combinedwithnew

ideasanddevelopments,thatkeeps

handmadeEnglishgunsat the top

ofthegunmakinggame.

Thetraditionalself-openingside-

by-sideoriginatedwithFrederick

Beesley’spatenteddesignthatwas

boughtbyJamesPurdeytheYounger

in1880,whomBeesleyhadpreviously

workedforasa stocker.Manyof

today’sbest-qualityover-and-unders

areinspiredbyJamesWoodward’s

patenteddesignof1913.

Tomorrow’sgiants

Butenoughaboutthepast,let’stake

a lookat thepresentandpotentially

thefuture,at today’stalented

craftsmen.Thesesolomakersand

smallprovincialbusinessescould

bethegiantsoftomorrow.

Thereis aneclecticpoolofhugely

talentedindividualsthathaveput

inthetime,commitment,blood,

sweatandtearstotraintheirhands

anddeveloptheirskills.These

gunmakers,mostofthemat least,

willhaveworkedforthebignames,

apprenticingwithtopBritishfirms.

However,liketheirpredecessors,

suchasyoungJamesPurdey,

HenryAtkinandStephenGrant,

theyweregrippedbya desireto

workforthemselves,intheirown

environment,totheirownrules.

Somewishtogetawayfromthe

hustleandbustleofLondonlife,

otherswillmakethejumptoset

upontheirownbecauseof

aspirationstohavetheirname

ontheguntheystudiously craft

andtirelesslytoilover.

Buttheselonewolvesdon’t

leavetheirskillsat thefactorygates,

theytaketheirknowledgeand

artisan talents with them. Lee

“Thetruevalueof

a gunis determined

byhowit was

made,notthename

engravedonit.The

quality remains”

ownsuccessfulbusinesses.Henry
Atkinspentseveralyearsworking
forPurdey,beforemovingtoWilliam
Moorethentradingunderhisown
name.Hekepta linktoPurdey,
engraving‘HenryAtkin(From
Purdey’s)’ontohisguns,promoting
himselfasa BestLondonmakerby
usinganalreadyestablishedname.
Herewehaveanexampleoffour
generationsofgunmakinggreats,
startingwithEdwardNewton.
Thoughnota recognisedname,
he taught his prodigies the skills

andtechniquestocreatetheguns

ofqualitythatwe marvel at today.

Spotlight

Thisshowsthatastimepasses,names

willcomeandgo;theywillemerge

intothespotlight.Whenthenewkid

ontheblockputsforwardhisideas,

theeldersmaystepbackintothe

historyledgers,contentthatthey

haveplayedtheirpartindeveloping

andprogressingthetradetheylove.

A namemaybetemporary,

a maker that was famous 100 years

Perfectingtheir

craft:AlexTorok

at Smith & Torok

TheF. T. Bakergun

providesRachel

Draperwith‘pure

delight’ on the peg