Merkel’s New Model 40E
Although members of the Merkel family have been making shotguns in and around Suhl as far back as the 16th Century, as Editor at…
Fine Guns
William & Son Sporter
The William & Son Sporter shook some of my core beliefs—mostly those about not really being an “over/under kind of guy.”
J.P. CLABROUGH
By late 1863 J.P. Clabrough was listed in San Francisco’s business directory. He may have spent time in California’s gold country too, as records show he owned shares in a Tuolumne County mine.
Magazine “Cover Model” Up for Auction
This image of a Hartmann & Weiss round-bodied self-opener won us over and became an eye-catching symbol of all that a handcrafted fine gun can be. If you like shotguns, this photo can hold you mesmerized by the gun’s perfection — wherever your eyes fall.
Greener’s “Watershed” Moment
Aside from the unique marketing moniker engraved on its rib it’s a pretty standard FH35 with a replacement stock, a few dings and a modest price.
A Pattern of Success
It is the sheer quality of Teague’s thin-wall choke tubes that has seen “best” gunmakers offer them on their new guns. And we’re talking about big names like Purdey, Boss, McKay Brown and Westley Richards, to name a few. Since the company was established, its chokes have been fitted to around 27,000 guns, so they are well proven.
Julia’s Sporting & Collector’s Auction
James D. Julia’s fall auction will, for the first time, offer a sale day for shooters, collectors and gun nuts of more “modest” budgets.
The Christian Hunter
Currently the Christian Hunter line includes a boxlock side-by-side and a sidelock over/under, and plans call for a falling-block rifle in the near future.
William & Son’s New Shop
Much has been written about the death of retail, but William Asprey of William & Son has been quoted as saying that there will always be a future for stores that treat customers as “individuals.”
John Frederick “Jack” Rowe (1936 – 2015)
Jack Rowe, the Birmingham-born-and-trained gunmaker who had practiced his trade in the US since 1982, died June 12 at home in Enid, Oklahoma.
Ian Crudgington (1925 – 2015)
In mid-June the British gun trade lost one of its most knowledgeable and enduring craftsmen with the death of Ian Crudgington.
The Art Guns of Verney-Carron
French guns of the 17th and 18th Centuries displayed a superlative elegance and style that gunmakers of other nations sought to emulate. French firearms…