Has the driven shooting community fell out of love with the classic old English side by side shotgun, or is it just progress? I sincerely hope not.
I remember as a young beater (some 20+ years now) on the Ragley Hall Estate being “Told off” by my Uncle for starring and giggling at the various attendee guns. The ludicrous comb overs, red noses, un-cool attire and bizarre dialect. Each sentence being followed by a variety of strange chortles, quaffs, snorts and “Yay yah”. In short the typical “Toff”, nice but dim Tim. A little harsh? Not so, when I liken myself (at the time) to another Harry Enfield character, “Kevin”.
However, regardless of the entertainment they provided me as a young adolescent (with a fetish for loud Bermuda shorts); the one thing I noticed and admired were the shiny well looked after shotguns.
These shotguns were nearly always an English side by side made by the usual suspects; Boss & Co, Purdey, Westley Richards and Holland & Holland. The beautiful wood grain of the walnut stocks and the intricate engraving that wouldn’t be out of place in the worlds best Art Galleries.
These pieces of art provided much of the elevenses conversation over an obligatory sneaky tipple of Sloe Gin. Maybe a little bit of one up man ship occurred from time to time. However one thing for sure, all of the guns were proud to be using Great Uncle Jims hand made Purdey or the over indulgent purchase of a pair of Boss & Co 16 bores from Bonhams (A purchase that “her in doors” would probably never know about).
On so many shoots I attend today I’m the only gun using an old English side by side, normally a T Horsley & Son made in 1890 or one of my other pieces of History/Art. Most of the shotguns being used wouldn’t be out of place on most clay grounds. Mass produced, laser engraved long barrelled lumps of metal and wood with no soul and no story to tell.
Surely the sport is more about the heritage of the tools employed, the banter and the new friends you acquire than using a mass produced precision engineered lump to hit a previously out of range bird.
Having carved myself (and continuing to) a reasonable career as an Interim Manager http://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevenjameshorton I’m lucky enough to be able to participate in a sport I love.
I have recently toyed with the idea of becoming a part time purveyor of old English shotguns, have I missed the boat? Where has all the sport gone, surely an old English side by side is the tool of choice for any sporting gentleman? I’ll happily cultivate a suitably hilarious comb over if it brings back the use of real shotguns!
26 October 2011 by , 0 comments
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