Fieldsports Journal Magazine FS Essential Guide to Game Guns Special Issue

The Fieldsports Essential Guide to Game Guns is 148 pages of the finest guns from both the UK and the Continent, the gunmaking process and advice from top instructors on choosing a suitable gun.
Gunmakers boast individual attributes, and many have a unique history that can be traced back over centuries, with design innovations that have moulded the sporting gun industry as we know it today. This bookazine explores these trails. In England, there are a handful of London names with unrivalled heritage and provenance such as James Purdey & Sons, Boss & Co and Holland & Holland, whilst abroad, the likes of Browning and Beretta are indisputably two of the most influential gunmakers of the 20th century. However, Boxall & Edmiston and Perazzi are evidence that generations of gunmaking ancestry aren't always a necessity...
It seems that there has been a real shift to buying high-end over-unders, especially with the increasing popularity of high bird shooting in the West Country, Yorkshire and Wales. Being successful on these stratospheric birds requires confidence, good technique and, crucially, the right gun – big and heavy, but well balanced and a comfortable fit has become the preferred combination. Chris Batha puts a selection of high bird guns to the test at Brigands, as well as addressing the side-by-side versus over-under debate, and Richard Rawlingson considers the vast over-under options.
So, when the decision is made to buy the right kit, then it is essential that the gun looks the part, and as Chris Batha discovers, the artistry behind the making of a Best gun is a truly fascinating display of intricate hand craftsmanship.
And for those who prefer to pursue average-height pheasants, hedgerow partridges, or speedy grouse, buying guns has never made more sense and the options are terrific – AYA, Rizzini, Miroku etc. And now, with such sophisticated machinery, guns are made to a consistently high standard. Long may it continue.