There is one category of gun that the British made very well, the refined properly made single shot.
Not the rough gamekeeper type, but refined single shot guns made for people who hunted but were not invited to shooting weekends.
The balance and handling of these overlooked English singles is unrivaled. That is one category where I would concede that the English makers outshine the rest. But the ledgers show no lords or earls as the original purchasers, hence no cachet for these guns. Most of these singles are hammer guns but there is nothing rough about them. Every internal part is finished to high gunmaking standards. I have yet to see equal work on singles from any non English makers.
As the owner of a hammerless single shot J&W Tolley, I would concur.
