doublegunshop.com - home
A. A. Brown & Sons http://www.doubleguns.co.uk/

Anderson Wheeler http://andersonwheeler.co.uk/

Atkin, Grand and Lang http://www.agl-uk.com/

Bill Blacker http://www.billblacker.co.uk/index.php

Boss& Co http://bossguns.com/

Boxall and Edmiston http://www.boxallandedmiston.co.uk/

Bozard & Co http://www.bozardandco.com/

Carl Russel & Co http://www.carlrussellandco.com/

Charles Boswell http://www.chrisbatha.com/index.htm

Christian Hunter http://christianhunter.co.uk/

Cogswell & Harrison http://www.cogswellandharrison.com/

David McKay Brown http://www.mckaybrown.com/

Dickson & Macnaughton http://www.dicksonandmacnaughton.com/

E. J. Churchill https://www.ejchurchill.com

Frederick Beesley http://www.frederickbeesley.org/

Gallyon & Sons http://gallyon-and-sons.co.uk/

Holland & Holland https://www.hollandandholland.com/

Holloway & Naughton http://www.hollowaynaughton.co.uk/

J. Rigby & Co https://www.johnrigbyandco.com/

J. Roberts & Son http://www.jroberts-gunmakers.co.uk/

James Purdey & Sons. http://www.purdey.com/

Joseph Manton London http://www.josephmantonlondon.com/

K P Reilly http://www.kpreillygunmaker.co.uk/

Longthorne http://www.longthorneguns.com/

Midlands Gun Services http://www.midlandsgunservices.com/

Smith and Torok http://www.smithandtorok.com/

Stephen and Son http://stephenandson-gunmakers.co.uk/

Vintage Guns Co. http://www.vintageguns.co.uk/

W. Horton and Sons http://www.hortonguns.com/

W. W. Greener http://www.wwgreener.com/

Watson Brothers http://www.watsonbrosgunmakers.com/

Webley&Scott http://www.webley.co.uk/Pages/home.html

Westley Richards. https://www.westleyrichards.com/

William and Son https://www.williamandson.com/guns

William Evans http://www.williamevans.com/

William Powell http://www.williampowell.com/
NOTE: This list is imperfect for the following reasons:

1) it includes some companies who are gun traders or gunsmiths rather than gunmakers in the strict sense of the term. But they all will make you a bespoke gun if you come to them, I believe.

2) this list is website-biased. That is, I take the presence of an active web site as indication that the maker in question is willing to work with customers who come to them from the street.

For this reason, it misses a number of gunmakers who do not feel it necessary to advertise themselves online (I take it they mostly work for the trade).

It also misses some names that are recorded as gunmakers, but whose web sites are not active. Example is Charles Lancaster. This is deliberate.

BOTTOM LINE: If you have a name to add or to remove to this list, please don't hesitate to comment.
Another note: the list does not include bespoke stalking rifle makers. This is, as I found out, a world in itself.
Very nice. I am sure many will find it useful.

Thanks,

Pete
Humpty: Webley & Scott no longer exists as a BRITISH gunmaker. The Turks apparently bought the name. That's where the guns are being made.
Pete M - thank you very much!

L. Brown. Webley & Scott is as British as Wm Evans, Churchill, Powell or anyone else who has their guns made outside the island. If a company has headquarters in Britain, British management and a Brit as gunmaker-in-chief, I can't see what makes it unBritish.
Christian Hunter is selling guns made in America by CSMC (Connecticut Shotgun). Not a British maker. Guns are designed and developed and made in America....Hunter just takes the orders.
canvasback - thank you for your input. But, again, "having guns made by the trade" is an ancient tradition, and in the modern globalized world I don't think it really matters what country the trade is in. My definition of a "British gunmaker" is a shop in Britain where you can go to and have a gun made for you. Like I said above, if I list Powell, Evans and Chirchill, so I ought to list W&S and Christian Hunter as well.
With respect Humpty, you and I differ in our opinion of what makes a British gun maker.

I spent 30 years in the footwear business, during the time of shifting factory locations, from NA and Western Europe to lower cost states around the globe. A shoe made in China or Viet Nam or Indonesion is still a "American" product given that every facet of its design and choice of materials is all controlled by Nike or New Balance or whatever company contracts for that production. The same factories may make shoes for the home market but no one would ever confuse the two products.

Hunter doesn't design or make the guns. Doesn't test them. In fact, Hunter proclaims their American origins and cites and uses CSMC trademarks. To me, that's an American gun, not a British gun.
Well, there's a point in what you say. I'll have to check if Christian Hunter guns say "Christian Hunter" or "CMSC" on the barrels. If the latter, he's off the list.
Don't mean to be picky. I really like the idea of having an up to date list. I appreciate and read with interest all your efforts on this and other subjects.
Thank you!
You can add J Blanch & Son to the list. When the current owners purchased the name, their plan was to make new guns and they still advertise that on their web site. Whether any new guns have been made is unknown to me.
http://www.jblanchandson.co.uk/index.html
Toby Barclay - thank you! Will do.
Hi Humpty,

Great list, thanks for compiling it.

F.J. Wiseman still indicates on their website that they will build you a gun.

And so does Thomas Bland, although I do not know if any new guns have been made by either of them...
How about Tony R White
franc
Franc Otte, redoak - thank you! Will be added.

I'd love to add more people like Kristian Reilly or Bill Blacker, those who actually work on their guns and not just add ", gunmaker" to their company name. But most of those people don't seem to have web sites. Like David Sinnerton for instance - I've met many mentions from magazine articles to Vintage Guns web site that he "is building guns under his own name", but I couldn't find any contact information online.

It might seem an injustice to ignore a gunmaker based on "no web site" rule, but while working on the list I saw in many cases that it is a reliable indicator of activity these days. Example P. V. Nelson: mentioned all over the shootig press - web site doesn't work - searched some more and found info from his daughter that he's retired.

My next project is a list of bespoke stalking rifle makers, and that seems to be a world in itself...
Originally Posted By: Humpty Dumpty
Pete M - thank you very much!

L. Brown. Webley & Scott is as British as Wm Evans, Churchill, Powell or anyone else who has their guns made outside the island. If a company has headquarters in Britain, British management and a Brit as gunmaker-in-chief, I can't see what makes it unBritish.


Humpty, I think most people who purchase a shotgun want to know where it's actually MADE. Webley & Scott, for a very long time, produced all their guns in the UK. (And, for that matter, a great number of guns sold under the names of other British "makers".) I go to the Webley website, look at the Webley catalog, and it doesn't tell me anywhere that those guns are made in Turkey. As for the location of the company, I come up with an address in Nevada--which is in the USA, not the UK.

A number of American gunmakers, after nearly all sxs production had ceased in this country, imported doubles from abroad: Ithaca from SKB, Browning from Miroku, Winchester from its joint Olin-Kodensha operation. All made in Japan. But those companies never attempted to disguise the origin of their guns. Webley & Scott, for example, shows a photo of the old Premier Works--where shotguns haven't been made in quite some time.

As a gun writer, what I don't want to do is confuse the buying public. Yes indeed, Webley & Scott is now back . . . with guns being made in Turkey. Ditto SKB. If I'm writing an article about Webley & Scott, I would feel obliged to point out that today's guns have little in common with the guns formerly produced under that name in the UK. Not the post-war Model 700 series; much less pre-WWII Model 400 series. If I show someone my Webley & Scott Model 400, with full coverage of well-executed (by hand) small scroll and deeply chiseled fences, and if they compare to a current Webley & Scott, they won't have much trouble telling the difference.

The issue, to me, is gunmakers still making guns in the UK vs those that have ALL their guns made elsewhere. If they also import guns (likely less expensive models) and market those, all well and good. But in some cases, the current Webley & Scotts even carry the same model numbers (720, for example) as the ones that were really made in Birmingham.

Perhaps to keep it simple, the point is this: Webley & Scott is not like David McKay Brown or Purdey. Whether you order a gun "bespoke" or not, if it's a Webley & Scott, it will not be made in the UK.
You could also add George Gibbs Ltd.

http://www.gibbsgunmakers.com/
Part 2: Rifle makers is now on Classic rifle board. Comments and corrections welcome. http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=458777&#Post458777
You can also add Rowland Watson Gunmakers to your list. They are currently starting to build new Rowland Watson sidelock and Thomas Wild boxlock shotguns.

http://www.rowlandwatson.co.uk/
Thank you!
Thank you! Great list. I never realized that there were so many British Gunmakers still around in business. They are obviously doing better than the Spanish Gunmakers.
© The DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com