The Sporting Gun Trade is a worldwide phenomenon which has a centuries-old tradition of quality and craftsmanship. Some of the makers have been around for that long, and the quality of the products they present can rightly be considered works of art. Although some sporting guns can be purchased for a relatively low cost, others will hold their own quite comfortably against a new high-end sports car. Great Britain has a reputation for producing such guns, and their interesting history is well worth taking a look at, if you get the time.
With all the constant progress and changing methodologies of so many industries, it is always a pleasure to visit those old-school companies which still take the same time to carry out a task, that they have for centuries past. The manufacturing of Sporting Guns is one such industry, and their workshops are just such places. If it took a year to make a bespoke side-by-side 12-bore shotgun in 1818, it takes a year to make one now; and walking into the hallowed ground of any of these specialists, inhaling the smell of linseed oil and elbow grease, can be like a breath of fresh air from the fast pace of life outside.
There are many skills involved in producing a sporting gun, and the majority of the tools used are very specific to the task in hand. The gun comes together after each craftsman has completed his own specialist task; nothing will rush it, not even the customer, unless perhaps ‘The Glorious 12th’ is just around the corner, for that is when the game shooting season starts in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This is when the season opens for Red Grouse. The Pheasant season comes a little later in the year.
Bearwood has proudly supplied the gun trade in the UK for several decades with the full range of high quality hand tools which they use, and the range of specialist equipment involved to enable production of these works of art, is quite staggering.
If you are in need of specialist files and abrasives, why not give us a call, as we supply products of the highest quality; or visit us at www.bearwoodinternational.co.uk/products