The gun writer Michael McIntosh was one of the first to introduce to us to, as well as reinforce what the attributes of a "Best Quality" shotgun MUST have in order to be truly best quality.
Gun dealers in the United Kingdom did not need this reinforcement by McIntosh as they had never forgotten the meaning of a best quality gun. Some gun sellers in the USA may not know the attributes of a best quality gun and only go by what the actual owner of the gun has told them; and maybe it is appropriate for all of you who have educated yourselves to educate them as well as the gun buying public who also may be naive in this regard.
Recently there was a discussion on this website/forum about a Holland & Holland steel barreled hammergun that was advertised on Gun Broker (789512101) as best quality, which the photos showed it clearly was not. The gun was a well made Birmingham made Holland & Holland hammergun with "Dovetail" brazed lump barrels and about 75+% engraving coverage. To my mind it was a second maybe a third quality very good and loveley gun that sold for $6,000.00. 15 years ago it would have sold for twice that amount. In this case, as the late Michael McIntosh formerly reinforced in our minds, a UK gun with dove tail barrels is not a "Best Quality" gun. That this gun was not a best quality gun was not that it was made in Birmingham, but that it did not have the attributes of a best quality gun. It should be noted that Birmingham could and did produce best quality guns equal to London made guns and the best quality guns of the London gun retailer William Evans are examples. The Midland Gun Company of Birmingham best quality London Pattern guns are a joy to behold as another example.
It should also be noted that a London or Birmingham made gun with chopper lump barrels (one of the attributes that a best quality gun "MUST" have--with the exception of damascus dovetail lump barrels) does not automatically make it a best quality gun. For decades Holland & Holland made a second quality SLE in their London workshops with chopper lump barrels.
A discussion is taking place in the For Sale section of this website about another Birmingham made hammergun with a London name that is listed on Gun Broker as best quality. It is without doubt a most beautiful example of the type of high quality work that was done in Birmingham for the London gun trade and a gun that I would be proud to own. However it is not a Best Quality gun as it has steel Dovetail barrels and appears to have a Hackett latch. I suspect the seller of this gun is uninformed of the attributes of best quality guns and does not know that the gun has dovetail barrels and does not know how to identify the difference between chopper lump and dovetail barrels, and further worded the description of the gun as the owner provided details.
Laissez l’acheteur s’instruire, puis méfiez-vous.
Last edited by bushveld; 01/05/19 02:10 PM.
