My friend runs a local patisserie and has spent the last 30 years learning how to make really amazing cakes, which he sells- and people frequent his place to drink coffee and eat his cakes.

He refuses to tell the women who ask for his recipes what exactly goes into each cake or how to make it. He reasons that he wants people to come and buy his cakes, not stay at home and eat their own.

When Harry Lawrence was seen to have a better recipe for 'slacum' than the other stock finishes being used at Purdey, he refused to give-up his recipe but sold bottles of it to Purdey instead.

A lot of gunmakers follow this line - there have been a few recipes posted here before now but for a lot of gunmakers their recipe and their knowledge are their livelihood and they are reluctant to broadcast either to the masses and do themselves out of work.

www.vintageguns.co.uk