OWD: You and I are really saying the same thing ... that London's prestige and money drew the provincial talent that built many of the "best" guns to come from that city. You earlier said, "Guys like John Robertson and Thomas Southgate could have worked for anyone and lived anywhere. They chose London for a reason. I bet this reason was money." I agree, and Robertson is a perfect example. He began his professional exodus in or near Edinburgh, then went to work for Whitworth in Manchester, Richards in Birmingham, and finally, Purdey and Boss in London. He followed the money.
Despite what others may try to make of it, I'm not out to attack the London gun trade or the quality of their work. I'm not trying to argue that London isn't the source of the true "London best" gun, or that "best" guns are not the pinnacle of the gunmaker's art.
What I
am trying to suggest, though, is that
perhaps the lowly British boxlock (albeit a very nice one) has a stronger claim to the title of "quintessential" British shotgun ... that perhaps, based on utility and popularity, if we had to point to one and only one type of gun, the classic Brit boxlock (and not an elegant and fabulously expensive London sidelock) is the finest (dare I say "best"?) example of that nation's contribution to our favorite hobby. Sort of the same argument I suspect Lowell might make about American guns ... that the Fox Sterlingworth "gentleman farmer's gun" is a better universal representative of that nation's shotgun production than an AAHE Parker 28-gauge.
I can appreciate what a $250,000 sportscar represents without insisting that the pleasures of driving can't be achieved without one. A $60,000 sportscar will do me very well, thank you.
TT
