Good day gentlmen! I was reading Mr. Hadoke's books, and in them he mentioned That English guns are graded, such as Best, second, and third. He also said that Holland and Holland made (or had made for them) all three grades. What separates the grades, and how would a person tell what grade he is looking? Not specifically Holland but in all older English guns?
There is no simple answer to your question. As noted by prior posters multiple firms possessed different grading systems so no one three tier standard can be applied across all English makers.
Further challenging the question of best grade is no single standard can be effectively applied as it can be argued there are best grade SLE, BLE, and Round Action guns.
The standard that a best is the best gun a maker can build holds an enormous range of possibilities. I have come down to the point that it is near impossible to be definitive without wiggle room
