Notice the 2 on the barrels and action at the very end of the video

Mike

Looks difficult to execute it all.

Phenomenal workmanship. Don't you wonder if any of the craftspeople ever have a chance to shoot one of the guns they work on so carefully.

Most of them, or a vast majority that work in the trade could care less about guns in general. To them….it pays the bills. A lot of highly skilled gun workers approach gun making in the same way most other people approach their job or career, it puts food on the table. Very few get any enjoyment shooting their creations that we consider amazing works of functional art.

many years ago i told a motorcycle mechanic that i would like to get into the motorcycle business....and he reponded by telling me that the easiest way to ruin a perfectly good hobby was to do it for a living for a few years....

best regards,
tom

Amazing guns. I got to shoot a new one last week at the Dallas Gun Club. Loved it. I also got to see the differences in the 1879 patented Beesley opener and the 1922 Holland & Holland self-opener. It was interesting to see how H&H self-opener works so well when opening and closing the action, as compared to just when opening.

That reminds me that I need to work less

Huh? Please explain this:

"It was interesting to see how H&H self-opener works so well when opening and closing the action, as compared to just when opening."


Thanks,

OWD

Note the difference between Albion and America. Henry Ford paid his employees so that they could all afford to purchase his product, an automobile. That has not generally been the case in England. Traditionally, English auto workers rode bicycles or mass transit. Similarly, English gun craftsmen could never afford to engage in field sports. That is the English class system. Those Englishmen with ambitions above their appointed station headed for the colonies.

J.K.B. von Falkenhorst

Excellent post, flawlessly and succinctly stated.

Great post, thanks for sharing.

As generalisations go that would take some beating. Of course you will be well aware that then ,as now ,the purchase of any first tier shotgun was, and is , out-with the scope of the average earner. The firms of Webley and Scott ,BSA ,Tolley, Ford ,Jeffries and many others however supplied countless working class sportsmen with shotguns to pursue field sports prior to the influx of cheap Spanish side by sides.Wildfowling,pigeon shooting and rough shooting was the main stay of working class sport it was frequently there for the asking and still is. I would say that small syndicates of tradesmen and farmers are more representative of present day field sports participation in the UK today . The existence of well publicised commercial shoots readily accessible to well heeled tourists and residents alike that coexist alongside our sporting heritage only adds to the variety of sport available but it would be a mistake to imagine that our sport here is exclusive,it is very much inclusive.
Perhaps you should visit with an open mind and see for yourself.

Great video. But let’s remember that almost all English guns were built in the same way, often with the same care—minus the music and machinery. And even the plainest continues to amaze me. Try to imagine a rough forged action in the hands of a master craftsman circa 1900. No CNC machines or precise milling equipment—all the craftsman had was his files, saws, chisels, and a lifetime of skill to form an action that often would equal the best of what our computer generated products are able to produce today. God gave man incredible gifts to create perfection with his own hands.

Thanks for posting this, skeettx.

Does Beretta actual own H&H?

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

Most of the individual specialists ( like actioners, barrel makers ) likely rarely saw a finished “best” gun.

All the more reason not to be like other people. My self-opener works flawlessly.

It was interesting to see how H&H self-opener works so well when opening and closing the action, as compared to just when opening.

I would argue this point. I have yet to see a H&H so called self opener, self open after firing both barrels. The assisted mechanism works when the gun isn't fired but not afterwards. The Purdey system works all the time and once you get the knack of closing it isn't all that difficult.

During one one of his classes on gunmaking (I attended 3 or 4 of them), I recall the late English gunsmith/gunmaker John R. "Jack" Rowe stating how impressed he was over the Holland & Holland self-opener system as it and the Purdey self opener (and the very few Boss self-openers that were made) were in his experience the only self opening systems that actually worked equally well when the gun was fired as it did when the gun was unfired. He further said that he like the Holland better due to it's easier closing.

As a matter of fact during 7-10 July 1999 I videoed many hours of Jack Rowe's classe at Tishomingo, Oklahoma and I may have the video and audio of his comments on the Holland self opener recorded. I need to take those old VHS recordings and have them converted to DVD. My recordings were before he was afflicted with Parkinson's and his voice was clear.

Those of you who have attended one of Jack's classes will vividly remember him wrapping a English gun butt stock in and old cotton tee shirt, then soaking it with unboiled linseed oil and setting the tee shirt ablaze in order to heat the butt stock for bending. I believe I have a video of that as well.

Where can one have old VHS videos converted to modern DVD?

Kindest Regards;
Stephen Howell

Walgreen's. I'm going to have some done as well.

https://www.walgreensdvdtransfer.com

SRH

I liked Jack good guy and a very practical gunsmith

Stan;

Thanks for the info on Walgreens for vhs to dvd copying.

Stephen Howell

Is the DVD still modern ?

Yes, like percussion caps are more modern than flintlocks.

I'm not sure what self-opening H&H you have inspected but the normal self-opening H&H works totally independently of the fired state of either lock. It is a compressor under the forend which operates at full strength regardless of the state of either lock. I think you are confusing the H&H self-opener with the 'assisted opener' of C&H, normal Boss and Baker '12/20' patent among others.