Best Gun Brands in the World

Best Gun Brands in the World

Best Gun Brands in the World

 
Purdey
The company was founded by James Purdey in London, England in 1814. James Purdey & Sons Limited hold and have held numerous royal warrants as gun and rifle makers, appointed by the British and other European royal families.
 
Holland & Holland
Holland & Holland was founded by Harris Holland (1806–96) in the year 1835.
At first the guns bore the inscription H.Holland, without an address, and it is probable that these were built in the trade to his design. It is not known when Harris started his own manufacturing but it is estimated to be in the 1850s. This start makes him very unusual among the London Best makers, as others such as Purdey, Boss, Lang and Lancaster had apprenticed with Joseph Manton, while others such as Beesley, Grant and Atkin apprenticed with Purdey or Boss.
In 1908, they patented the detachable lock feature with small lever, for sidelock shotguns. The last major development in the evolution of the sidelock side-by-side gun occurred in 1922, when the H&H assisted-opening mechanism was patented. This gun, the self-opening Royal side-by-side, has been hugely influential in gun-making throughout the world.
 
Boss
Established in 1812, Boss & Co have an enviable reputation as "builders of best guns only".
The classic Boss gun is either the graceful round bodied side-by-side or the handsome over and under, the first light and reliable O/U to be produced.
The Boss single trigger is renowned for reliability and coupled with the Boss hallmark of quality it is easy to understand why Boss guns are so highly sought after.
Boss & Co still continue to build guns in the traditional way, making each Boss gun a unique masterpiece of craftmanship and quality.
Boss & Co can claim to be one of the longest established, dating back to 1773 when William Boss began his gunmaking apprenticeship in Birmingham.
In the late 18th century, William Boss moved to London to work for Joseph Manton, and his son Thomas Boss (1790 – 1857) followed in his father’s footsteps to serve his apprenticeship under the great master himself.
 
David McKay Brown
David McKay Brown started his apprenticeship with the Glasgow company of Alex Martin Ltd in 1957.  Before completing his apprenticeship the business was taken over by the famous gunmaking company of John Dickson & Son in Edinburgh.  This proved to be fortunate as he was able to complete his apprenticeship and training in the Edinburgh workshop.
He left their employment in 1967 to establish his own company, his former employer supplying a considerable amount of work.  It was not until 1974 that his first round action guns bearing his own name were completed.
Although experienced in all other side by side designs, it was his ambition to keep alive the round action, which was relatively unknown in world terms, being almost exclusive to Scotland.  First produced in 1887, it has stood the test of time and has a track record for reliability.
The company of David McKay Brown was first established in the town of Hamilton and later moved to its present address in Bothwell.
 
John Dickson & Son/Dickson & MacNaughton
Established in 1820, they are Scotland's leading maker and supplier of fine sporting guns. Their Dickson 'Round Action' and MacNaughton 'Bar In Wood' shotguns are famous througout the world.
Born in the late 1700s the first John Dickson was apprenticed as a gunmaker in Edinburgh in 1806, founding his own company in 1820 - a company which continued to be family run until 1936. In the late 1960s, Dicksons acquired control of many other famous Scottish gunmakers including Mortimer (founded in 1740) and the Henry Rifle Company. Angling interests were extended too with the acquisition of Alex Martin.
In 1999 the owners of James MacNaughton bought the shareholding of John Dickson & Son Ltd and formed the company trading under the name of Dickson & MacNaughton. In so doing many of the most famous names in Scottish Gunmaking were brought together under one roof.
 
Browning
Since 1897, the year when the first Browning gun was made, millions, even tens of millions, of shotguns and rifles for hunting or target shooting have been created and manufactured by Browning.
The inventor of the semi-automatic shotgun, Over-and-Under shotgun and, semi-automatic rifle, and most recently, an Over-and-Under gun with the lowest action frame and fastest firing system on the market.
 
Beretta - Italy
Beretta has been owned by the same family for some five hundred years. The Beretta company was established in 1526, when gunsmith Maestro Bartolomeo Beretta of Gardone Val Trompia (Brescia, Lombardy, Italy) was paid 296 ducats for 185 arquebus barrels by the Arsenal of Venice. The bills of sale for the order of those barrels are in the firm's archive.
As the Beretta name became synonymous with uncompromising quality, design, materials, construction and performance, word spread beyond the Italian borders, establishing a tradition that has carried over, uninterrupted, through fifteen generations of Berettas. The trade secrets and attention to detail Jacopo (1520/25 – ...) inherited from his father Bartolomeo were passed on to his own son Giovannino (1550 – post 1577), then to his grandson Giovan Antonio (1577 – post 1649) – on and on from one century to the next.
 
Perazzi - Italy
Perazzi is a manufacturer of precision shotguns from Brescia, Italy. The company sells hunting and sporting models of shotguns in the over-and-under and side-by-side varieties.
The founder of Perazzi is Daniele Perazzi. a poor but doggedly determined young man who chased the myth of a perfect gun and dreamt about becoming a gunsmith. At 16 he fi nally got a job in a large company proving his natural born talent and patenting one of his models. It is the fi rst of a long series of guns, produced since the 1950’s , that bears his name. In 1957 at the age of 25, Daniele Perazzi founded Armi Perazzi and established his own factory where he has worked every day, together with his son Mauro and his daugther Roberta, until his death.
 The Perazzi family owns and operates the company. The company sells American Trap, American Skeet, Olympic and Doubles Trap, Olympic Skeet, Pigeon and Sporting models.
 
Kemen - Spain
Sixteen years in business, Spanish based Kemen strive for the right blend of quality work and cutting edge technology. Kamen is now part of a select group of manufacturers that make up the world elite of fine, top quality shotguns. All Kemen guns are hand-configured, manufactured and finished by their dedicated team, using the most advanced materials, the most exquisite walnut woods and cutting edge machinery.
 
Fabbri - Italy
The original Fabbri design of all the parts, and the complete shotgun together, has been optimized several times over the years, using the most modern instruments available at the moment, including the most skilled workers, state of the art machines, CAD/CAM systems and simulation software.
The first computerized milling machine was bought in 1974, and since then a very innovative, specialized and specific Technology was developed to achieve the best results in building high precision shotgun parts.
 
Luciano Bosis - Italy
 
William & Son
William & Son have a passion for all things beautiful and understand the pleasure derived from owning an exquisite, bespoke object such as a handcrafted shotgun. Truly the ultimate in bespoke pieces, their London guns are considered to be some of the finest. While the craftsmanship and excellence in this field is second to none, their prices are better than many. Indeed, William & Son goes one better: it considers the whole experience that investing in a handcrafted shotgun entails and matches the customers commitment to an age old sport with dedication to service. The gunmaker, Paul West, is able to discuss the best gun for your needs, and meet any special requirements you may have.
 
Aguirre y Aranzabal - AYA
AyaAlthough the centre of the Spanish firearms industry has always been the Basque Country, another small gunmaking center existed for many years in Catalonia, near Barcelona. One of the most famous of the Barcelona gunmakers was a transplanted German, Eduardo Schilling. Word of Schilling's skill spread to the Basque Country, and two young Basque gunmakers, Miguel Aguirre and Nicolas Aranzabal, left their home in the Basque province of Guipuzcoa to work with Schilling and perfect their skills. In 1915, they returned home and went into business together as Aguirre y Aranzabal - AYA