Once upon a time in Nineteenth-century London, there were three gunmakers named Henry Atkin, Stephen Grant, and Joseph Lang. They each built superb shotguns, and they each became famous for different reasons: Henry Atkin, having apprenticed under his father at Purdey, had by 1890 developed an elegant spring-opening sidelock ejector gun. Stephen Grant, from Ireland originally, earned an enviable number of warrants as gunmaker to the Queen of England, the Prince of Wales, and other royals. And Joseph Lang in the mid-1800s became the first to make a breech-loading gun in England—a milestone by any standard.

Great Britain in Queen Victoria’s reign was a hothouse for the gun trade. Hundreds of makers, from the farthest shire towns to the West End of London, were inventing, patenting, machining, filing, assembling, regulating, and finishing everything from cheap trade muskets for the colonial markets to best-grade sporting guns for the aristocracy. These cost the equivalent of several years’ wages for the common man, but in design, function, and craftsmanship, even outright artistry, they ranked among the finest artifacts ever made. They still do, and their prices have kept pace with inflation, too. Today a handful of boutique firms in Spain, Germany, Austria, Italy, Belgium, the United States, and the rest of the United Kingdom turn out comparable work, but a “London best”—a double-barreled shotgun, made to measure and built by expert hands in or near Britain’s capital—is still the standard. Atkin, Grant, and Lang would be pleased to know that their guns still rank among the best of the best.

In 1960, Atkin Grant & Lang became one entity, which still produces distinctive guns under each name. It is now located at Broomhills, the shooting ground near St. Albans, less than an hour north of the center of London. It is one of those hallowed places where stand ranks of fine guns, their oil-rubbed walnut stocks, deep-blued barrels, and hand-engraved actions gleaming in warm light—what my wife calls an “estrogen-free zone.” That’s the gun room. However, Atkin Grant & Lang’s heart truly beats upstairs, in the workshops, where these exquisite and costly works of art are born. The workshops are also the key to AG&L’s current claim to fame: the ability to repair, refurbish, and flat-out rebuild fine guns that have been used almost to death. So they can be sold again, this time at prices that more of us can swallow.

Consider these two Atkin sidelock 12-bores (see photo). They’re basically the same gun, before and after a thorough rebuild. One was made in 1907, the other in the early 1960s. Ah, but can you tell which is which?

The “new” gun (1960s), the one on the left, is heavily worn, obviously shot hard but cared for. The checkering is nearly wiped away, the case colors have been obliterated, there’s wear at the breeches, the trigger guard and tangs are gone to silver, the barrels are loose and have been sleeved, the lovely walnut stock has gone dim and has had an extension clapped on it, the forend is chipped, the locks are worn and crusted with ancient oil, and so on. In other words, it’s a beater, and it might be worth $750.

The older gun (1907) once looked nearly as bad, but it has undergone a total redo. It has new barrels, a new stock and forend made to the customer’s dimensions, revitalized lockwork, new case coloring and finishing; and it has been tested and certified by the London Proof House. This one was sold to a recently retired officer of the Special Air Service for $56,000—but wait: That’s for two guns. It’s one of a matched pair, in a custom-fitted oak and leather case. And a brand-new, from-scratch pair of Atkin sidelock guns today runs about $160,000.

The beater gun will undergo the same transformation and emerge, equally pristine and sound, with a price tag below $20,000. Bottom line for the buyer is that he or she will get an as-new London best, redone and guaranteed “by the maker” and with that wonderful vintage pedigree, at a price that can’t be touched anywhere else. Note too that many of AG&L’s secondhand guns don’t require full restoration and so are priced even more reasonably. It hardly needs saying that the company fully stands behind each gun too and will repair anything that may go wrong.

The secret, if one can call it that, to this combination of quality and price is simple, and it’s in two parts: First, the company’s managing director, Ken Duglan, apprenticed with Atkin Grant & Lang more than thirty years ago. He never dreamed then that he’d someday own the place, but, more to the point, his training taught him how to evaluate worn guns and buy them at the right price. Second, his craftsmen, along with knowing how to build new guns, know how to set right what’s been used up on older ones. Inexplicably, none of the other top gunmakers do this, and it sets AG&L apart.

Something else that sets the company apart—and this is what makes it a “Southern” gunmaker—is AG&L’s relationship with the Southern Side by Side Championship & Exhibition. When founder Bill Kempffer launched the event at his Deep River Sporting Clays and Shooting School in Sanford, North Carolina, in 2000, his friend Ken Duglan became the title sponsor. Atkin Grant & Lang has returned every April. Every autumn thereafter, more and more bobwhite quail have fallen to AG&L guns. And more and more of us have learned the pleasures of shooting a bespoke English gun.

Tour AG&L’s gun room online (atkingrantandlang.co.uk) or visit them in person at the Southern Side by Side Championship & Exhibition Spring Classic April 23–25, 2010, at Deep River Sporting Clays in Sanford, North Carolina (deepriver.net).