By Silvio Calabi | Dec 09/Jan 10 | 

Extreme Gun Makeover

Nobody rebuilds a shotgun like Atkin Grant & Lang

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.