Mehuls old article

[penpusher]

http://www.india-today.com/iplus/1998_1/buyer.html

penpusher

[Vikram]

penpusher,

This article opened up a new world to me in terms of sporting guns.Till then I was lost in military smallarms and, despite the desire, knew little of sporting versions. I chivvied my lending bookshop owner Rashid to get me a copy at any cost as I could not find one as I was a bit late. That copy still lies in my book collection.After that I did so much net research that I have almost all major gun manufacturer catalogues with me. I never missed an occasion to thank Mehul for that excellent work. Thanks to you and thanks to Mehul once again.

Best-
Vikram

[Kshatriya]

Fascinating article by Mehul, thanks for providing the link, penpusher.

[mehulkamdar]

Many thanks to penpusher for locating this link and posting it and am glad that you gentlemen enjoyed it. Vikram and I met on the net because of this piece. During the golden days of fine gunmaking a vast majority of fine guns were sold in India. I hope that we shall influence things to an extent when this happens again. India does deserve the best in everything there is.

Cheers,

Mehul

[eljefe]

Bravo-I had heard about this article, Thanks penpusher.
Axx

[danish21]

TOP GUN
Hunting and gun may be under increasing pressure today, but the aficionado's fascination with firearms is on display in the homes of gun collectors for whom these are works of art, not killing machines. Gun buff Mehul Kamdar provides a guide to the best guns in the world and what makes them special.

If you boast of having any erstwhile maharajas among your acquaintances, you've probably seen the dog-eared family albums dominated by sepia pictures of elaborate shikars. In those days, no self-respecting maharaja would allow himself to be photographed standing over the kill without a Purdey or a Holland & Holland cradled in his arms. The British hang-up extended to the make of hunting weapons, of which India's erstwhile rulers had what was probably the most prized collection in the world at the time.

Times have changed. The maharajas have been declassified, hunting is politically incorrect and, while Purdey and Holland & Holland still adorn the best gun collections, true connoisseurs also look to other European manufacturers for the perfect blend of craftsmanship and technology. The gun collector is a unique breed, and bears little resemblance to those who drool over their stamp or coin collection, or even those who collect cars or books or paintings. The gun buff, connoisseur, cognoscenti--call him or her what you will--holds in his (or her) hands, not just a work of art but a deadly one at that. The real gun buff looks at weapons as precision machines where the workmanship counts as much as the weapon's accuracy. I have a friend in Belgium who has a collection of some 6,000 guns, dating from the 15th century to the present. Someday, it is my fond hope to have a similar collection in India, though current laws make this an impossible dream.

Though hunting is a fast-dying sport, the ignorant and the idealist generally tend to ignore the fact that countries like USA, Canada and Zimbabwe which allow hunting in a scientific, controlled manner have a much better record of preserving rare wildlife species and protecting them from threatened extinction than countries like India which proscribe hunting and wildlife management and are conservation basket cases.

Guns were among the first products that were mass produced. Eli Whitney preceded Henry Ford by more than a century. And yet, even in today's highly mechanised age with its computer-guided tools and robotics, the world's gunmakers are true craftsmen engaged in a centuries-old tradition. To make a gun, one needs to be a metallurgist, machinist, gunsmith, toolmaker and woodcarver all rolled into one. And, as far as the best-quality custom guns are concerned, one must have the expertise of a Formula One or aerospace engineer and the aesthetic vision of an artist in addition to the first five qualities. As the catalogue of Johann Fanzoj of Austria, one of the world's foremost custom gunmakers, says: ``Those who mistake decoration for beauty misunderstand us.'' The best, most highly decorated, engraved, inlaid and finished guns are, finally, works of art that perform as they are supposed to: works of art that the owner can not only just admire, but also use.

Sporting guns are basically of two kinds: rifles and shotguns. The difference between them is that rifles fire a single projectile at very high velocities out of a grooved barrel, while shotguns force multiple shots out of a smooth barrel. Both have specific applications. The rifle is generally a precision tool meant for hunting still game at moderate to long ranges, while the shotgun is used to hunt very small animals and birds that are in motion, in rapid flight or on the ground, at very short ranges.

Few discussions are more delightful to hunters than those that cover the merits of different types of firearms for different purposes. A small bore .22 rimfire rifle, for example, could be used to hunt small vermin, while, at the other end of the scale, a .700 Holland & Holland or a .775 Rigby could knock a charging rhinoceros or elephant off its feet. That said, there is an increasing tendency among the wealthiest gun connoisseurs of Europe these days to buy phenomenally expensive guns as collector's pieces that would, most probably, never be used to shoot at anything, especially animals.

If this sounds a little vague, the fact is that a vast majority of gun collectors associates historical value with guns and even the best guns available today are only variations of designs finalised in the 1890s--the Mauser and Mannlicher bolt-action types and the various British and German break-open single barrel and double barrel (with over-and-under and side-by-side barrels) and the German and Austrian three- and four-barrelled masterpieces of technical complexity. What is being done in the best guns today is the use of more modern steel, more efficient cartridges and more detailed embellishment than were available in the past.

A modern double shotgun or rifle would be instantly familiar to the hunter of a century ago and John Dickson of Edinburgh, a company known for building one of the most sophisticated `round-action' shotguns, proudly tells us that their guns are unchanged in design for over a century, though they use modern materials now. The tendency among gun collectors in the West today, then, is to buy old guns and preserve them for their historical value and to buy modern ones to hunt, shoot at targets in competitions, or collect as gun art. Even in countries like UK with stringent anti-handgun ownership laws, there are laws that have been formulated and a depository is being created at the NRA (GB) rifle ranges in the historic Bisley shooting range to preserve historic handguns.

This brings us to the question: How do we as Indians collect firearms when the Government strictly restricts gun ownership to a maximum of three guns per head and has banned import of private guns since 1988 (though a case challenging these bans is still with the courts)? Shortly after the British government banned all private handguns, gun clubs in France, Germany and on the Isle of Man began to offer `gun-bank' schemes where participants could buy, deposit (like money in a bank) and shoot handguns within the club premises, but would not be permitted to take their handguns outside the premises except with the prior permission of the concerned authorities (see box). Additionally, most manufacturers of very expensive custom guns offer facilities to hold guns for clients at their premises on payment of rent. Purdey of UK even advertise their services in their catalogue--anyone who owns one of their exquisite shotguns or rifles would be well advised to leave their guns in expert hands when they are not in use.

So what are the best guns money can buy? In India, shooters, hunters, etc., are familiar with the best British names since the best British guns were long available here and large numbers of fine old rifles and shotguns are still owned by Indians. From the days when the sun never set on the British empire, especially the second half of the 19th century, the British and the Irish began experimenting with and developing lightweight, easy-to-handle shotguns and powerful, heavy-calibre rifles, mostly in the double-barrelled, side-by-side configuration. UK happened to have large colonies in Africa and India, where the guns could be tested and developed to perfection. The unfortunate thing about British gunmakers was that they concentrated on catering to the top 1 or 2 per cent of the market and, as the British empire became history, so did many of the illustrious names that had been a symbol of British excellence in gunmaking. Firms like Holland & Holland were bought by a French company. John Rigby and Sons is owned by an American group but names like Cogswell and Harrison, W.W. Greener and Churchill, Atkin Grant and Lang simply could not survive a demanding, price-conscious, post-World War II market.

By and large, most British guns are similar--superlative, phenomenally expensive double guns with occasional cheaper bolt-action type rifles. With the exception of new calibres like the .700 Holland & Holland, the .450 Rigby and the .775 Rigby, the rifles are either chambered for cartridges designed before the '30s or for modern American designs. This is not to say that the designs are old or antiquated but to show how advanced British gun design was back then, and how much the industry has been allowed to stagnate. Purdey, Holland & Holland, John Dickson, John Rigby and the relatively new but no less brilliant J. Roberts & Co survive only because of aggressive buying support from USA, Europe and the Middle East.

Apart from British makes, most gun buffs in India would be aware of the fine guns made on the continent and in USA, some of which are only now becoming known to Anglophone countries. Two of the oldest centres of fine gunmaking in Europe have been Ferlach in Austria and Suhl in Germany. A guild system exists here since the 16th century. The firm of Johann Fanzoj in Ferlach, currently run by the sixth generation of its founders, can build guns in any type of action used for sporting arms, with any combination of barrels, calibres and actions, a feat that, as far as I am aware, no one else in the world can match.

Individual gunmakers of the best quality usually specialise in one or two types of exceptional guns with each maker using minor design variations specific to that company. Only Fanzoj, as far as I know, can offer any variation anyone may desire. In Suhl, the old firm of Gebruder Merkel has now been re-organised as a limited company and continues to turn out superb over-and-under and side-by-side shotguns and rifles. The original Merkel Kersten over-and-under design is acknowledged as the strongest of its type ever made to the extent that gun critics, particularly in USA, have pressurised the company into building slightly less expensive designs using stronger steel for those who want less expensive guns. Of course, the top-of-the-line guns are still available to those who are willing to pay very high prices and are looking for guns with incredible strength.

Another firm in Germany that is known for its magnificent yet ultra-modern designs is Blaser. Two unique features grace Blaser's bolt-action rifles. The first is a push-pull action `straight-pull' bolt that allows faster reloading than conventional turn-bolt actions. The second is the ability to fire several different calibre cartridges from the same rifle simply by changing the barrel and bolt head required for each specific cartridge. If imports were allowed once again into India, these rifles would be an ideal purchase because of India's three-guns-per-head limit.

An old German firm whose name is familiar to most people, and which has lived up to its founder's brilliant reputation by continuing to innovate bolt-action rifles is the Mauser. It has been recorded that the most widely copied rifle action is the Mauser model of 1898, considered by many gun experts to be the most reliable action ever, especially for hunting very dangerous game. All of the bolt-action rifles made by the manufacturers listed here, with the notable exception of the Blaser, are derived from Mauser designs. After a long time, the Mauser firm has given in to public demand and resumed manufacturing model 1898 rifles, something they had not done in almost one quarter of a century.

Italy is renowned for its beauty--its picturesque scenery and lovely women--which probably inspires Italians to create beautiful objects like the Ferrari or Lamborghini cars, Versace creations, et al. There was a time when the finest embellishments on guns were done by Italians and, even today, there are many who believe that in engraving lifelike images on metal, the Italian `bulino' technique is peerless. The old Italian firm of Rizzini Battista is located in the heart of the Italian gunmaking district of Brescia. For a long time, Rizzini shotguns were imported into UK and USA and sold by importers under their own names though, recently, the firm has started selling its shotguns and over-and-under double rifles outside Italy under its own name.

Belgium is another historical centre where fine military and civilian arms have been made for centuries and the firm of Lebeau-Courally is one that is remembered for having been gunmakers to the Tsars of Imperial Russia on an almost exclusive basis. The Russian royals may have disappeared, but Lebeau-Courally still offers its splendid creations to discerning and very wealthy shooters with one of the most incredible warranties in the world. In the highly unlikely event that a customer is not satisfied with a gun ordered from this maker, Lebeau-Courally will buy it back at a higher price than it was sold for!

It hasn't just been Europe that has been at the forefront of fine gunmaking and it isn't centuries-old firms alone which have been making the finest guns. The decade-old American firm, Dakota Arms, has, to its credit, a modern, superb bolt-action rifle based on an improved version of the Mauser 1898 design, that some critics believe is a serious candidate for the title of `The World's Best Bolt-action Sporting Rifle'. Because of their modern vintage, Dakota Arms decided to use highly advanced computer-aided machinery to make their rifles instead of using the over 100-year-old methods used by most other manufacturers.

Their guns are available as semi-custom or exquisite, fully-built-to-order rifles, some of which are chambered for their proprietary, powerful, big-game cartridges. Dakota Arms also makes a single-shot rifle of note for hunters who seek a more difficult, purist experience, reminiscent of the difficulty of hunting with a non-repeating firearm, as was done a century ago. There is nothing old about Dakota's single shot though, and these guns are built on the same ultra-modern machinery using the same ultra-modern steel with the same lavish care and attention as their bolt-action rifles.

Speaking of single-shot rifles, another brilliant design is built in Canada by a German expatriate engineer, Martin Hagn. He is obsessive about the quality of his single-shot rifles to the extent of making all Hagn actions himself--his is a one-man operation. Going the ultra-conservative way, he does not advertise his guns (though they are well known to experts) but his products are booked for months ahead. What distinguishes the System Hagn rifle from all others is the fact that there are no screws in the action and, despite its compactness, the action is strong enough to chamber any modern high-velocity cartridge.

The Weatherby firm, in California, was founded about half a century ago by Roy Weatherby, the man who gave the world high-velocity cartridges and also turned all traditional theories of ballistics upside down. There has been, perhaps, no greater designer of cartridges in this century and it would not be amiss to say that all sporting rifle cartridges made after Weatherby introduced his designs were influenced by him in some way or the other. Not satisfied with the strength of the existing bolt-action designs, he also designed his famous Mark V rifle action. His son, Ed Weatherby, who runs the firm since his father's demise, offers a mind-boggling variety of standard, semi-custom and full-custom rifles in addition to shotguns that are made for their company by a Japanese concern.

An old American firm that continues to offer superb sporting firearms is Remington, whose sporting rifles and shotguns have been found so tough and reliable that modified versions of them are used by the US Marine Corps for military service. Remington's Model 700 and 7 rifles and Models 1100 and 870 shotguns are well known to thousands of hunters who value them dearly for providing superb quality at extremely reasonable prices, but not many are aware of the fact that the company uses these incredibly good basic rifles and shotguns as a basis for building custom bolt-action rifles, automatic and pump shotguns.

So where do gun lovers go? What are the countries that encourage, or at least tolerate, gun ownership? Despite all the anti-gun hype one gets to read from USA, there is an active gun-owning and shooting population in that country, probably the largest in the world. American laws restrict the ownership of military arms, but ownership of sporting firearms is freely permitted to all respectable adults. Some states in USA are more pro-gun than others but, overall, gun ownership is permitted to enthusiasts by the American constitution.

One nation that encourages its citizens to own guns and even gives an automatic rifle free to every man or woman who wants one is Switzerland, a flourishing democracy and one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Every Swiss city, town and village has one or more shooting ranges and gun shops selling modern and antique firearms which attract collectors from all over the world. Anyone travelling through Switzerland and having a flicker of interest in guns would do well to visit one of these--the sheer craftsmanship and precision will, somewhat literally, blow you away.

http://www.india-today.com/iplus/1998_1/buyer.html

[badshah0522]

Very Good Information & a good link as well,

[vishosingh]

excellent article and very informative too.
thanks danish ,and great going mehul