Patented Barrel Technology
When we embarked upon the quest to produce a new English shotgun, we realised the need to make it ‘innovative’ and ‘advanced’ while maintaining classic lines. For this reason, in 2006, we thought very carefully about the design and processes from initiation.
Our patented barrels are designed and manufactured in house by a highly innovative method and process. We take a single piece of high specification steel (or titanium) weighing approximately 27 kg and machine the barrels from this single block of steel. This process includes the top rib, middle rib and forend loop, we do not weld, solder, or glue any part of our barrels. The barrels eventually weighing approximately 1.3kg (in steel) depending on their length. This has several benefits.
The resulting barrels are not only durable but also light in weight.
In eliminating the need for a heavy soldered centre rib, we can add weight to the barrel wall thickness, which is stronger than the average barrel because of the high specification material we use. Despite its lightweight, our barrels are chambered for 3” (in 12, 16, 20 and 28 bores) and can be proofed for High Performance Steel up to ‘full’ with fixed choke. We recommend up to 1/2 with fixed chokes. We believe that, to date, we are the only gun-making company in the UK (at least) to have achieved this. Not only does this verify the strength of our barrels, but it also renders them 'futureproof'.
The central rib between the barrel tubes is minimal, and this, combined with the fact that our barrel cavities are honed to a very close tolerance and are perfectly straight not unlike a finely tuned rifle, results in our guns shooting exactly where they are pointed. In contrast to this, many conventional monobloc barrels are constructed from two tubes which are inserted into an angled cavity at the breech end and then ‘pulled’(or ‘pushed’) together and then soldered, welded or even glued into position.
The most significant feature of our guns is that they have negligible felt recoil even with the heaviest loads, this is attributable significantly because of our barrel design, but also our low profile action, achievable because of the minimal connecting central rib between the barrels and general rigidity of our guns, this also minimises 'muzzle flip'.
We can tailor the barrel length and the top rib to your requirements during the manufacturing process and can incorporate a top rib more suited to game or clay shooting, whichever you prefer, we are also able to adjust the weight of our guns while maintaining balance.
We are also able to use a ‘hot’ process to blacken our barrels because the ribs are integral so there is no ‘seepage’ of chemicals which can cause premature rusting of soldered joins. This process is more resilient than the cold blacking process so often used on fabricated barrels and creates a beautiful blue/black sheen.
As our barrels are so close together at the breech end, any degree of convergence is minimal to ensure consistent point of aim and point of impact.
Eliminating the centre rib also allows any heat to disperse more evenly and quickly, we don’t need a vented rib because there is no trapped hot air causing heat ‘build-up’.
Our barrels manufactured from a much harder material than conventional barrels (such as EN19 or EN24 for example), therefore, they are much less likely to ‘dent’ in the event of an accident, however, should a small calamity occur, dents can usually be ‘raised’ in the usual manner but without having to remove the ribs. We also now manufacture them in Titanium.
Our theories aren’t new, and the renowned engineer Sir Joseph Whitworth (of ‘Whitworth’ thread fame) recognised the benefits and patented barrels manufactured from a single piece of steel in 1857, unfortunately, at that time the manufacturing methods were expensive in comparison to labour costs of the day and cumbersome in comparison to today’s available technology, and so the fabricated method of making barrels prevailed at that time.
We actively encourage shooters to try our guns for themselves. Please contact us if you would like to arrange this, it would be our pleasure to meet you.
Titanium barrels
We now manufacture our barrels in Titanium for our Trigger Plate range of guns, these are currenly available with flat or high rib in 12g, 30" or 32" long in weight 950 grams (in 32").
