Staring down the barrel of a gun

Don’t be distracted by the decoration – when choosing a new shotgun, barrel construction should be a top priority, too

-  LUKE DAVISON

My experience selling shotguns suggests that a prospective client’s eyes are usually drawn towards two features: the wood and the engraving. Gunmakers have long known that attention can be swayed easily by pretty, contrasting details and a slab of exhibition-grade walnut attached to the end of a gun is always a crowd-pleaser. Similarly, the subtle art of engraving and the skill that the best craftsmen can demonstrate on the metalwork of guns can be truly astounding. Beyond the aesthetics, however, engraving and pretty wood don’t necessarily make a shotgun any better. Your pattern won’t be affected by upgraded wood, nor will your swing be impacted by the intricate engraving on the lockplates. It’s strange then that so many clients pay so much attention to this and so little to the business end of their prospective purchase – the barrels.

Perhaps I’m being overly harsh but, more often than not, interest in barrels extends only to a few questions: length, choke, and, sometimes, chamber length. Although some technical aspects of barrels can be less than riveting to discuss – bore dimensions and forcing-cone lengths, important though they are, spring to mind – barrel-construction knowledge is too critical to be overlooked.

Making a set of shotgun barrels can be a long and incredibly time-consuming process that would require acres of ink to describe thoroughly, but gaining a basic understanding of it can be useful to the new buyer because it will help them evaluate the quality of the gun that they’re looking at – and what the salesman might be saying.