I saw some of their work at the Vegas show. Besides the USA, the top engravers in the world today are in Italy and Belgium. The folks at Purdey told me their most expensive and desireable guns are sent there for engraving. Arguably the finest double guns in the world today are built in Italy.
Posts: 9487 | Location: Texas Hill Country | Registered: 11 January 2002
Heard of Abbiatico e Salvinelli? Ever heard of Holland & Holland? I'm not being facecious, they are at least as good, more innovative, more artistic and cost less. Given a choice between the two (in spite of Mickey1) Italian is the way to go.
Posts: 2690 | Location: Lakewood, CA. USA | Registered: 07 January 2001
It is a good thing that there are no electronics on English Doubles though.
Hell, it's a good thing there are no electronics on Italian doubles either. Fortunately, neither of us has any excuse for buying Japanese or Korean doubles.
Posts: 2690 | Location: Lakewood, CA. USA | Registered: 07 January 2001
I know that Ferlib used to make the dakota shotguns. Bother makes pretty guns.
H&H, Purdey is history compared to Italian, Belgian, Spanish and other Best Europeans. London guns was fine and the old still is, saidly the new made is more branding than quality.
I would much rather take a Bugatti, Ferrari, Masserati, Lamborghini than an English made furniture like Bently, Rolls, Jaguar. Feeling of driving a car from sitting in a couch. Who invented the darkness
...fwiw, bentley, rolls and lambo are now german-owned (vw, bmw and vw, respectively), whereas ferrari and maserati continue to be italian-owned (fiat group)...
...but you are correct, continental makers dominate all sectors of the hi-performance/luxury market segments, and even the former brit stalwarts jaguar and aston martin (now owned by ford, by the way) cannot compete with the likes of bmw (m-division), benz (amg-division) or vw (porsche-division)...
But they are pretty. 
