The Holland & Holland factory, located in London not far from Paddington Station, is where our guns are built in the traditional way with the most modern materials and equipment available. The present building was constructed by Henry Holland as a gun factory and completed in 1898. Now, over a hundred years later, the building is still our manufacturing base, although new paint adorns the outside and new equipment graces the inside. It is a tall, slender building with large windows, providing the best light for actioners and engravers alike.

While machines have always been used where possible, for example, for rifling the barrels, today we use modern computer numerical control equipment and computer-aided design software. This is combined with all the traditional gun making methods - actions are filed with great precision, barrels are hand-struck, and stocks and chequering are also done by hand. Depending on the model of gun, from 650 to well over 1250 man hours may be involved in the making, and as no part of a Holland & Holland gun is interchangeable, every single one is made for each gun down to the smallest pin. Combine these abilities with the quality of steel available today, and it will be no surprise that we are building the best guns ever.

The making of a Holland & Holland gun or rifle is therefore not a process to be hurried. The building of a gun is the creation of our 60 craftsmen, each making his equal contribution to the finished piece. The machinist; the barrel maker; the actioner; the engraver; theirs is the responsibility for turning bare metal into a magnificent gun that will still be shooting straight and true when your great-grandson is an old man. The barrels and action are complemented by the work of the stocker, who takes a rough blank of fine walnut and works and shapes it until it seems to glow with a life of its own from deep within the timber.

Lock, stock and barrel - all become a single entity in the hands of the finisher, who hardens the metalwork, polishes the lockwork and chequers and oils the stock. For your gun's accuracy you have the regulator to thank; and for the tools, leather and baize of the case, the casemaker.

Even in the exalted company of Best London gunmakers, Holland & Holland is unique in that every part of its guns and rifles, right down to the smallest screw, is made in-house. Remove the lock from a 'Royal' and you'll see that even the elegant bridle within the lock bears a craftsman's touch, in the form of a tiny decorative engraving. Rarely seen, but always present.

A barrel maker requires 60 hours to complete a pair of barrels. Bored from solid forgings of high grade nickel chrome molybdenum steel, individual barrels are balanced, turned and drilled through to a standard length and then paired off and assigned to an order before being silver brazed at the breech. Longer barrels may be required by the customer with a deliberate style or for use against high birds, with short barrels preferred for snap shooting.