Factory Tour: Barrels
Russell Wilkin, Technical Director – Gunmaking, talks us through the precision art of barrel making
 As your eye alights on the delicate engraving and glow of the burnished stock, only the merest finger-tip touch of the sleek black barrels may be needed to form the conviction that this is the gun for you. A gun that can't fail to enhance your prowess and to cherish forever. This is a telling moment for the Gunmaker, for his intention is to seduce you with a simply irresistible visual treat.
But those who are tempted by such a sensory feast must first ensure that the quality implied by the appearance extends well beyond aesthetics. In particular, it is essential that the barrels are mechanically as near perfect as the good looks lead us to suppose. The single most important factor to consider about any shotgun or, for that matter, rifle, is the integrity of the barrels. The barrels are the foundation of a gun, but repair or neglect takes heavy toll.
Illustrations show us the first pyrotechnic devices that hurled stones and projectiles from stout vessels. These devices had great potential but our predecessors were held back by the inability to make the barrels strong enough to control the energy of the gunpowder and to direct it out of the open end only – instead of bursting in all directions thus effecting more damage to the person firing the shot than to the enemy. Their only alternative would have been to build a barrel of gigantic and unmanageable proportions: 700 years later we still face precisely the same considerations. From artillery pieces to small arms or sporting guns, all weapons seek to constrain, control and release energy to propel the shell, bullet or shot to the very best effect.
The classic British shotgun, in particular a 'Best' lightweight game gun, is truly the thoroughbred of the breed. Like its equine equivalent, it is the culmination of centuries of refinement that balanced the need for great strength with minimal and unwanted weight. The foundation of such guns are light, strong barrels – yet how is this achieved and how do we make them? Two distinct but equally important stages are needed: first the making of the tubes and then the fashioning of the barrels.
At Holland & Holland the barrels, and significantly the barrel tubes, are made entirely in our own machine shops where we are able to exercise full control over the entire process. This control monitors every stage of production, progressing from solid forgings to the finely ground and honed tubes that the master craftsmen use to create the barrels for your gun and to ensure the synthesis of form and function. Modern steels have given us an advantage over our forebears. In the past, great ingenuity and skills were called upon to construct the barrels from rods and strips of iron and steel closely wound and forged in the manner of the swordmakers of the Levant to form the famous light and strong 'damascus' tubes. So skilled were they, that the techniques of the process were adapted to generate the beautiful swirls and patterns that decorate the surface of these older barrels.
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