Westley Richards make some of the most beautiful firearms in the world. The Birmingham, UK, based gunmakers has been in operation for over 200 years, since 1812. Westley Richards’ handmade shotguns, double rifles and bolt action rifles command princely sums and in a recent blog post they show two of their latest completed guns.

The latest set of guns to be completed for the 2019 shooting season are a pair of the company’s side-by-side Modéle de Luxe 12 gauge shotguns. The Modéle de Luxe shotguns have hand detachable (droplock) locks (introduced back in 1897) rather than more traditional side locks. This particular pair of guns have Prince of Wales- style gripped stocks, single triggers and 30 inch barrels with Teague multi chokes. Westley Richards say that “such a pair is versatile enough to tackle buzzing driven grouse and stratospheric pheasants.”

Pairs shooting is a fine art (Westley Richards)

While Westley Richards don’t state the price of this particular pair of guns, elsewhere on their website they note that the drop lock shotguns start as £54,500  or $70,000 – depending on the level of scroll work, the type of woods used and the work that goes into individual guns. This pair of shotguns has “elaborate scroll coverage with carved detailing and gold lettering is a feature of this modern interpretation of the ‘Modéle de Luxe’ gun.”

Here are some more photos of the exquisite pair of guns:

A pair of Modéle de Luxe (Westley Richards)

A close up of the scroll work on the underside of the drop lock (Westley Richards)

The pair in their line wooden case with accoutrements (Westley Richards)

If you’re wondering what it takes to craft fine, handmade guns like these, Westley Richards’ gunsmiths go through years of training and apprenticeship to learn how to build them. The company run’s a 5 year comprehensive apprenticeship course. Every year Westley Richards opens the scheme to aspiring young gunmakers with two positions available in 2019. You can find out more about the scheme and see some photographs of Westley Richards’ Birmingham workshop here.

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