There could be many reasons to get out of the gun trade at that time, eg. lack of available apprentices, debt problems, competition... but perhaps more importantly, the 1850s marked the beginning of the breech-loading gun in Britain, mainly pinfires, and a few early centrefires. Cambridge is a university town (the second oldest English-speaking university, founded in 1209), so there would have been wealthy patrons and good sport in the surrounding countryside and wetlands. In 1850 or so the population was about 27,000, so a sizeable provincial town. Cambridge had at least three gunmakers around this time: Gallyon & Sons, started in 1774 and still in business; Charles Piper, followed by Henry Hutcheson; and Elijah Tarrant, who was only in business in 1868 (there were a few more in the 1820s and 1830s, but none of those made it into the 1840s). The skills needed to make a breech-loader are quite different from those used in a muzzle-loader, with the actioning being the most difficult to perform well. It appears a number of otherwise successful gunmakers chose to close up shop rather than learn the new skills, particularly if their output was not high (which could be less than 10 guns a year). Even the largest and most famous London makers at the time had an output of 50-90 guns a year. A large part of the business was keeping guns in good repair and selling powder and shot, rather than selling new. If customers wanted to try a new breech-loader, the odds were good they would purchase from one of the few makers building them. For a provincial gunmaker, this was a big technological leap. A lot of businesses saw the writing on the wall, and closed. There were also new businesses starting up, to take advantage of the exciting times. Of course, many of those did not last more than a year, building at most a handful of guns.
Charles Piper may have built his guns himself, or he may have had them built in one of the 500 or more independent tiny workshops operating in Birmingham's Gun Quarter. No one had a 'factory' in those days. Or he may have ordered the gun partly built, and finished them himself - it depends on the size of his workshop. In the 1851 UK census, Charles Piper (born 1811) was listed as a master gunmaker, employing three men. This was quite a good size for a provincial maker. Being a 'master' meant that he had completed his apprenticeship, worked as a journeyman, and had a 'masterpiece' accepted by the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers (the gunmakers guild). As a master he could set up his own business, and take on apprentices and journeymen. The Worshipful Company of Gunmakers was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1637 to promote and regulate gunmaking, a role it still fulfils today, still operating the London and Birmingham proof houses.
It wasn't easy running a gun business, particularly if they sought well-to-do clients. Such clients might only pay their bills once a year, or when they felt like it; some were known to order a gun, use it for a shooting season, then give it back as it not being entirely to their taste - such was the difficult relationship between the working classes and high society! Guns were pricey, and always a major purchase; a best-quality gun would typically cost more than many workers could earn in a year: a London-made breech-loader could cost £25-65, you would have to have a pretty good disposable income to afford such a thing. A senior clerk might make £150 a year, out of that he might save £6, and £25 represented a whole year's rent; a military officer might make £200 a year. A serviceable muzzle-loader could be had for about £10, and anything costing less might not last very long.
Gunmaking in this period is an interesting rabbit-hole to fall into. You can't separate the guns from the society in which they were made and used, and the historical happenings. It is always a pleasure to handle guns from the 1840s-1860s.
