Shotgun shops - London, England
- Thread starter dilly
- Start date
Thanks for this. Purdy, H+H, and Beretta are top on my list and appear to be within walking distance of other things we have planned. I may put Evans and Rigby on ice depending.
Evans is on the same block as Beretta, a three minute walk away. I found the Beretta Gallery to be overly posh and a bit stuffy while the folks at Evans were friendlier. I was in and out of Beretta in 5 minutes but was at Evans for almost half an hour.
Great info. Thanks
I have returned! What an experience. Due to time constraints, I ended up going to Purdey, the Beretta gallery, and Holland and Holland. If you are a shotgun aficionado, and find yourself in London England, I strongly recommend you take the time to see these places. The approach I took at every place was humility and honesty. I was greeted warmly at Purdey by a nice saleslady and just admitted upfront that I was a tourist and wasn’t a buyer. She immediately smiled and asked if I wanted to see the gun room and found me a guy who escorted me.
I forget the gentleman's name at Purdey, but he was patient and polite. I asked him for permission before I took photos as well. It felt a bit awkward knowing I was taking up his time, so I politely told him he didn’t "have to" stay with me just making conversation while I gawked, so he excused himself. Regardless, it was incredible.
This was a stunning 20ga. Case colour was perfect.
Next stop was in Mayfair at Beretta and H+H. They are in the same building FYI.
Beretta has a clothing and accessories store on the main floor. Typical stuff we see here, plus some fancier stuff you would see people wearing at driven shoots etc. The gun room is upstairs. First room had high-end O/U and SxS guns of moderatly high-normal prices. The second room had some dandies (687EELLs and SOs) at much higher prices. I had a nice conversation with a salesman there and again, they allowed me to take photos. I could not find the way into Holland and Holland so I finally asked. The entrance to H+H is actually around the corner through a plain locked door. You press the button marked Holland and Holland to get access. Once upstairs, they meet you at the inner door wich locks behind you.
Holland and Holland was the BEST! I felt like i was there for 20 minutes, but my wife said it was an hour. Emmanuel was fantastic. A very interesting guy who knew I was just a tourist but treated me like a king. We talked about Canadian hunting styles, dog preferences (he is from Brittany, so guess what he owns) history and guns. What impressed me most was the way he never talked down other guns. He even went on to talk about Spanish makers who build guns with H+H type actions. He explained they dont consider them as "knock-offs" or "copies", but rather an homage to the hand made guns of England. He went ahead and opened cases and handed me guns as if it was nothing at all.
This is a 15lb .470 nitro express double rifle with a price tag of 250,000 pounds. In hindsight, the other shops likely would have let me handle the guns had I the balls to ask...As the visit wound down, Emmanuel asked me if I would like a "brochure". I embarrassingly said yes and came away with what I would call a beautiful coffee-table book opposed to a pamphlet (which is what I expected).
While we were at the store, my wife asked if I wanted a hat (30 pounds), but I was caught up in looking at guns and said no. She talked me into returning the next day...
I’m glad she did...it’s for "special" shooting days.
I forget the gentleman's name at Purdey, but he was patient and polite. I asked him for permission before I took photos as well. It felt a bit awkward knowing I was taking up his time, so I politely told him he didn’t "have to" stay with me just making conversation while I gawked, so he excused himself. Regardless, it was incredible.
This was a stunning 20ga. Case colour was perfect.
Next stop was in Mayfair at Beretta and H+H. They are in the same building FYI.
Beretta has a clothing and accessories store on the main floor. Typical stuff we see here, plus some fancier stuff you would see people wearing at driven shoots etc. The gun room is upstairs. First room had high-end O/U and SxS guns of moderatly high-normal prices. The second room had some dandies (687EELLs and SOs) at much higher prices. I had a nice conversation with a salesman there and again, they allowed me to take photos. I could not find the way into Holland and Holland so I finally asked. The entrance to H+H is actually around the corner through a plain locked door. You press the button marked Holland and Holland to get access. Once upstairs, they meet you at the inner door wich locks behind you.
Holland and Holland was the BEST! I felt like i was there for 20 minutes, but my wife said it was an hour. Emmanuel was fantastic. A very interesting guy who knew I was just a tourist but treated me like a king. We talked about Canadian hunting styles, dog preferences (he is from Brittany, so guess what he owns) history and guns. What impressed me most was the way he never talked down other guns. He even went on to talk about Spanish makers who build guns with H+H type actions. He explained they dont consider them as "knock-offs" or "copies", but rather an homage to the hand made guns of England. He went ahead and opened cases and handed me guns as if it was nothing at all.
This is a 15lb .470 nitro express double rifle with a price tag of 250,000 pounds. In hindsight, the other shops likely would have let me handle the guns had I the balls to ask...As the visit wound down, Emmanuel asked me if I would like a "brochure". I embarrassingly said yes and came away with what I would call a beautiful coffee-table book opposed to a pamphlet (which is what I expected).
While we were at the store, my wife asked if I wanted a hat (30 pounds), but I was caught up in looking at guns and said no. She talked me into returning the next day...
I’m glad she did...it’s for "special" shooting days.
