Lock, Stock & Barrel, Cyril Adams & Robert Braden

This is an enjoyable and informative read.  There are two sections to the book, one is primarily about the history and the process of making an English side by side shotgun and what makes a gun a London “best gun”.  The other part is about shooting with consistency.

I picked up this book because I have always been interested in English double rifles and shotguns and I recently purchased a Boss 20 bore side by side boxlock gun that was once owned by the author Cyril Adams.  I had some help in finding and purchasing the gun from a friend that has some familiarity with this type of gun.  I would like to invest in other vintage shotguns however it can be a large investment and one needs to know what they are doing to assure a wise purchase. 

The book is a quick read and informative about a lot of subjects.  I learned that there is a large difference in the process of building a fine English gun and the more mass-produced American guns.  Also, there are a lot of misconseptions about many topics in the shotgun world from the material barrels are made of to chokes and a lot of topics in between.  I still would like to learn a lot more about these guns that are working forms of art, however I believe this book gives a great overall picture of the history and the process in building the guns.

I also found the section about shooting with consistency informative.  The authors have a lot of experience wing shooting all over the world and this section provides many helpful illustrations and tips for improving shooting consistency. 

In all this is a well written book and a strong recommend for anyone considering purchasing a vintage English Gun and for anyone who would like to improve their shooting skills.