Malcolm Grendon is the man to go to if you have a Beretta. Or a Franchi, Benelli, Sako or Tikka. GMK import these guns and their workshop will service them for you with consummate skill. A service, adjustment, or

MALCOLM GRENDON: TOP 10 GUNSMITHS

Malcolm Grendon is the workshop manager at GMK. In common with all members of his workshop team, he works at great pace in a modern environment. He started at GMK in 1986 and, while working as a junior, completed a formal apprenticeship under Gordon Swatton (now at William Evans). He is particularly strong on the latest methods. It is a necessity in his situation. And is as much engineer as gunsmith being qualified in mechanical engineering and toolmaking as well as gunsmithing. The GMK workshop has an outstanding reputation. It can take on any work on Beretta, Franchi, Bennelli, Sako and Tikka guns, setting industry standards for quality of workmanship and speed of completion.

The operation of the GMK workshop is organised rather like a Formula 1 pit crew. No observer can fail to be impressed when the air-powered wrenches start whirring and a gun is taken apart or re-assembled in seconds. “We do warranty work, repairs and a significant number of modifications. There is a huge range of tasks, from basic overhauls to replacements of components such as firing pins and springs, rebarrelling, restocking sidelocks. Nearly everything is done in-house, including stocking. Some work is done traditionally. Some work done by using techniques developed here or passed on from our suppliers,” Malcolm Grendon explains. He also sits on a Beretta focus group that considers new models. Tel 01489 579999; website.