SERVICING A LONDON GUN

The experts are often best at disassembling a gun.

What should you do if you own a London gun? Andrew Ambrose, gunroom manager at Holland & Holland, says, “We suggest to our customers who shoot regularly that an annual service makes sense and is a cost-effective way of keeping a capital gun in good condition. Obviously, if a gun has not been used, it may not need servicing as frequently, with the caveat that sometimes storage of itself can create issues such as oil seeping into wood (which is why many store their guns muzzle-down in cabinets), and rusting, which is a particular problem if it is affects the joints between barrels and ribs.”

Ambrose continues, “Generally, our standard service is particularly comprehensive and would involve the action not only being completely disassembled but also being removed from the butt. Similarly, the fore-end iron and the components therein would be taken off the wood. We take every metal part and boil and then clean them by hand. They are dried off, lubricated and checked for wear before re-assembly. Often a part that is likely to fail may be spotted and pre-emptive action taken. That said, one cannot always predict when a mainspring might fail. Our service takes four-and-a-half hours and if no new parts are fitted this would cost £325 excluding VAT.” Rust re-moval would add to the cost.

If you are not quite sure when your gun was last serviced, compare the cost of having it done with the disappointment and expense of losing a day’s shooting due to gun malfunction. And if you decide a service is in order, it’s best that you arrange for it to be done now, before next season is upon us.