Atkin, Grant and Lang

Don Masters was a leading figure in the British gunmaking business for decades. His previous book on the Churchill gun company received universal praise. Well known for his accurate and meticulous research, Masters undertook the detailed history of the gunmakers that would eventually be known as Atkin, Grant & Lang. However, this book is more than a simple history of the firms of Henry Atkin, established in 1877, Stephen Grant, founded in 1867, and Joseph Lang, formed in 1825. It is also the history of these three makers and their several relatives making guns under their own names. In addition, because of their long and colourful history throughout three centuries, many other companies whose histories are intertwined with Atkin, Grant & Lang are covered: Hussey, Woodward, Lancaster, Watson, Harrison, Beesley, Hellis, and Wright. Each company had a long, successful run in making double guns, mainly shotguns. Until World War I, the British sporting gun reigned supreme, but after that cataclysmic war, the fortunes of the industry changed drastically and after World War II went into a severe decline. All three firms, however, managed to hold on until eventually they were merged to form the famous trio. In the pages of this book you can learn all the details of the gunmakers: dates, premises, main employees, rises and declines in sales fortunes, as well as the many interesting historical anecdotes and insights we have come to expect from Don Masters. This is a must-have reference work containing numerous illustrations in black and white and colour, written by a man who undertook more research into the extensive archives of all these gunmakers than any other person.