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Marcus Janssen visits Watson Bros., a small, independently-owned
London gunmaking firm that still does things the old way.
Iwonder how many people, when asked to name as many London
gunmakers as they can, would mention Watson Bros.? Despite being
founded almost 150 years ago, and boasting an excellent reputation
for best sidelock shotguns, I would wager at least a tenner that
Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman would give them an
impressively low score on Pointless. I wonder why that is?
Well, it might have something to do with the
fact that they only produce 12 to 15 guns and rifles per year,
or the fact that for more than half of the 20th century not a
single Watson Bros. gun was produced. It could also have something
to do with how difficult it is to find their premises.
I was pretty certain that I was at the right address – I had
repeated it to proprietor Michael Louca over the phone a few days
earlier – and yet I was pretty certain that I was
at the wrong address. I called the office number from my
mobile.
“Hi Staci. I’m afraid I must have taken a wrong turn. I’m stood
outside a nondescript front door, behind which I am pretty certain
is a derelict flat or shop. Can you give me your address again,
please.” At that, the door opened and Staci greeted me with a
smile. “Welcome to Watson Bros.,” she said cheerily, before leading
me into the workshop where a team
Flying under theradarof gunmakers were hard at work on a range
of spectacular-looking shotguns, including a mighty 4 bore
wildfowling gun.
Intrigued, I followed Staci into Michael’s office, a veritable
treasure trove of gunmaking and sporting paraphenalia and
memorabilia. Every table, shelf, windowsill and ledge was cluttered
with trinkets, gadgets, journals, books, maps, guncases and
luggage, the walls were adorned with a range of taxidermy, and
the
floor was strewn with rugs, skins and the odd lion head. It
was
like taking a step back in time.
“Have a seat,” said Michael, as he cleared a number of guncases
from a Chesterfield sofa.
H I S T O R YWatson Bros. was founded in 1875 by Thomas Watson,
a gunmaker who had taken over the London premises of Durs Egg, a
Swiss-born British gunmaker noted for his flintlock pistols and his
company’s production of the Ferguson rifle.
Within a few years, Thomas Watson had established a reputation
for producing fine smallbore shotguns for ladies and boys. In 1885,
his two sons joined the firm, both of whom remained integral to the
business for many years to come.
In 1935, however, the company of Stephen Grant and Joseph
Lang
(Grant & Lang) bought Watson Bros., and shortly
thereafter, one of Thomas Watson’s sons – Arthur H. Watson –
became sales director of the company. Although the company’s name
was kept alive under the Grant & Lang banner, it was not until
1984 that it was once again seen above any gunmaking premises
(albeit as part of an amalgamation of Charles Hellis, Frederick
Beesley and Watson Bros., which was then owned by Fred Buller).
However, in 1989, Buller sold the business to its current
proprietor, Michael Louca. “When I bought the company, no guns had
been produced under the Watson Bros. name for about 50 years,”
explains Michael. But that was about to change.
A N E W L E A S E O F L I F EMore than 25 years later, the names
‘Michael
Louca’ and ‘Watson Bros.’ have become inextricably linked.
Indeed, anyone who knows anything about the firm will tell you that
Michael Louca is Watson Bros.
Born in Stepney, East London, in 1961, Michael secured a
gunmaking apprenticeship at James Purdey & Sons when he was 17
and remained there for the
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next nine years, honing his craft as a barrel-maker and
actioner. Thereafter, he set up on
his own in Canterbury, making barrels for the trade and a number
of private clients,
which he did for the next eight years. But during this time, as
his
client list and reputation grew, he also started to build
some new guns out of his small workshop
at home.
“I was actually making guns before I had a company name,” he
explains, “but I always wanted to set up on my own, so when the
opportunity to acquire the name came about in 1989, it seemed a
perfect fit.”
Michael’s next step was to find suitable London premises (Watson
Bros. had always been based in London), and by 1990 he had set up
shop in a building on Red Cross Way at London Bridge, which he
rented for the next six years (he eventually bought the building in
2006). It was from these premises that he started producing
distinctive round-body sidelock side-by-sides with coffin-shaped
backs. These guns, based on the Beesley self-opening design, were
the first in more than 50 years to be engraved with the Watson
Bros. name. They also fitted perfectly with the
company’s long-established reputation for fine lightweight,
smallbore shotguns.
“I loved the idea of taking a classic design and modernising
it,” he explains.
“And that is exactly what we did with our round-body
side-by-
side.”But Michael isn’t one
for resting on his laurels – he had further ambitions to produce
an innovative over-under as well. “I started looking at the
classic Woodward and Boss designs,”
he continues, “and I soon
realised that I wanted to make something completely different; I
wanted to make a really lightweight over-under. Everybody else’s
was at least a pound more in weight than their side-by-side, and I
was convinced that this wasn’t necessary.”
So, for the next two years, Michael spent a great deal of time
designing, redesigning, developing and refining his lightweight
over-under shotgun, finally launching it in 1995.
With a brand new lightweight ejector system (which Michael
designed from scratch), a smaller, round-bodied action, and barrels
made entirely in-house, Michael was able to produce an over-under
at the same weight as the equivalent side-by-side (i.e. 6lb 8oz for
a 30” 12 bore). “This got rid of the need to downsize to a smaller
bore if one wanted a lighter gun,” adds Michael.
But of course, in recent years there has been a trend towards
higher pheasants, longer barrels, bigger loads and faster, hotter
cartridges, which Michael’s lightweight gun – or indeed any
handmade English gun – wassimply not designed for.
So, two years ago, Michael decided to design a new ejector
system and a heavier actioned over-under to cope with modern
cartridges. Nowadays, all Watson Bros. over-unders are built on
this heavier action (a 12 bore with 30” barrels now weighs in the
region of 7¼ lb).
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With four full-time gunmakers – Ryan Glyde (barrel-maker), James
Brown (actioner), ShaneScase (finisher) and Bradley
Topley(apprentice) – every Watson Bros. gun is entirely handmade in
theirfactory in London.
Indeed, only best sidelock g uns (and a few double rifles) are
produced, with every one boasting exhibition-grade wood and best
hand-engraving. They generally use five different European and
British engravers to produce a range of different styles of
engraving. “There is no point in having an in-house engraver
because there is such incredible talent out there, and of course
each client will have different expectations and tastes,” says
Michael.
An average of 600-700 man-hours goes into the making of each
Watson Bros. shotgun (barrels: 60 hours; action: 150 hours; ejector
work: 40 hours; stock: 150 hours; regulating the gun: 50 hours;
polishing: 50 hours; engraving: 100 hours; finishing: 150 hours),
so from order to delivery takes an average of 18 months.
Having said that, with popular combinations such as a 30” 12
bore over-under, they will make them up to a point and have the
components ready to complete within 14 months. They also carry a
few new guns ready for delivery immediately (they currently have a
pair of 12 bore side-by-sides, a pair of 20 bore side-by-sides and
a couple of 12 bore over-unders) for clients who don’t want to wait
18 months for a new gun.
Between 12 and 15 guns are produced per year, including one or
two over-under and side-by-side double rifles (at present, they
have a .375 H&H over-under, a couple of .300 H&H
side-by-sides and two .500 NE side-by-sides on order).
Shotguns tend to be a range of gauges, with 12 bores making up
about 50 per cent of orders and the rest being a mix of 20s, 28s
and .410s. In addition, they have produced a number of 4 bores,
with three going through the workshop at the moment.
“Regardless of the gauge, all of our guns are incredibly well
balanced,” says Michael. “Which comes down to the fact that we
still make every component, including the chopper lump barrels,
in-house. This gives us complete control over every aspect of a
gun’s balance and how it will feel in the hands. At the end of the
day, our guns are built to be used in the field, and I firmly
believe that a gun can enhance that experience.”
Michael also asserts that modern technology and machinery might
have made gunmaking a lot easier and faster, but it hasn’t improved
the end product. “Remember, with CNC, you have to design the gun to
suit the machining process. When you build a gun by hand, the
traditional way, you design the gun first and then make the
components to suit that design. The end result? A gun that isn’t
just pretty, it is perfectly balanced and a genuine joy to
use.”
If you want to visit Watson Bros. and see and feel some of their
guns firsthand, you’ll need to make an appointment. Oh, and you’ll
also need a map.
www.watsonbrosgunmakers.com