Lock & Load - The Westley Richards Riposte to the London Sidelock

The ‘London pattern sidelock’ became the byword for the styling of a Best game gun at the start of the 20th century. After 50 years of experimentation and development, during which time a host of weird and wonderful contraptions emerged and then re-submerged, the sporting gun strove to become as mechanically efficient, aesthetically pleasing and dynamic handling as possible.

By the time the Purdey, Boss and Holland & Holland sidelocks, which are all mechanically different, adopted a very similar look, Westley Richards stood apart in championing their own proprietary action, which was mechanically different, as well as visually very much at variance, with the offerings of the big London firms.

The design Westley Richards conceived in 1897, which has remained a distinctive and popular choice for sportsmen ever since, is the Taylor patent hand-detachable lock. This, over the years, has become known as the ‘drop-lock’ in many circles.

It was conceived on the back of the success of another great Westley Richards patent: the 1875 Anson & Deeley boxlock. The boxlock revolutionized shotgun design and was the earliest type of hammerless gun to survive into the modern era. It is probably the most widely manufactured action for sporting guns made between 1875 and 1985.

Leslie B. Taylor, who was the managing director of Westley Richards at the time, wanted to make a boxlock variant without outwardly visible pins. He and his gunmakers designed a system by which the boxlock components could be mounted on steel plates and individually slotted into the action from below. This left the action body ‘clean’ for the engraver.

However, it soon became apparent that the hand-detachable locks were also beneficial in other ways. The first observation one makes is the ease with which the locks can be removed and replaced. The operation requires neither tools nor expertise. It is also impossible to put the locks in the wrong way round or place the left lock in the right slot.

The hinged floorplate, which secures the locks, is held in place by a strong latch, the release lever of which is covered by the fore-end iron; this makes it impossible to inadvertently open while the gun is assembled. Nobody wants a lock to drop out mid drive!

“Perhaps the best way to get a sense of these guns is to shoot grouse with a pair on a cool, breezy day, engaging instinctively with the packs of brown bombers as they hurtle towards you"

Being able to remove the locks is a good way of rendering a firearm safe, which can be very useful when it is in transit storage, particularly when travelling. Plus, with an extra set of locks provided, any mechanical fault can be remedied instantly, simply by removing the malfunctioning lock and replacing it with the spare. Routine maintenance is easy to do if the locks can be removed, inspected, cleaned and lubricated by the sportsman, without the need for a bench or any tools.

All these features make the Westley Richards hand-detachable lock probably the most practical configuration for assembling a sporting gun or rifle. These advantages have, doubtless, helped it survive for over 120 years.

Today, it is still the most popular new order at Westley Richards, for both shotgun and double rifle applications. The lock itself consists of a mainspring, a tumbler, a sear, a sear spring and a cocking dog: five components. If you include the lock plate and the tumbler pivot: seven. Because these parts are few, they can be made robust, meaning they almost never fail. The dependability of the drop-lock is legendary.

Westley Richards today is a modern factory but gunmakers still stand at windows with a file and a smoke lamp, making and fitting parts by hand in the way gunmakers always have. The building in Pritchett Street, just across the road from the centre of the old Gun Quarter, was significantly remodelled in 2008 and is now among the best in the country, while retaining the atmospheric, old-world appearance of a Victorian factory.

Although the company has been making drop-locks since the steam age, the quest for perfection continues; every facet of the gun is subjected to intense scrutiny, with the intent being to make every incremental improvement possible. The result is that today’s Westley Richards drop-locks are the best that have ever been made.

Close inspection of a pair of locks reveals them to be works of art in their own right, with every surface carefully jewelled, pins engraved and even, sometimes, gold inlaid. The level of fit and finish is remarkable.

While the hand-detachable-lock rifle, famed for its reliability, is a favourite among African hunters of dangerous game, the action has also long been a staple of the grouse moor and pheasant covert.

“In the ‘20s, a ‘modéle de luxe’ with hand-detachable locks, was considered to be the pinnacle of sporting shotguns.”

In the 1920s, a Westley Richards ‘Modéle de Luxe’ with hand-detachable locks, Westley Richards patent single trigger and Deeley patent ejectors were considered by many to be the pinnacle of sporting shotguns.

The same model is still being made in Birmingham today, with small bores being a favourite among American customers. Made to scale in 20-bore, 28-bore and even .410, the drop-lock is an exquisitely balanced and supremely effective sporting shotgun.

Along with their unsurpassed levels of finish, today’s guns are often made in Super de Luxe quality, with bespoke engraving by one of the world’s premier engravers. Nothing artistic is off the table and some special orders can take years to engrave, adding multiples of the cost of the gun to the final bill.

However, a significant number of customers still enjoy the classic ‘Modéle de Grande Luxe’ style of engraving that featured on the company’s guns in the early 20th century. Sometimes subtly embellished with a little gold inlay or deeper carving, they still retain their heritage aesthetic, which is timeless and tasteful.

Perhaps the best way to get a sense of these guns is to shoot grouse with a pair on a cool, breezy day, engaging instinctively with the packs of brown bombers as they hurtle towards your butt, hugging the contours of the heather-clad ground.

With no time to overthink your shots, mind, body and guns have to work fluidly, in unison, to launch your ounce of lead towards that ever-changing target: two birds forward, two behind. When they begin to bounce into the heather, one after another, successfully engaged and belly up, you pause to wonder what magic has just occurred. When you and your guns are one, when the process seems to be taking on momentum and a life of its own, you know you are in perfect symmetry.

Then, the intricacies of the mechanism, the genius of the designer, and the years of gunmakers’ experience, all dissolve into immediate irrelevance – while their relevance is actually condensed into the momentary perfection of executing that perfect right and left.

That moment is the one in which it all makes sense; when it all becomes worth it.