Birmingham gun-making quality has stood test of time
Nov 30 2009 By Alun Thorne
It is a meticulous endeavour. Westley Richards remains one of the world’s leading names in the gun making world thanks to its unprecedented history and it is the attention to detail that continues to stand their guns apart from the rest.
“Every single part of the gun is created on site,” said Karena Clode, whose grandfather Walter – the current chairman – acquired the firm in the 1950s, which is now run by her father Simon.
“We don’t farm anything out and we don’t want a more automated process. It is about controlling quality. We know we can trace every part of every gun. The fact that Westley Richards guns made in the early 1900s are still being used is testament to that.”
Since their inception the Westley Richards gun has been at the forefront of innovation and over the years the company has secured dozens of patents, Gold Medals and the Royal Warrants for their design and development – the Anson & Deeley action, invented in part by John Deeley who was managing director of the firm in the 1870s – is still the most successful and widely used mechanism in gunmaking today.
Today, technology does have a part to play and the company is a leading manufacturer of press tools and uses its own modern, computer controlled milling machines and wire and spark eroders to produce the blank components of the gun’s mechanism.
This is just the starting point however and it is the many hours of hand fitting and finishing of these components and the other elements of the gun that make the process so laborious but also why a Westley Richards remains a prized possession for those who understand their guns.
Karena said: “We are seeing some really good business at the moment having picked up another three gun orders in the last two weeks. We’ve been really busy, having recently taken on three new apprentices and we are looking at new apprentices for the next year. It is important we find the right people with their hearts in the trade because it is a seven year apprenticeship.
“It is a two year turnaround for a shotgun or a double rifle and 18 months for a bolt action rifle. The bolt actions start at around £15,000, shotguns at £29,500 and double rifles £30,000 – then the engraving on a gun can be thousands with the cost of some guns rising up to £100,000.”
At the same price as an upmarket family car for even the standard model, one might imagine that Westley Richards was exposed to challenges of the recent economic downturn but not a bit of it, said Karena.
“Our gun sales have gone up as the markets have gone down,” she said. “We have taken 40 orders over the last 12 months and considering that we only turn around between 28 and 32 guns a year, that is massive for us.” And in terms of potential markets, the brand continues to resonate across the globe. “We do lots of business in the US, which is why we have a US agency in Montana,” said Karena.
“At the moment we have orders from the Qatari Royal Family, the Lebanese Prime Minister and the King of Spain actually came to Birmingham to collect his new gun – I remember we had to get my dad to come in from home where he was watching the England match.
“And Tom Selleck and his brother both had a couple off us last year as well.”
She refrained from the obvious Magnum joke.
