Product Details
BROWNING ARMS CO.
A UNIQUE 'ONE OF ONE' ASTON MARTIN THEMED 12-BORE 'B25' SINGLE-TRIGGER OVER AND UNDER EJECTOR, serial no. RC4952,
28in. nitro barrels with 8mm ventilated matt top-rib with intermediate bead sight, 2 3/4in. chambers, bored approx. 1/4 and 1/2 choke, hold-open toplever, manual safety with integral barrel selector switch, satin finish action with stylised matt baroque scrollwork, the sides with matted panels with detailed representations of a V8 Vantage Volante on the left side and a Short-Wheelbase Vantage Volante on the right, the underside with the officially sanctioned Aston Martin wings, the triggerguard inlaid in gold and rose gold with the Newport Pagnell factory, with 'WORKS SERVICE. NEWPORT PAGNELL' and the Aston Martin wings, the triggerplate signed 'D. Matagne', 14 3/8in. boldly-figured pistolgrip stock with finely chequered butt, weight 7lb. 3oz., in its lightweight leather case
Provenance: The vendor has kindly confirmed that this shotgun has seen light use only, having fired no more than 500 cartridges.
Literature: Below is the text of the original article that appeared with the gun in the Aston Martin Magazine, issue 1, 2007. We are grateful to the author Kip Springer, and to the magazine, for allowing its reproduction here.
"If your twin passions happen to be shooting and Aston Martin motorcars it makes sense to try and combine the two. But the question is how? Ron Collier has found a way: by commissioning a bespoke Browning shotgun with a breech that is exquisitely engraved with images of the two finest cars he has ever owned: a rare short-wheelbase Vantage Volante and his current Aston Martin, a stunning, remarkably low-mileage V8 Vantage Volante from the twilight years of Newport Pagnell production. Mr. Collier ordered the bespoke 12-bore from the legendary Browning factory at the start of 2006 and, after more than a year of waiting patiently, he recently took delivery not just of the made-to-measure shotgun of his dreams but also of a unique tribute to the Aston Martin marque.
'In my opinion an Aston Martin is all about craftsmanship and hand-finishing, and the same applies to a taylor-made gun. The two go hand-in-glove. My car was one of the very last of its kind to be built at the Newport Pagnell factory and, with production ceasing soon, I thought it seemed appropriate to commission a gun that somehow commemorated this series of cars. The V8 Vantage Volante that I now own has covered just 1,300 miles from new - it is unique and irreplaceable has always been looked after by Works Service.'
Mr. Collier chose the Belgian-based Browning company to build his bespoke gun partly because of the brand's long-standing reputation for making famously reliable firearms and partly because he has used its guns throughout the years he has been shooting. The company's history of producing the best quality handcrafted products began with the birth of John Moses Browning in Utah in 1855. His father was a gunsmith and John was one of a startling 22 children.
The young Browning is said to have known every part of a gun before he could read, so it was natural that he should enter the family business and bring it to worldwide prominence through his inventive genius. From his first patent lodged in 1878 for a new percussion mechanism to the 9mm semi-automatic pistol for which he is most famous, the Browning story is one of almost unbroken success. During the early 1900s the firm formed a manufacturing deal with the Belgian Fabrique National [sic] - the national weapons factory - through which more than 10 million Browning pistols have been sold to armies and police forces throughout the world during the past 100 years. The Herstal factory remains the European base of Browning today and, although it produces a range of high-quality, computer-designed and manufactured weapons, it still offers a bespoke service where every part of the gun is made by hand, as is the case with Mr. Collier's B25 model.
Despite the excellence of his new B25 or its exquisite engraving, however, it is unlikely that Mr. Collier will be able to match his 19-year old son Lawrence for accuracy - he is the junior world champion in the demanding discipline of Olympic Skeet and, as a member of the Great Britain Shooting Team, is currently hoping to compete in next year's Beijing Olympics."
S2
| Lot Price: | £16,000.00 |
| No VAT: | - |
| Buyers Premium inc VAT: | £4,800.00 |
| Total Price: | £20,800.00 |