WAB
AH ambassador
I was recently in London for the annual gunmakers dinner. I stay with friends in the trade when I’m in London. We had some time before the dinner so we stopped by Hatfield House to visit Carl Russell’s shop.
Carl is a respected gunmaker in his own right, and his shop reflects his passion for the sport and trade.
I’ve been on the lookout for a solid Birmingham gun. I was chatting with Carl about what I was looking for, and as it turned out he had just taken three guns in from an estate. Two were not to his standard, but the third, as it turned out, was exactly what I was after. The price was such that there was no negotiation at all.
As you can see, it’s a Thomas Bland in classic game gun configuration. Don’t let the address fool you, although they had a London shop, the gun is a solid Birmingham boxlock.
Carl is stripping the gun and giving it a thorough going over. Buying from someone of his reputation and capability takes a lot of the risk out of an older gun.
This is the third firearm I have brought in from the UK. The other two I handled myself with a simple Form 6 and carry home. Changes in BATF requirements have made this no longer possible. It is still quite simple, and I had the US import permit within 24 hours. We are now waiting on the UK export permit. In the interim, a good friend, who is an engraver on the Gunmakers assessment panel, is engraving our family coat of arms on the stock oval.
I’ll provide an update on final import costs and timing. At a high level, the total import cost will be sub $1k and timing is likely to be about two months.
Carl is a respected gunmaker in his own right, and his shop reflects his passion for the sport and trade.
I’ve been on the lookout for a solid Birmingham gun. I was chatting with Carl about what I was looking for, and as it turned out he had just taken three guns in from an estate. Two were not to his standard, but the third, as it turned out, was exactly what I was after. The price was such that there was no negotiation at all.
As you can see, it’s a Thomas Bland in classic game gun configuration. Don’t let the address fool you, although they had a London shop, the gun is a solid Birmingham boxlock.
Carl is stripping the gun and giving it a thorough going over. Buying from someone of his reputation and capability takes a lot of the risk out of an older gun.
This is the third firearm I have brought in from the UK. The other two I handled myself with a simple Form 6 and carry home. Changes in BATF requirements have made this no longer possible. It is still quite simple, and I had the US import permit within 24 hours. We are now waiting on the UK export permit. In the interim, a good friend, who is an engraver on the Gunmakers assessment panel, is engraving our family coat of arms on the stock oval.
I’ll provide an update on final import costs and timing. At a high level, the total import cost will be sub $1k and timing is likely to be about two months.
