The Ledger

In these times it’s all too easy to forget the impact our little but great nation has had on the world. Our nation’s world standing has always been driven through a desire to expand and explore from our small island, and to discover what lies beyond.

With all expansion comes problems, challenges that need to be overcome and solving these efficiently is the key to success. Engineering, “the science of solving practical problems”, is the area that our little nation, our Great Britain has always excelled and in no stronger field than Gun Making. Our Gun Makers set the benchmark for the world and perfected both sporting and military gun production. It’s from this rich history and heritage, and pride of our great engineers, that Francis and I started our expansion and quest to build the new Stephen Grant.

The practical problem we needed to solve was clear! We needed to design and manufacture a totally new British built over and under for the twenty first century. We set ourselves some base design objectives…

It had to be honest, a totally new design, not a copy or action bought from another manufacturer. It had to be worthy of carrying the name Stephen Grant & Sons, to continue the legacy of this maker rather than devaluing it by plagiarism or continental outsourcing. 

It had to be beautiful, a stand out design with a retro look that conformed to its peers, finished by craftsmen and artisans in the traditional way to the highest standard, without the use of lasers for chequering and engraving.

It had to be authentically British, from design to engineering, components to manufacturing.

It had to handle exquisitely, fine and balanced, fitted so as to feel like an extension of the person shooting it.

It had to be affordable yet still exclusive, not a museum piece or overly precious.

And lastly and most importantly it had to be reliable, robust, work when hot, when cold, in the wet, with all cartridges and in all situations in any part of the world.

These were our red lines and we were not going to cross them at any cost.

To achieve these objectives and solve these problems we called upon time served professionals and true engineers of the British Gun Making industry; Lee Butler, Don Custerson and longstanding employee of Atkin Grant and Lang Alan Bower. For the next eighteen months we worked tirelessly together on the design and manufacturing process, never forgetting our design objectives and in March 2016 we were rewarded. The very first Stephen Grant twelve bore Round Action Over and Under, serial number 25013, passed London proof and a dream was realised.

All we needed to do now was to sell them. Priced at £28,000 Inc. vat we launched the new Grant at The Cornbury Park Game Fair. The gun spent three days on the clay line being used constantly in the July heat and proved its reliability to all.

By the autumn of 2016 our hard work was rewarded further as the order book filled up, exceeding our expectations. The following year saw the completion of the 20 bore and 16 bore design and with it came more orders! Production was increased as we scaled up to meet demand. This year will see the launch of a 28 bore on a dedicated action size completing the range and ready to take on the US market.

We are immensely thankful and proud of these amazing engineers called Gun Makers who keep alive knowledge and skills that have been passed down through the generations. They rarely get the credit they deserve. No one sees their bridges, great railways or ships but their legacy, and that of every Gun Maker from this Great Nation, is built in to our guns.

For more information regarding our Stephen Grant Round Action Over and Under, please contact our Sales Manager Tom Cosby.

01582 849382 ~ tom@agl-uk.com