How the Boxlock Shotgun Became a Standard

If you’ve ever fired a side-by-side or over-under, there’s a 99.9% chance your hands have touched one of Westley Richards’s patents. Westley Richards & Co. opened for business in 1812, and in the 19th century, they invented the top-lever, the rib extension, the dolls head, and, as noted, the boxlock shotgun. Called the “Anson & Deeley Hammerless Gun” when it was introduced, the gun was a revelation—and a revolution. It had all the hammerless-shotgun benefits already mentioned plus it was easy to open, cock, load, and fire. A famous Victorian shooter wrote “... I most highly and thoroughly approve of this gun, and most strongly recommend it to my brother sportsmen.” So why didn’t the boxlock take over the British shooting world? One word: snobbery.