Read more about the ‘1812 Edition’ Family | The Field | Fieldsports | Sporting Classics
Circa 1920, Boss & Co produced a booklet to describe their guns to interested buyers. That booklet started with two paragraphs, and remarkably, both statements remain as true today as they did in the 1920s. They perfectly describe an ethos that has been steadfast in the company throughout its lifetime:
“We would say from the outset that we make only one grade of gun and have never placed a second quality make upon the market. This policy has enabled us to retain the services of the finest workmen in London, and to give them continuous employment. The advantages attending the production of best work only are manifold. There is no opportunity for the work of inferior men to be utilised in the economy of the workshop, which is frequently the case when more than one class of weapon is produced.
The owner of a Boss & Co gun has the satisfaction of knowing that he has the best gun that money can buy, and that no one has a better gun. The Boss & Co gun has, therefore, always a standard value whether new or second hand. Our output is strictly limited according to the amount of first class labour available.”
Boss & Co is London’s oldest gunmaker, established in 1812. It remains privately-owned, which it has been since its conception.
Boss & Co has a rich heritage and history. Our founding fathers were true innovators, inventing and perfecting many of the actions that define the gun world. We still continue to make these same “Best Guns Only” by hand to this day.
Boss & Co continues today in private ownership as it has since its founding in 1812. Its current owner is Arthur DeMoulas, a man with both a long-standing knowledge of, and appreciation for, the company.
With full workbenches and an extended team of master craftsmen, the next stage of Arthur’s vision is finally in motion. He is revitalising the excitement for innovation that was seen at Boss & Co during the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The creation of a Boss & Co gun uses methods perfected by our founder Thomas Boss, along with many others who have contributed to our heritage for over 200 years.
In a world where gunmaking is increasingly performed by machines, and where competitors owned by luxury groups have diversified into areas such as lifestyle clothing, Boss & Co continues as it always has: privately owned, making only Best Guns and using traditional craftsmanship and handmade construction.
Our forefathers worked for centuries honing techniques to guarantee a quality that is only offered by a handmade gun. These processes have been passed down from generation to generation and are used to this day at our London factory.
Several gunmakers used their fertile imagination to come up with ingenious inventions to aid victory in WW1, and Boss was no exception.
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Thomas Boss had set up on his own in the 1820s moving through various changes of address until he settled at 76 St James’s Street in 1837 and then two years later in 1839 moved along the street to the well-known address, 73 St James’s Street.
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Caring for your Boss & Co shotgun is a relatively simple process, a five-minute clean after shooting, back in the gun cupboard and then only taken out again at the next shoot.
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