Comments, Quotes and Accolades

“Boss make a beautiful gun. They employ the highest level of old-school craftsmanship, and their old-fashioned values make them the very best to my mind.”

Eric Clapton. Speaking to Sporting Gazette “The Blues Boss” by Charlie Berridge


“Often described as the ‘gunmakers’ gunmaker’, owing to the fact they are the gun most professional gunmakers would choose to buy if they could, Boss continues to make handcrafted guns in much the same way as it did in the 1800s.”

Selena Barr. Square Mile. December 2018


“The Boss is visually the most exciting and sexy of all the classic over and under designs.”

Gavin Gardiner. Fine Gun Auctioneer


“In theory, any gunmaker should be able to make a best gun; the reality is far more disappointing. You could search London’s numerous gunmakers many times over and still not find something that matches the quality of a ‘best’ gun. Or you could just go to Boss & Co.”

Sam Kessler. OT Magazine. September 2017


“The Boss over and under was undoubtedly a ground-breaking piece of design and the first to embody the slender elegance and unsurpassed balance associated with best English guns.”

Christopher Beaumont – Holts Auctioneers


“Its resistance to mass production techniques in this modern age is much admired by the connoisseur.”

David Gardiner, Hedge magazine. Issue 54


“The Boss round body certainly makes for a very slim and elegant design much copied by other makers.”

Donald Dallas, Author. Best Gunmakers, 2nd Edition


“When you shoot a Boss, you understand why top shooters and collectors have such high opinions of these guns. Not only is a Boss beautiful, but it also feels alive when you handle it.”

The Gentlemen’s Journal. Only The Best. 2017


“The distinctive quality of the Boss gun, granting the finest workmanship and best materials, is style. This is a somewhat elusive property, the equivalent in quality to a good racehorse or beauty in a fine yacht.”

Arms and Explosives. 1902


“The neatness of the action and barrels together is very marked, the workmanship being in the usual Boss superior style and finish.”

The Country Gentleman. (Boss O/U)


“A much-needed improvement in shotguns. Never since the introduction of the three-pull single trigger, which inspired so much emulation in the gun world, has any improvement roused our interest so much as the improvement just effected by Mr. John Robertson of Boss & Co.”

The Shooting Times. (Boss O/U)


“For reliability, efficiency and safety, The Boss single trigger gun can, with confidence, be recommended to sportsman.”

Rod and Gun. 1900.


“The name Boss & Co is to guns what Rolls-Royce is to cars, except that Boss’s history is considerably longer.”

Simon DeBurton. Boat International. September 2018


Boss & Co is still a privately-owned firm and at its factory in Kew, south-west London, it builds what are probably the most exclusive guns in the world. Building exquisite guns and rifles is what Boss does; the company does not sell clothing, shooting accessories and the like. Boss & Co’s gunmakers are, quite simply, the “builders of best guns only.”

Donald Dallas. British Gunmakers of the 21st Century. The Field. August 2019


“Boss inventions and innovations changed the way other gunmakers produced their guns and shaped the gunmaking industry we know today.”

Jeremy Webb. Luxurious Magazine. November 2018


“They might make their guns in a small workshop rather than a factory, but that’s why they’re the only smith to still make truly handmade guns.”

Sam Kessler. OT Magazine. Innovation as Craft. January 2019


“Unlike other gunmakers, Boss has not embraced modern machinery and electronic fads. They believe the only way to build the finest firearms in the world is by hand with skilled craftsmen.”

The Gentleman’s Journal. Only the Best. 2017


“It’s hard to express just what a Boss gun actually is for one simple reason: A Boss gun is different for every owner.”

Sam Kessler. OT Magazine. Innovation as Craft. January 2019


“Boss developed the aesthetic of the rounded action bar for side-by-sides and no-one has ever been able to better it.”

Shooting Times. Boss Single Trigger. July 2008


“It is a gun that is still entirely made by hand by Boss and is the most complicated and time-consuming gun to build. It is for this reason that they are rare and highly desirable.”

Gavin Gardiner. Fine Gun Auctioneer


“Boss have been enormously influential in so many areas. Famous as makers of ‘best guns only’, they created not only a reliable mechanical single trigger mechanism, but also a much copied over-under action design.”

Shooting Times. Boss Single Trigger. July 2008


“Boss is unique amongst British gunmakers in that the company builds best guns only. Building best guns only, coupled with a relatively small production, gives Boss & Co an exclusivity over all other gun manufacturers and is the reason why it is held in such high esteem today.”

Donald Dallas. British Gunmakers of the 21st Century. The Field. August 2019


“No two guns are alike, and every part of the gun is bespoke, from the type of rib required, action shape and so on. The lines of the gun or rifle are paramount to Boss, hence its lack of adoption of CNC machinery, which tends to turn out very similar guns.”

Donald Dallas. British Gunmakers of the 21st Century. The Field. August 2019


“The Boss single trigger is renowned for reliability, and coupled with the Boss hallmark of quality, it is easy to understand why Boss guns are so highly sought after.”

International Excellence Magazine