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92 SPORTING GUN JULY 2017 www.shootinguk.co.uk

Household nameOut of the many British gunmakers that have disappeared into history, there are a few whose legacy still makes them a household name among the shooting fraternityWORDS ROBERT MORGAN PICTURES ANDREW ORR/HOLTS

not want to give away such a huge amount

of money to a man whose design had not

been tested in the fi eld. Manton, angered,

patented his design, attempting to twist

the army’s hand into making him a deal.

The army came back by o� ering him one

farthing for each shell they produced, but

Manton refused to accept, demanding

more. Surprisingly for Manton, the army

stood their ground and a new o� er was not

forthcoming. Joseph Manton was suddenly

faced with the prospect of having spent a

great deal of time and money, much of it

his own, into developing a weapon that the

army would not use. He returned a new

o� er to the army, whereby the army could

make the shells without paying royalties,

but allowing Manton to produce the

wooden cups. The Army refused.

Having spent more than a decade in

unsuccessful legal battles against the

Board of Ordnance, Joseph lost his vast

fortunes and was declared bankrupt in

1826. His entire workshop in Oxford Street

was seized and his stock of guns bought by

Joseph Lang, an aspiring gundealer whose

company would eventually become part of

Atkin, Grant and Lang.

Famous employeesAs well as leaving collectors and shooters

some of the fi nest antique arms ever

produced, many famous names were either

employees or apprentices of Joseph’s,

including James Purdey, William Greener,

Thomas Boss and Charles Lancaster.

More recently, the name Joseph Manton

has resurfaced and is again being used

by a company producing very limited,

bespoke shotguns, including an extremely

unusual three barrelled example, a fi ne

legacy indeed. SG

Considering the vast numbers

of gunmakers that operated

in Britain during Georgian

and Victorian times, very few

have stood the test of time

and still operate today. Out of the many

that disappeared into the pages of history

there are a few “greats”, whose legacy still

makes them a household name among

the shooting fraternity. Probably the most

famous of these would be Joseph Manton.

Exceptionally fi ne weaponsArriving in London in 1789, Joseph Manton

initially worked for his brother John, also

rated as one of the fi nest gunmakers that

has ever lived. Joseph always believed his

way was better though, and soon separated

from his brother’s business, setting up his

own and eventually becoming bitter rivals.

At a time when the aristocracy of France

was being butchered on a daily basis by

“La Revolution”, many of Britain’s wealthy

watched on in horror and soon sought to

arm themselves. Building exceptionally

fi ne weapons, Joseph’s wares quickly

attracted the patronage of everyone from

rich merchants to nobility and politicians.

A lucrative contract with the East India

Company and a Royal Warrant helped swell

the co� ers to bursting point. Now incredibly

wealthy, Joseph’s fi nest accolade came

when Colonel Peter Hawker, possibly the

most famous and celebrated shot ever

from England, described Joseph Manton as

simply: “The greatest artist in fi rearms that

ever the world produced.”

Demise of the fl intlockAlways inventive, Joseph Manton revised

and simplifi ed the “scent bottle” lock

mechanism that had been the brainchild

of Alexander Forsyth a few years earlier,

turning it from the dangerous device that

it had proved to be into a simple one-use

tube, fi lled with fulminate and crushed by

a modifi ed hammer. Even though Manton’s

“tubelock”, as he called it, was short

lived, it paved the way for the percussion

cap and was instrumental in causing the

demise of the fl intlock. Unfortunately his

inventiveness was also to ultimately cause

his fi nancial ruin.

The greater part of Manton’s career was

to be spent at loggerheads with the British

Army. Manton managed to interest the army

in a special type of ammunition designed to

be used in rifl ed artillery. This ammunition

comprised of a cannon ball sat in a rifl ed

wooden cup with an integral bag of powder

attached to the rear. The idea of having the

powder fi xed behind the shot in a disposable

cartridge is one still used today; indeed, it is

the basis for modern bullet design.

The army provided him a cannon and

funding, and in return expected a greatly

improved weapon. While there is little

doubt Manton’s design was superior, an

argument over payment was to cause the

army to declare it of small benefi t. The

row erupted over how Manton was to be

paid; he believed the agreement was a

£30,000 lump sum. The army argued that

since they had already invested vast sums

into research and development, they did

ArtistJoseph Manton’s weapons

attracted attention from rich merchants to nobility