Innovation is a word not typically associated with today’s break-open sporting shotguns. In fact, for a sizeable community devoted to vintage upland shotguns, the concept of innovation might just as well have stopped in the 19^thcentury with the creation of rose-and-scroll engraving.

Oct. 12, 2021 – Northampton, England – Longthorne Gunmakers, renown for making shotgun barrels from a single billet of steel, has broken another technical barrier by machining barrels from a single billet of titanium.

Longthorne Gunmakers of England announced their first side by side, called the Renaissance.

Like other Longthorne sidelock and boxlock shotguns, the side-by-side Renaissance has barrels machined from a single steel billet for improved accuracy, lower recoil and reduced muzzle flip on the second shot. The barrels, proofed for steel shot, are 100% English made at Longthorne’s factory in Northampton. 

It’s official: Longthorne shotguns are now available in the U.S. – bringing to American fine-gun afficionados the most advanced break-opens to appear from England in the past century.

John Herkowitz, owner of Pacific Sporting Arms in Azusa, California with a secondary location in Walled Lake, Michigan, took the first-move advantage in becoming Longthorne’s exclusive American agent after watching the gunmaker evolve over the past few years. 

If the stars align in North Hampton, England the house of Longthorne Gunmakers will plant their flag on American soil later this year.

The boutique gunmaker – notable for its extraordinary barrels machined from a single billet of steel – has been in discussions with an American dealer of luxury shotgun brands that would represent Longthorne here with sales and support.