Guerini Maxum

Here’s a gun which is not quite as elegant as the St James, but costs very much less. In fact, the price is so reasonable that Brian could spend slightly less than £3,000 and get a well-conditioned sporter with an adjustable comb, should he wish.

What’s more, with this gun you get excellent engraving in a beautiful abstract pattern, which I always think is better suited to what is basically a competition gun than game scenes.

Multi-choke barrels are built on the expected monobloc principle, with separate tubes set into a forged section comprising the chambers and shallow lump. Chambers are 2¾-inches rather than the currently-preferred 3-inches, thus making the point that the gun is for competition and field shooting, but not for the occasional wildfowling trip.

The tubes are finished with long forcing comes and, unusually, come in a 34-inch version in addition to the 28, 30 and 32-inch lengths. These super-long barrels suggest that they would make the gun ponderously slow to swing, but users suggest that this is not so. The barrels hinge on replaceable stub pins, as is the Italian tradition these days.

Stock length (measured from the trigger to the centre of the butt pad) is 14¾-inches, with drops of 1½ and 2¼-inches at comb and heel respectively. The gun, with the 30-inch barrel set, weighs 7lb 14oz.