Rescued firearms sold as art

A new company, Lockyer of England, launched this month with a mission to save historic British guns due to be scrapped and turning them into works of art.

The company was founded by a group of firearms enthusiasts who didn’t want the heritage, history and craftsmanship of guns more than a century old to be lost. They have set up bases in Dorchester, Dorset, and Bexhill, in East Sussex, where they are restoring vintage guns, deactivating them and selling them as art.

Managing director George Champ explained: “We saw beautiful old British side-byside guns destined for scrap and it bothered me how underappreciated they were. I saw these guns as works of art, as well as pieces of engineering, and we realised that we could save them.”

The rescued guns are being sourced from across the world, often from people who have inherited them, and Lockyer has already started to receive private commissions to turn bequeathed guns into art.

“We are rescuing them and their unique history,” said Mr Champ. “We want people to appreciate each gun for its craftsmanship and its artistic value because a Lockyer art gun is part of our sporting history — they are up to 140 years old.” Shooting times & Country magazine • 7

Lockyer is saving historic British guns from being scrapped