Mention the name McKay Brown and one’s thoughts conjure up that fantastic full page advert of the pair of round action over and unders on the rear cover of the Shooting Sportsman Magazine. Like the face that launched a thousand ships, that one picture must have created a thousand sales. But the picture doesn’t tell the whole story.
     David McKay Brown began his apprenticeship with the Glasgow company Alex Martin, Ltd. in 1957. However, before the completion of his indenture, John Dickson & Son of Edinburgh purchased the company. This proved to be a stroke of good fortune for the young apprentice. He was kept on by Dickson and finished his training in the Edinburgh workshop of this great gun company.



     Although like other Gunmakers, Dickson’s gun making era was coming to a close, David McKay Brown completed his servitude and amassed more than enough knowledge and skill to start building their famous round action guns himself.

 In 1967 he left the employment of Dickson & Son and established his own company. The quality of his work was so good that a considerable amount of his early work came from Dickson themselves. Then in 1974, the first round action guns engraved with McKay Brown were unveiled to the discerning gun collector.
     It had always been his ambition to maintain that exclusive Scottish design, the round action, and David stayed true to his training. Using tried and tested traditional methods, his workshop upheld the Dickson history, quality and degree of craftsmanship in the McKay Brown guns.
     Soon the spark of creativity that marks the man was shown to the world. When McKay Brown first produced his round action over and under gun, he combined the best in tradition, creativity and good looks as well as the balance and handling to make this over and under the match of any Best Gun in the world today.

     He considered that the Dickson trigger plate lock was better suited to the over and under action than the more common side lock. He said that, in his opinion, a single fixed mechanism containing both the safety work and locks, whether with single or double trigger mechanism, must offer several advantages over the side lock which has the locks and trigger mechanism separated by the wood of the stock.
     This design allows thicker action walls, maximizing strength with support to replaceable buttresses and joint pins. He is totally confident that this is not only the most elegant look in an over and under design, but it is the most efficient mechanical design also. With its slender curving fences offering an unobstructed view, the eye is drawn down the rib, past the muzzles and out to the target.
     Keeping with the traditions of the side-by-side, the over and under is hand-crafted, available in all bore sizes. It is offered in any configuration of barrel length, rib, single or double trigger, with custom fitted, hand-selected, oil-rubbed well-figured walnut stock. The McKay Brown over and under guarantees to delight its new owner with its exquisite balance and handling, perfect for wing or competitive shooting.



For further information: David McKay Brown Gunmakers Ltd, 32 Hamilton Road, Bothwell, Scotland G71 8NA, Tel: 011-44-169-855-3727 Fx: 011-44-169-855-4207

     Essential kit for the traveling sportsman is a safe, secure means of getting guns and gear to and from your destination. Walk through any airport or hotel and you are instantly stigmatized by your gun case. Worse, if you are transiting in certain countries, it is easy for a thief or unsympathetic baggage handler to recognize your gun as such and ruin your trip. With the new regulations where the firearms declaration is placed inside the case, a discreet gun case, one that does everything a good gun case should but does but not look like one, is a sure-fire winner.
     I have been using such a case for several years and could not recommend a product more highly. When you know how much I fly and the value of the guns I fly with, I need the best case possible. The TUFFPAK is it - and most important, it does not look like a gun case.
     The TUFFPAK gun case is manufactured from rotationally-molded cross-linkable polyethylene a virtually unbreakable material and in the original size, weighs only 17 pounds.

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