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Welcome to Browning's Research and Development department.
It may look very much like the beginning of a nice day's shooting - but don't be fooled
- this is serious stuff.
Under the microscope is the new Browning 725, the new Browning clothing range and a £45,000
B25 from Browning's custom shop in Belgium.
To make sure the guns and the clothing get a good work out we're at a game day on the
outskirts of Paris.
It's mostly partridge but there will be the chance of pheasants, duck and grives too - that's
the songthrush to you and me, which is legal to shoot here and delicious to eat.
At the first drive the Belgian guns line up for the French shoot with the chance of some
very British weather - an interesting combination.
So what makes a traditional French shoot apart from a smart hat?
This is a unique habitat.
We have 750 hectares of landscape with corn and mustard fields.
This is where we shoot redleg and grey partridges from September to end of November.
We organize three or four driven days a week.
The birds are driven through the crops from a mile or so away.
By the time the partridges reach us they are travelling at a fair old pace and a decent
height.
We're next to William - his R&D responsiblility is clothing - and it's not just about how
it looks.
All the products are designed by shooters.
So we have a team internally who are all hunters and shooters, so we design the products in
house using our experience on the field and we test them extensively yes, so it is not
designer but of course the designer have their word on things to make them look nice.
But all the technical ....are designed by shooters.
One piece of design he really likes is the integrated recoil pads for those big bag days.
We use these gel pads to reduce the recoil.
They are just there.
They are very thin and slim so it doesn't affect the way you aim at the birds and on
the days when there are a lot of shoots they are perfect and it also looks nice with the
quilt and the very large pockets.
It is a perfect jacket and you also have a vest very nice as well.
We will try them out today and hopefully have a very good day with it.
At the end of the drive the birds are laid out for the guns to admire and appreciate
- we're expecting a bag in excess of 200 today so it's a good start with some fast shooting.
We move further up the field for the second drive - and we hear the distant calls of the
beaters in what seems to be the next province.
We now share a peg with with Martin Boucquey.
He is doing invaluable work assessing the balance of the new B725 Hunter Grade 5.
This gun is an addition to the two 725 models already on offer.
It will not be available until the new year, so start saving that Christmas cash for this
very smart gun.
We had a sporting one, a hunter one and we had to enlarge our range with a high level
G5 one.
Then we will also present the light version of the B725 to have a bigger range.
On the engraving you have a super engraving, a duck, duck models on one side and you have
pheasants on the other side.
And then the stock.
You have a G5 stock model.
So a really fine stock.
Fine wood that you have on this model.
There is also a light version of the B725 coming soon too.
In the meantime, Martin needs to put the Hunter G5 through its paces - plus his Winchester
cartridges.
He is shooting well - voila!
a left and a right.
Or un double - which sounds cool.
It's another good drive and there is lots of shooting.
This is a like a British driven shoot but the French character of the day is unmistakable.
We now head back to the house and drop down to the next drive.First the guns walk through
the maize before preparing for drive three.This time we join Lionel.
He is in charge of the custom shop in the factory in Leige and it is a fascinating place
resonating to the sound of the engravers, and with shelves and shelves of hand selected
wood ready to be brought to life.
If you are watching this on YouTube, click on the link to see our film about it.
The B25 Lionel is shooting with today would cost up to £45,000 and it's one of a pair...
but why spend so much money on a gun?
You can go and do London to Brighton in a Vauxhall and you can ride from London to Brighton
in a Porsche or an Aston Martin.
It is just something different.
It is a luxurious hand made all round shotgun.
It takes about two years and hundreds of man hours to produce a piece of art that shoots
straight - and its Lionels job to make sure each customer gets exactly what he or she
wants...
My goal is to make the perfect gun for the customer.
And I think we make a few people very happy.
Job is done.
The French-speaking labradors do their job and once again the bag is presented to the
guns
We now adjourn to the house for food and a little wine - which is much appreciated by
the folk here.
Talk around the table is about the escalating price of birds - no change there then.
After lunch the drives continue to deliver some fantastic sport - Again Martin finds
the partridges and not many get past his right side.
The weather was not there, but the partridges were there, really, and I got, not a double,
but that is for the next one.
Some grey partridges are shot on this drive and a few songthrushes - first you roast them,
then flambé them.
With one drive to go Jean-Christophe and his team have delivered some great sport...so
does that explain why he's wearing what looks like a hat he's stolen off Postman Pat or
should that be Facteur Patrice?
This is a cap of a French private gamekeeper.
This symbol is a hunting horn - the legal emblem for French gamekeepers.
William may be about 6 ft 3 but even he can't see the partridges coming across the top of
the maize crop on the last drive.
Quick reactions are needed here unless the birds come down the line.
William makes it look easy...
This French shoot has been the same, but different.
All over Europe, driven game styles have their own identities.
The Browning guys have shot well here today and are pleased with how their guns and gear
perform in all conditions.
All that's left is another tradition - the laying out of the birds.
The bag is 220 and it must take a certain mathematical brain to be able to create such
symmetry.
It looks both impressive and respectful.
Well, I mentioned it during that piece, but if you would like to watch our film about
how they make those beautiful guns at Browning in Liage then click on the screen if you are
watching this on Youtube and you will go straight through to the film.
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