Taking a tour of a stately British gun store and range.
EJ Churchill's in High Wycombe, UK, is a stately "gentlemen's shooting club" which caters to the Edwardian and late Edwardian upper middle class masculine culture in England. UK gun culture deviated greatly from America's beginning in the late 1700s. For one thing, sustenance hunting and rugged survival in the UK had never been a thing even during the Middle Ages due to the manorial system that saw the entire island from Sussex to Scotland carved up and in the possession of numerous local lords and barons who own vast estates including tracts of untamed wilderness that were constantly patrolled by the lords' household game wardens with stiff penalties for those caught poaching. However, game bird and fox hunting is a highly esteemed sport on the island boasting thousands of participants to the present day. From the late 19th century onward, target rifle and sporting clays also took off and remained the top and primary shooting disciplines among UK gun owners today. Thus, in a British gun shop, you will see A LOT of shotguns and slug guns. In EJ Churchill's specimens of the finest game shotguns and some hunting rifles, including big bore elephant guns made by manufacturers from all over the world are bought and sold and you can easily imagine a wholesome atmosphere of people talking about outdoor sports and traditional British culture over tea and biscuits while perusing the guns displayed in the store's ornate main room... An oasis from the craziness and downhill chaos that is overwhelming the rest of the UK, particularly it's cities.
