The ABAS Series 8 is a brand new over and under shotgun, the first to be produced by A.A.Brown & Sons in their 84 year history. The first guns completed are the 16 bore pair seen here and on this page you can find out everything there is to know about their development.
You can find a complete gallery of images here and see their journey through The Birmingham Proof House here.
These guns are based on the time proven action developed by J.Woodward and C.Hill in 1913. This action was chosen for its shallow profile allowing A.A.Brown & Sons to shape the gun with the subtle domed aesthetics employed on their best side by sides.
The photographs on this page will show our progress during the complete manufacture, from the initial kit of machined parts to the finished guns. You can see in the picture to the left the difference achieved during the initial actioning.
Great care and a lot of time was spent ensuring the guns have the look and feel of our very best side by sides, but the newly found challenge of creating fresh shapes only seen on over and under guns has allowed us to evolve our style.
Designed in house and in conjunction with actioner Richard Barnes, Richard took the Ian Clarke machinings to set about creating the first Brown OU shape. Mike Birch made the barrels from Chris Kaye tubes while Mark Wallin finalised the locks.
All the parts then came home to the factory to have the final hanging of the triggers, shaping of the trigger guard and fitting of the fore end catch before heading out again to Stephen & Son to be stocked by Stephane Dupille and Vincent Lafont. This picture was taken just after returning from them.
Once the stocks were back at the factory, matthew brown set about designing the checkering for the complex fore-end. this was done by taking careful measurements of wood and creating a 3d template that could be printed onto paper and wrapped around the fore-end to guarantee accuracy.
the fore-end, butt-end and hand were then all checkered by Matt before he started the oil finishing process. At the same time, Robin Brown was doing the final shaping and smoothing of the actions for the engraver. Robin, Matt and the engraver then came together to design the pattern.
The engraving pattern was designed by Robin and Matt with guidance from the engraver, the legendary Keith Thomas. Keith then used his superb traditional hand pushing techniques to transfer those ideas to the steel. The result is a stunning new rose & scroll pattern for these brand new guns, with some lovely fresh details, that still feel like a Brown.
The guns were then colour hardened by Robin Brown in various stages as Matt continued building the finish on the stocks. Once the actions were put together, before the barrel blacking and final finish, the guns were rigorously tested to iron out any handling errors and encourage reliability.
While all this was going on with the guns, master case maker martin Jones was building this superb motor case. The client was set on a compact motor case as he has always favoured them, but he wanted to accommodate the now priceless Mike Marsh case tools and the teague chokes.
Careful design allowed for a panel to be incorporated with some useful storage space beneath. The resulting case is surprisingly compact for all that it holds and looks fantastic with its nickel plated hardware and french fitted blue alcantara. Martin also made two finest leather gun slips to match.
Finally the barrels were sent to Paul Stevens of Steven and Johnson to be blacked, the overall finish was perfected and Matthew Brown took them into his studio to get these images and more. This picture shows the number one gun in its finished state at the top and how it looked just after stocking.
After such a long road it sometimes seemed as though they would never be completed, but they have turned out better than we could possibly have imagined. They are now with their owner and he managed to shoot them for five days in his first week with them and it's fair to say, he couldn't be happier. Neither could we.
The first pair are 16 bores as we like the aesthetics of this calibre relative to the performance it delivers. They also have double triggers which give fast selection of the alternate barrel, although single trigger and other calibres are also available.
If you'd like more information on the ABAS Series 8 or are interested in an order please call us or email us.