Joe Manton 



WITH SOME NOTES ON His RIVALS 



"THE King of Gunmakers " I suppose no one will 

 deny the claim of Joseph Manton to that title. 

 Doubtless there are gunmakers now who can turn out 

 as fine workmanship as Manton's, but there is no one 

 maker who stands out pre-eminently, a head and 

 shoulders above all rivals, as Joseph Manton did for 

 forty years. For a long while it was a case of 

 " Eclipse first and the rest nowhere." No sportsman 

 thought himself properly equipped without at least 

 one of Manton's guns. He charged what he pleased, 

 and sportsmen paid the price without a murmur, fully 

 satisfied that, whatever the charge might be, they were 

 certain to get their money's worth. That fine all-round 

 sportsman Edward Hayward Budd once heard Manton 

 say, " I shall continue annually to increase my charges 

 five guineas, and still no gentleman will be without a 

 'Joe Manton.'" Seventy guineas was his charge for 

 a double gun at the height of his fame, and I have 

 never heard of one costing less than fifty guineas. 

 A pair of his patent flint-locks alone cost seven 

 guineas. 



91 



