Why are English shotguns so expensive?

Answer 1

The expense of an English shotgun is comprised of two elements primarily, time and materials. The more costly of these by far is time. There can easily be over 1000 man hours involved in the building of an English shotgun. So much of the work required is "hand" work. The filing needed to fit the different pieces is quite time consuming. Also, the finishing of the wood calls for many hand rubbed coats of finishing compounds. The expense of the time necessary to build a gun is increased even more by the skill level of the gunmaker. Many in the business, serve years as an apprentice before being allowed to actually assist in the making of a gun. The skill level certainly equals that of any "master" craftsman. As to the material cost, the biggest expense is in the wood. The world supply of finely grained walnut suitable for gun stocks diminishes each year as the demand for English guns increases. A highly grained piece of wood know as a "blank" can cost upwards of $5000 or more and this is before any work has been done. This is a pretty short explaination but I hope it answers the question.