Bill Blacker London Barrel Maker

Bill Blacker is a barrel-maker
When one thinks about topend guns and rifles, one tends to think about actions and engraving and stocks.A dazzling piece of walnut or an exqui- sitely executed game scene is what grabs the eye.The barrels seem to be little more than the black bit on the front.And yet it is the barrels which define the thing as a weapon.Without the barrels a gun is no more than a club; or perhaps a bat. And on closer consideration there is far more to the
barrels than a pair of tubes. Bill Blacker is a barrel-maker at
the top of his profession. He began his career in 1976, aged sixteen, as an apprentice at Holland & Holland.The first year was spent making the tools of his trade and one day a week was passed at Willesden Technical College undertaking Mechanical Craft Studies.

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