How do we measure up?
Driven shooting has been an established sport in the British Isles since it was introduced by the mid-Victorians. The sport of shooting had previously been largely a matter of a gentleman walking-up game over his dogs. His firearm of choice was a muzzle-loading shotgun, until the advent of breechloading pinfires in the mid-1850s. This allowed guns to be loaded faster and the development of the shotgun continued apace for the next 50 years.
Centrefire, rebounding hammers, snap-actions, hammerless guns that cock automatically, self-openers, which require only one hand to open, automatic cartridge ejection, single triggers. Each development made it easier and faster to fire and reload a double-barrelled shotgun. When used as a pair, with a loader, the rate of continual fire is unsurpassed.
In tandem with the improvement of the shotgun came scientific and intensive game-rearing methods,
