 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Arms |
| Founded | 1835 |
| Founder | Harris Holland |
| Headquarters | St James's Street, London, England |
| Products | |
Number of employees | 101–250 [1] |
| Parent | Beretta Holding |
| Website | www |
Holland & Holland Limited is a British gunmaker and luxury clothing retailer based in London, England, which offers handmade sporting rifles and shotguns. The company holds two royal warrants.
Holland & Holland was founded by Harris Holland (1806–1896) in 1835. [2]
Harris Holland was born in 1806 in London. Although accounts of his background are somewhat sketchy, it is believed that his father was an organ builder, while Harris had a tobacco wholesale business in London. He was successful, and was often seen at various pigeon shoots at important London clubs, as well as leasing a grouse moor in Yorkshire. [2]
Having no children of his own, he took on his nephew Henry Holland as an apprentice in 1861. In 1867 Henry became a partner and in 1876 the name changed to Holland & Holland. Although Henry was a full partner, Harris kept strict control and was the only one who could sign a cheque until he died in 1896. [2]
At first, the guns bore the inscription H.Holland, without an address, and it is probable that these were built in the trade to his design. It is not known when Harris Holland started his own manufacturing, but it is estimated to be in the 1850s. This start makes him very unusual among the London Best makers, as others such as Purdey, Boss, Lang and Lancaster had apprenticed with Joseph Manton, while others such as Beesley, Grant and Atkin apprenticed with Purdey or Boss. [2]
In 1883, Holland & Holland entered the trials organized by the magazine The Field and won all of the rifle categories. This set a new standard of excellence for the competition among English gunmakers. In 1885, patents were granted to Holland & Holland for their Paradox gun, a shotgun with rifling in the front two inches of the barrel. [3]
In 1908, they patented the detachable lock feature with a small lever, for sidelock shotguns. The last major development in the evolution of the sidelock side-by-side gun occurred in 1922, when the H&H assisted-opening mechanism was patented. This gun, the self-opening Royal side-by-side, has been hugely influential in gun-making throughout the world. [3]
In the period after World War II under the leadership of new owner and Managing Director Malcolm Lyell, the company made sorties to India, where guns from the famous collections of the princes and maharajahs were bought back, developing an important market for second-hand pieces. In 1989, all remaining shares in H&H were bought by the French luxury group Chanel. Since then, the factory building, in use since 1898, has been extensively renovated and equipped with modern technology. Guns such as the Royal over & under or side-by-side double-barreled shotguns were improved and reintroduced, and are currently available from 4 bore to .360 inch. A hand-built gun from H&H can cost around £ 60,000 for a shotgun and close to £ 100,000 for some rifles, with prices roughly doubling with luxury engraving, and there is a waiting period of 2–3 years between ordering and delivery. [4]
In the 1990s, Holland & Holland started a major expansion programme. The company has a gunroom in Dallas and formerly had additional locations. Its gun room in New York City closed in 2017. Its Moscow gun room closed at some point prior to 2024. [5] The company's London flagship store on Bruton Street has been completely renovated and expanded. [4]
In February 2021, Holland & Holland was acquired by the Beretta Holding group from its previous owner, Chanel. [6] [7]
Cartridges developed by Holland & Holland:
The term express was first applied to hunting rifles and ammunition beginning in the mid-19th century, to indicate a rifle or ammunition capable of higher than typical velocities. The early express cartridges used a heavy charge of black powder to propel a lightweight, often hollow point bullet, at high velocities to maximize point blank range. Later the express cartridges were loaded with nitrocellulose-based gunpowder, leading to the Nitro Express cartridges, the first of which was the .450 Nitro Express.
A rim is an external flange that is machined, cast, molded, stamped, or pressed around the bottom of a firearms cartridge. Thus, rimmed cartridges are sometimes called "flanged" cartridges. Almost all cartridges feature an extractor or headspacing rim, in spite of the fact that some cartridges are known as "rimless cartridges". The rim may serve a number of purposes, including providing a lip for the extractor to engage, and sometimes serving to headspace the cartridge.
The double rifle, also known as a double-barreled rifle, is a rifle with two barrels mounted parallel to each other that can be fired simultaneously or sequentially in quick succession. Synonymous with big game hunting found primarily in Africa and Asia, the double rifle is a sporting weapon with very little military heritage.
The Nitro Express (NE) series of cartridges are used in large-bore hunting rifles, also known as elephant guns or express rifles, but later came to include smaller bore high velocity British cartridges.
The .375 H&H Magnum, also known as .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, is a medium-bore rifle cartridge introduced in 1912 by London based gunmaker Holland & Holland. The .375 H&H cartridge featured a belt to ensure the correct headspace, which otherwise might be unreliable, given the narrow shoulder of the cartridge case. The cartridge was designed to use cordite which was made in long strands – hence the tapered shape of the case, which, as a beneficial side effect also helped in smooth chambering and extraction from a rifle's breech.
The term belted magnum or belted case refers to any cartridge, but generally a rifle cartridge, with a shell casing that has a pronounced "belt" around its base that continues 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) past the extractor groove.
John Rigby & Company is a gunmaking firm founded by John Rigby in 1775 in Dublin. The company was established by the first John Rigby in Dublin, Ireland, apparently in 1775; his grandson, also John, opened a London branch in 1865; and Dublin operations had ceased by February 1897. The company is now owned by Lüke & Ortmeier Gruppe and is based in Vauxhall, central London, under the supervision of managing director, Marc Newton.
Armas Ugartechea is a Basque Spanish manufacturer of guns and rifles located in Eibar, is a privately held Spanish firearms manufacturing company. Its firearms are used worldwide for a variety of sporting and hunting purposes. It produces several models of double-barreled shotgun. It is devoted to the craft manufacturing of fine hunting shotguns and is the heir of a long craftsman tradition that has cleverly incorporated new technologies in the production of its guns, and, at the same time, keeping its traditional know how. It was the first Spanish company to start making under and over barrel guns. I. Ugartechea is well known for the quality of its work both at home and abroad. Is one of the few gunmakers to produce its own barrels, flawless at best. A present, Armas Ugartechea sells its guns worldwide. Among its customers are heads of state and monarchs from several countries, as well as top hunters and crack shots. The Ugartechea Family is still in charge of the company which is a basic principle, as they are the ones who know better how to optimize the manufacture of these firearms, which combine with craftsman work the best technology.
The .400 H&H Magnum also known as .400 Holland & Holland Magnum is a belted rimless bottlenecked cartridge introduced by Holland & Holland. The cartridge was released together with the .465 H&H Magnum in 2003. It is based on the .375 H&H Magnum case.
The .275 Holland & Holland Magnum is a semi-obsolete rifle cartridge similar to the 7mm Remington Magnum. Essentially the .275 Holland & Holland Magnum is a necked down shortened variant of the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum. It was introduced by the British company Holland & Holland with the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum that was introduced in 1912 as the .375 Belted Rimless Nitro-Express. The .375 Holland & Holland Magnum was intended for dangerous African game animals, while the .275 Holland & Holland Magnum was intended for longer range shooting of antelope in Africa and Red Stag in the highlands of Scotland.
The .465 H&H Magnum also known as .465 Holland & Holland Magnum, is a modern big bore firearms cartridge. It was introduced by Holland & Holland in 2003 together with the .400 H&H Magnum. The .465 H&H Magnum is a .468 caliber, belted, bottleneck cartridge. The cartridge is a necked-up, shoulder-lowered tapered cartridge based on the .378 Weatherby Magnum case.
FAMARS, or Fabbrica Armi d’Abbiatico e Salvinelli, is an Italian gunmaker that manufactures bespoke shotguns and rifles. The company is best known for its patented detachable-lock designs and handcrafted woodwork and engraving. FAMARS is considered one of the top Italian gun manufacturers.
The .350 Rigby and .350 Rigby No 2 are proprietary medium bore rifle cartridges developed by John Rigby & Company.
The .400/350 Nitro Express, also known at the .400/350 Nitro Rigby, is a medium bore rifle cartridge developed by John Rigby & Company.
W.J. Jeffery & Co was a London gun and rifle maker.
The .400/375 Belted Nitro Express, also known as the .400/375 Holland & Holland and the .375 Velopex is a rifle cartridge designed by Holland & Holland and introduced in 1905.
The .369 Nitro Express, also known as the .369 Purdey Nitro Express, is a centerfire, rifle cartridge developed by James Purdey & Sons and introduced in 1922.
The .400/360 Nitro Express cartridges are a number of very similar, but not interchangeable, centerfire rifle cartridges developed by James Purdey & Sons, William Evans, Westley Richards and Fraser of Edinburgh, all at the beginning of the 20th century.
