In terms of classic firearms, the Hammer gun is a relatively primitive, totally hand-built, unique, supremely elegant and satisfying work of art; but it also has some genuine advantages over all the expensive modern guns used today. Using hammer guns, explains Diggory, should not be seen as an affectation, for they remain the best guns ever made – and today they are still in many ways better than anything else available, if you apply yourself to their use and ownership in the right way. He writes: I believe that nothing made in the twentieth century compares favourably with the best hammer guns made by the real artisans of the British gun trade: made in the days before celebrity engravers signed their work or CNC machinery standardised every part. What I invariably pick up and take shooting is an 1870s under-lever hammer 12-bore.