Simon Clode welcomes me into his office at the Westley Richards & Company factory in Birmingham, England, the heartland of British manufacturing. We have spoken over the phone, but haven’t met. Simon, the company’s managing director, wears his sleeves rolled up and his collar open. I imagine this classic, yet practical, appearance is a reflection of his personality. As a former commercial diver for the oil industry, now heading up this gunmaking firm, Simon has experienced many varied professional challenges.

We start our conversation, and I begin to appreciate Simon’s philosophy on sporting arms, hunting, and life—“the best or not at all.” From the guns to the shop and staff to the apparel, each element of Westley Richards & Co. is founded on field experience. Significantly, Simon’s beliefs dovetail precisely with the firm’s original founder William Westley Richards’s mantra: “To be the maker of as good a gun as can be made.” Simon tells me he encourages his staff to leave the shop and hunt, often. “Otherwise, they can’t possibly appreciate what is required by our clients,” he says. Westley Richards makes some of the most ornate guns in the world, yet the firm develops each gun for field use rather than the display cabinet.