Precision and tradition in Japan

It took me a long time to get to the Miroku factory. I acquired my first Miroku in the late 1960s. I sold a collection of Victorian and Edwardian British stamps to fund the purchase of a smart, double trigger, half-pistol gripped, black-actioned over-and-under retailed by Thomas Bland & Sons (when that firm resided at William IV Street off Trafalgar Square). The Miroku, which did me proud for some years, would probably be worth £300 or £400 now – the stamps would buy a suburban house.

I remember my mentors at Bland’s – Wally and Jim Caseley – expressing admiration for Miroku, which they told me produced well-made, good shooting guns at an affordable price. This was an era when ‘made in Japan’ was not necessarily a badge of quality, save perhaps in photographic circles.

In the 1970s and ’80s Miroku quickly acquired a growing band of British enthusiasts (Gary Phillips, Mickey Rouse, Mick Howells, John Woolley, Carl Bloxham and AJ Smith have all been Miroku users). It’s worth noting that today British game shooters, who expend considerably more cartridges per annum than most, make