Show Notes
George and Chris are joined again by Carlo Beretta to discuss the extraordinary 500-year history of Beretta, from Bartolomeo Beretta’s 1526 contract for arquebus barrels to the company’s place today as one of the great names in global gunmaking. Carlo explains what it means to be the sixteenth generation of the family, and how the company balances heritage, industrial production, hand craftsmanship, robotics and AI.
The conversation ranges from the enduring appeal of the Silver Pigeon to the company's special 500th anniversary projects. Plus: AI wood grading, the most beautiful shotgun Carlo has ever seen, and a Desert Island Shooting that returns, fittingly, to home, friends, food and family.
More from The GunsOnPegs Podcast
George and Chris return to Kitchen W8 in Kensington for the second part of their conversation with Michelin-starred chef Mark Kempson, this time to discover what makes wild ingredients so special and appealing for chefs, why more professional chefs aren't cooking game, and whether our traditional approach to cooking game birds is due for a rethink.
George and Chris visit Kitchen W8 in Kensington to record with Executive Chef Mark Kempson, winner of Game Chef of the Year in 2024 and 2025. Oh, and the restaurant has a Michelin star too.
Diggory Hadoke returns for a dive into vintage guns: how an air rifle, an eccentric primary school teacher and a childhood spent taking old farm guns apart led to a life as a gun dealer, writer, archivist and vintage gun expert. We ask what makes a gun “vintage” rather than simply old, and whether the best sporting guns were effectively perfected before the Second World War. The conversation then turns to steel, bismuth, proof marks and whether vintage guns are still worth owning in the non-toxic era.
Diggory Hadoke joins George and Chris to answer three listener dilemmas about the unwritten rules of shooting: what does it mean if you're invited to “have a go” on a family shoot, and is there a correct way to issue an invitation? What do you do when a dream loading trip clashes with your significant other's significant birthday? And do we have a duty to speak up if we see something on a shoot day that feels wrong?
D'Arcy Wyvill's family have owned the Constable Burton estate for centuries, so he's better placed than many to offer a view on why the shooting community (and the countryside in general) value tradition and heritage so very much, and what makes a shoot a place rather than an event.