← All digests Digest July 2026 2 entries added in July 2026 - 1subject - 1essay . Permalink: /digest/2026-07 Subjects documented Maker · July 2026 Haydn Hill, Gunmaker Haydn Hill is a Birmingham gunmaker who works by hand and on old machines in the traditional setting-up trade of action filing - the hand-fitting of a gun's action so that barrels, body and lockwork close as one piece. He works at the Jesse Hill workshop in Stirchley, named for the forebear whose name is still on the wall, in a family that has filed gun actions in Birmingham for generations, and is one of very few still doing the work this way. MK-0039 Essays Essay · July 2026 A Best Gun, By Hand How a best gun is made by hand: the specialist trades of the old Birmingham gun quarter, the setting-up trade that fits the parts into one working gun, and action filing at its heart. What the craft is, the tradition, the few who still work it, and the state of it in 2026, documented with the Birmingham action filer Haydn Hill. ES-0063