Your Favourite Shotguns of 2026

23% of game shots bought a gun in the last 12 months, spending an average of £4,627, but what were people buying?

Best-selling shotgun brands of 2025/6

Long-time followers of the Game Shooting Census, sponsored by Lycetts, will know that Browning and Beretta have been the leading brands for game shots in the UK for a number of years, and the stats from this year’s sales suggest that this isn’t going to change any time soon. Between them these two giants accounted for 51.2% of all guns bought - new and second hand - in the last 12 months, with the Italians claiming 31.1% and the Browning taking 20.1%. This represents a 3% swing in Beretta’s favour since 2022, when they claimed 27% and 17% respectively. 

Trailing them by some distance were Japanese maker Miroku and Spanish AYA, both with a 5.8% share. Caesar Guerini claimed the final slot in the Top Five with 4.1%. 

Rizzini (3.5%), Yildiz (2.9%), Winchester (2.6%), Webley & Scott (2%) and Blaser (2%) make up the rest of the Top Ten.

Most popular countries

While many game shots hold the big names of British gunmaking in the highest of esteem, the UK is only the third most popular country of origin. Thanks to Beretta’s overall dominance, alongside the likes of Caesar Guerini, Rizzini and Perazzi, Italy is the most popular - almost twice as many Italian guns were bought than American guns, and nearly three times more than British guns. (NB, for our purposes here, Browning is an American brand). It could be argued that for British game shots, Val Gardone is the new Birmingham or St. James. 

Turkish guns continue to find favour in the market, maintaining a strong position as the fourth most popular country of origin, a reflection, perhaps, of the affordability of the likes of Yildiz and Kofs. Were anyone able to bring a British gun to market at a cost comparable to an entry level Browning or Beretta, it would be fascinating to see if the market would adopt it… or would that undermine the romance of a British-made gun?

New or used?

The vast majority of gun sales were on the second-hand market, with 64% of all purchases being on the second-hand market. This is a marked shift from the 2022 results, where used guns accounted for just 43.4% of purchases. In this space, the picture is similar, though Beretta and Browning are slightly less dominant, with 29.9% and 16.2% respectively. AYA get 8.5%. 

When it comes to new gun sales, the picture changes again, with Beretta’s overall dominance narrowed; the Italian company claimed 32.1% of new gun sales, Browning snapping at their heels with 26.4%. AYA is not even in the top ten, perhaps a result of the challenges the company has been experiencing in recent times.

Side-by-side or over-and-under

Overall, over-and-unders dominated the market; 68.1% of guns purchased this year had their barrels arranged vertically. 18.5% were side-by-sides, while other types (ie semi-autos, pump actions and single-barrels) accounted for the remainder - perhaps the most surprising stat of all.

81.8% of new guns purchased were O/Us, and just 6.8% were side-by-sides. However, the market for second-hand side-by-sides seems to buck that trend, with 25% of all used guns sold being sxs. In fact, the side-by-side market was almost entirely second-hand - 87% of side-by-sides bought were second-hand.

Who is buying the guns?

Looking at the amount that people spend on shooting alone (ie, just the cost of the peg/syndicate space), we learn that the group spending between £5,000 and £9,999 are about 15% more likely than average to have bought a gun in the last 12 months. This being said, the group that accounted for nearly half (46%) of all recorded gun buyers are those who spend between £1,000 and £4,999 on their shooting - a much larger group. 

Similarly those who shoot most often on smaller commercial shoots (sub-150 birds) bought guns at a rate of 21% above the average, while those on larger syndicates (costing over £3,000/year) bought guns at a rate 27% below the average. 

So what guns are British game shots buying? Well, mainly the dependable guns it has bought for years. Beretta and Browning - reliable, affordable, trusted - rule the roost; over-and-unders are the default, especially when it comes to brand new guns. However, this doesn’t mean that tradition is dead, especially in the second hand market, where one in for purchases is a side-by-side. As is so often the case in our conservative world, the story is not so much one of change as it is one of continuity. 

Thank you to Lycetts for sponsoring the Game Shooting Census, and our partners BASC, The GWCT and The Countryside Alliance.