Shooting accessories to make your friends jealous

“Definitely not an off the shelf type company”. That is how owner Ashley Shaw describes Fine Shooting Accessories. When you look at what they have to offer it could not be put more succinctly or aptly.

FSA specialise in bespoke shooting accessories like no other I have encountered. The Fine Shooting Accessories team is rightly proud of the business and the service they offer. The original business started in 2004 and steadily built a business with their ethic of meeting their customers’ exact needs, with a particular focus on handmade leather goods. When Ashley took over the business in 2019 he aimed to continue with the same focus on service, quality and unique bespoke designs that the founder had laid down.

Bespoke shooting accessories and luggage

The Fine Shooting Accessories website acts as something of a catalogue, which you customers can use to form the basis for their own ideas or tap into Ashleys’ creativity to add to your own. Ashley speaks with great knowledge about the possibilities and is very well placed to offer advice on some of the pros and cons of each of the permutations.

Every detail of design, construction and materials can be tailored to your personal desires, whether it is a shagreen leather cartridge bag, textile or cow hide for luggage, or a matching set of gunslip, cartridge bag and bootbag made in Ostrich leather, one of many 'exotic' hides and leathers available, from Ostrich and Crocodile to Zebra or even the a hide from an animal that you have harvested yourself to create a 'once in a lifetime' piece that's also a memento of your time in the field.

Buyers are able to customise their items down to the smallest details, even as far as selecting the colour of the thread used for the stitching and the lining material, either for a subtle effect or something more striking.

The straps with which cartridge bags, gunslips and luggage are supplied are also customisable, both in terms of colour and the width of the webbing, helping to make sure that your accessories are comfortable to carry, easily identifiable and match each other! You can also purchase straps for your binos or camera. 

The ‘normal’ range of items Fine Shooting Accessories produces numbers almost three hundred but anything can be made and commissions will be taken for other sporting items you may want, so you can have matching luggage and accessories for all of your passions. Ashley told me they have had commissions for fishing rod cases in the past, for example. "We are very open to the customer coming in with their own concept and will happily discuss any commission," says Ashley.

Fine Shooting Accessories do not produce one-size-fits-all unisex either. Products are tailored for men or women; for example if a lady wanted a handbag, cartridge bag and luggage in the same fabric or hide this is absolutely fine and possible, you just need to ask! Nothing is out of the question so long as it is ethically sourced.

The team is at pains to ensure that on their exotic hides do not come from poached or endangered animals, that they all have CITES certification and are in circulation. This detail will also allow the client's baggage and shooting equipment to be customs cleared without the border checks for origin.

Fine Shooting Accessories have their own production for most items but some work is put out to specialist craft workers. Almost all manufacturing is done in the UK, allowing them to ensure the very best quality and the makers are on hand to ensure that the item is made exactly to the customers specification as well as ethical production practices.

The range of leather goods is supplemented with further shooting accessories such as hip flasks, jewellery and clothing that are sourced from high quality suppliers, which can also be personalised with initials or specialist engraving, whether you simply want your own initials or an image of a grouse bursting into sight over the heather.

This is equipment that is meant to set you apart from the average shooter and does this with aplomb; it allows you to express your individuality with style and quality and should be treated as such. Althouugh the pricetag will raise a few eyebrows, the build quality and attention to detail will give years of faithful beautiful service and the products can be viewed as an investment, and make you the envy of your shooting buddies!