The Herculean is a unique 4 bore side-by-side gun made by British gunmaker Holland & Holland as a part of its “Products of Excellence” series. These were guns made to showcase the extraordinary capabilities of Holland & Holland to create guns that are works of art of the highest degree.
Fast Facts
- In 1966 elite London gunmaker began planning a series of “best of the best” guns.
- The project was led by then managing director Malcolm Lyell and was called the “Products of Excellence” series.
- Among these Products of Excellence were two 4 bore guns: the Saurian based on a dinosaur theme, and the Herculean, depicting the mythological story of the Twelve Labors of Hercules.
- The Herculean finished up in the collection of renowned hunter, conservationist and collector of classic cars and classic firearms: Robert M. Lee.
- The Holland & Holland Herculean is a unique gun and it is being offered for sale by Rock Island Auction at the time of publication.
Robert M. Lee was a man who was able to indulge the two hobbies many of us would enjoy – collecting classic cars, and collecting classic firearms.
Mr. Lee was a passionate hunter and conservationist and he was able to hunt both in the United States and overseas. He stands among the first Americans to have a hunting concession in Africa and he was the first Professional Hunter to open Portugese Angola to foreign hunters.
Robert M. Lee’s taste in firearms ascended to the very top of the gunmaker’s art, and among the most amazing pieces he placed in his collection was the Holland & Holland Herculean 4 bore side-by-side double barrel shotgun.
The Herculean was created as one of Holland & Holland’s “Products of Excellence” series. The London based British gunmaker was and is well known as a maker of “best guns”, but the Products of Excellence were unique guns made to show the company’s ability to create what might be thought of as “best of the best” guns: guns that had no peer.
Holland & Holland began their Products of Excellence series in 1966 under the leadership of then managing director Malcolm Lyell. Among the first of the guns designed for this series were two 4 bore side-by-side shotguns: one based on a dinosaur theme and called the Saurian, and the other on a hero of Greco-Roman mythology, the Herculean.
Among the other Products of Excellence were the “Broadland Garniture”, made to honor the life of Lord Louis Mountbatten, and the Beirut Gun which you can find on Holland and Holland’s website.
British culture has long admired the classic Greek and Roman art and literature. British public schoolboys were required to learn Latin, the language of ancient Rome: and Latin was long considered to be the “perfect language”, and essential to the full appreciation of the epic stories of ancient Rome.
One of the most well known of those epic stories was the “Twelve Labors of Hercules”, a story in some respects similar to Homer’s “Odyssey” which I remember studying back in the days when I was an English schoolboy.
The twelve labors of Hercules form a lively theme around which to adorn a Holland & Holland “best of the best” gun and the task of creating the artwork was entrusted to the Brown brothers – the self-taught English Master Engravers Alan and John Brown.
Even on the metalwork of a gun the size of a 4 bore it was decided to limit the artwork to a selection of seven of the twelve labors rather than trying to clutter the gun with all twelve. The work was done in deep relief with Alan Brown’s name on the left side-plate and John’s on the right.
This Holland & Holland 4 bore masterpiece is created to be a gun that can be used as a shotgun although with its weight of 18 lbs. 12 oz. may limit its use to those who possess Herculean muscle power. That being said in my limited experience of handling a Holland & Holland 600 Nitro Express double rifle this Herculean 4 bore can be expected to provide quite lively handling, and it should break clay targets in a rather decisive manner.
Barrel length is a sensible 32 inches and chambers are 4 inch. The gun has automatic ejectors and features a scaled up Royal pinless sidelock action with double triggers and extended top tang, a right hand beaded trigger guard, ribbed cocking indicators on either lock-plate, and a tang mounted automatic safety in the form of a carved quiver of arrows.
Indeed this gun should be a rather efficient slayer of wild boar if its new owner decides to indulge their desire to try it out: shoes are meant to be worn are they not?
The gun’s stock is beautifully done and has 1 5/8 inch drop at comb; 2 11/16 inch drop at heel; and 14 3/4 inch length of pull. It has rather attractive string-of-pearl bordered multi-point checkering. The splinter fore-end is brushed bright iron and has an Anson push-rod release engraved to match with deep carved acanthus vines and the three golden apples of Hesperides.
This gun has featured on pages 126-128 of Michael McIntosh & Jan Roosenburg’s “The Best of Holland & Holland: England’s Premier Gunmaker,” page 245 of “Holland & Holland: ‘The Royal’ Gunmaker” by Donald Dallas, as well as being discussed in an article in and pictured on the cover of “Shooting Times & Country Magazine” November 17-23rd, 1988
This gun is being offered for sale by Rock Island Auction in their August Premier Firearms Auction and the sale is scheduled for August 21st, 2026.
You can find the sale page with further details if you click here.
Picture Credits: All pictures courtesy Rock Island Auction.
Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he’s a long time contributor to Silodrome.
Jon has done radio, television, magazine and newspaper interviews on various issues, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China and Hong Kong. His travels have taken him to Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan and a number of other countries. He has studied the Japanese sword arts and has a long history of involvement in the shooting sports, which has included authoring submissions to government on various firearms related issues and assisting in the design and establishment of shooting ranges.
