Nestled beside a fairy-tale lake in northern Italy, Gardone Val Trompia is home to so many fine engravers, it could be the world capital of counterfeiting. Instead, it is to Italy what the Connecticut Valley has been to the United States: the center of the firearms industry. Unlike its American counterpart, this iron-ore-rich area in the province of Brescia has been producing guns for almost five centuries. Change there occurs gradually: In 2002, when Caesar Guerini brought its first shotguns on the market, “We were the only new factory in that valley in 50 years,” says Wes Lang, President of Guerini USA.

Brescia’s pool of skilled engravers and other craftsmen supplies the talent Guerini needs to produce over-and-under smoothbores widely hailed in the sporting press. “All our hunting guns are upland bird guns,” Lang says. “That’s our specialty. They’re really popular with quail hunters, especially the 20 and 28 gauge. They also like our ultralight models, made with high-tech aluminum alloy.” Sales, he says, are evenly split between hunting guns and target guns that offer every configuration a trap, skeet, or sporting clay shooter could want.