Hammerless shotguns were being developed around the same time with Needham's (1856), Green's hammerless (1866) and the Murcott Hammerless Shotgun (1871) being amongst the earlier English models but the first really successful hammerless gun was the Anson and Deeley Hammerless Gun patented in 1875. The success of this gun was largely due to the fact that it was a top lever opener with greater safety of operation of the lock.

This marked the start of the development of the modern hammerless shotgun and few major changes have taken place since then.