Here’s a gun which ticks all my shotgun lust boxes save two (and oh by all means. right-click to embiggen):
Let me just get the two disqualifiers out of the way: 12ga and price ($16,500, cheap for a Purdey), the combination of which means I’m unlikely ever to buy it.
But if I did… I don’t think that I would shoot it that much. I’d mount it on a facing wall where I could look at it all day.
Or I’d just keep it next to my chair where I could pick it up now and then, and lovingly fondle it and talk to it like I would a small puppy or a mistress.
Great Vulcan’s bleeding nostrils, that is a beautiful gun.
That is a pretty double barrel. It is a bit to pricey for my blood. Back when I was a teenager in the 70’s I inherited my grandfather’s Stevens 311. Over the years I have tried other shotguns but I have always gone back to the 311.
While I love most guns of all sorts, nothing beats a finely crafted double gun. They probably won’t be useful when society collapses but if you are going to shoot a gun, life is too short to shoot an ugly one.
Well…… if you are going to own a used…… previously enjoyed Purdey, wouldn’t you want to buy a matched pair to used while on a shooting expedition with Mr. Free Market.? Isn’t that what the gun bearer is for? … to reload your other Purdey?
Last time I was at Purdey, they showed me their “entry level” gun at £47,000. A matched pair is about three times that.
And to make a new hammer gun to match the above? I don’t want to think about it.
In my circumstances, even a pair of SxS CZ Bobtails would run to $2,000.
Didn’t the former Royal Ginger have a custom matched set that Princess Caringslut made him get rid of?
Yes. And he should have contacted me. I would have happily held them in trust for him, of course making sure that they were inspected regularly, kept clean and rust free, and and regularly tested for proper functionality.
Don’t forget the cachet ant test of having one in hand when meeting your granddaughter’s boyfriend. The test, of course, being whether or not the young man recognises a quality firearm and asks for a closer look.
Yes. My brother has two daughters. I keep telling him to buy a deer mount for the dining room so he can be there cleaning a gun when the boys come to pick the girls up.
When my daughter became of dating age, both my son and I were cleaning our firearms when her suitors came calling.
Turns out, 1911’s work just as well
Rumor has it that my nephews put fake headstones in the distance from the driveway when their elder sister’s suitors came to pick her up. They explained that if their dad liked the suitor but eventually went wrong, they got a headstone. If he didn’t like them then they didn’t get a “headstone.”
JQ
Yes, but the Purdey is a test. If a suitor recognizes it for what it is, he’s likely to be OK.
Almost perfect, 3 quibbles: Single Trigger, 3″ Cartridges, Sling Mounts. I wouldn’t mind one in .410 as well.
— In the old days, one wanted a double trigger so that if one trigger failed to function, the other barrel could still be used. I see nothing wrong with that philosophy.
— 3″ cartridges are fine for home defense, less important for birding or clays.
— sling mounts are unnecessary when one has a shotgun slip, which has a sling.
“… I’d just keep it next to my chair where I could pick it up now and then, and lovingly fondle it …”
Don’t forget to budget for all the white cotton gloves you’d need to keep your greasy fingerprints from ruining the finish.
For $16,000 it looks pretty good against the $60,000 price of your new entry level Purdey. I am still amazed at the number of people at gun auctions who will drop six figures on a firearm. Of course if you had bought some stocks for a few bucks a share 24 years ago and now they are now approaching $300.00 per share, I could understand spending that money.
Looks like twist barrels- use low pressure loads.
Sad gun story of the hour- years (and years) ago I was in sleepy little anytown USA wandering through an antique mall/thrift store- there on the wall was this lovely old double gun. Can I have a look? Sure! It was a muzzleloading 12 bore hammer gun, neatly engraved on the barrels J.Manton, London. He was the guy Purdy apprenticed under.
I was too stupid and too broke to buy it. $1000 was the asking price.