doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Thoughts on purchasing a 1889 Purdey 12 gauge

Ken,

I'm still looking for you. The 20k+ level helps. Keep your chin up ol' boy. I saw the first one you turned down last weekend in Tulsa. I would have passed on that one too.

Good luck.

Wally

Check out http://www.gavingardiner.com for the next sale

Lot 110 is a no.2 Holland & Holland amd Lot 112 is a Purdey, they may come into your price range. I could have secured you a very nice 1921 H&H Royal for $15,000 at Holt's last month.

the advice from some about considering a best gun from a maker with lower 'brand recognition' is sound.

kd - I'd recommend you discuss your needs and budget with Dig. He sees a lot of guns, knows guns, and offers a very unique service (check his web site).

I'd further recommend that you sort for yourself the issue of brand name. The actual mechanical quality/excellence of guns is independent of brand name, IMO. However, and it is a big however, there is an undeniable attraction to a Brand Value level one (BV1 = Boss, H&H, Purdey, and Woodward), Original Quality grade one SLE (OQ1), in "good enough Current Condition (CC3 to CC4). This is a "no explaination needed" gun. Keep in mind that the price difference between "no explainations needed" and "as good as" for Brit guns is one and a half to two fold. An "as good as" in BV3 will cost half of what a BV1 will cost.

Was the name of the vendor mentioned in this thread? If not, can we be told?

I had the same question as Eightbore and went back through the thread to find it. Hard to believe problems of this magnitude would not have been evident to the vendor prior to shipping . . .

OWD gave it away I think;
http://www.orvis.com/detail.asp?subject=...p;group_id=1109

is that not it??

BTW thanks for that link to the catalog Dig,about how much more could one figure if you where help someone get involved?It looks like a great way to do it.

Due to popular demand, below is a partial list of why the Purdey from Orvis failed. When I agreed to have the gun inspected I was told the gun was old, was a field gun, was not perfect but was original. Further, it was represented to me that while the gun showed signs of use and some wear and tear (which I expect a 120 year old gun to have), the gun was a fine example of a Purdey Best. Most importantly, I was told the barrels were in excellent condition and original to the gun. I now know the barrels are not original to the gun and do not appear to be Purdey barrels. Judge for yourself whether or not the gun was misrepresented.

Below is a list of items Alfred found wrong with the gun. We spent 2 hours taking the gun apart. No part was left untouched. Basically, the gun had many botched repairs and none of them were corrected. In addition, the barrels are not correct to the gun, have different proof marks and do not fit on the gun properly. Alfred Gallifent did the inspection while I was present. Being a novice even I could see how horrible this gun was. Most of the mechanical parts of the gun showed signs of heavy wear, abuse and horrible subpar repairs. To make matters worse, the barrels did not appear to be the original barrels and did not fit the gun properly. This made opening and closing the gun very difficult. I would have thought Orvis would have represented the gun properly; especially since they knew Alfred would be examining the gun.



1. Left lock plate not flush with stock
2. barrels are hard to get on and off the gun
3. nitro proof on the gun but not the barrels
4. chambers are out of proof
5. barrels have been soldered
6. barrels are warped inside
7. trigger guard has a botched repair job
8. non-original and non-purdey pins, screws, etc
9. crack in the head (stock is cracked)
10. ejectors do not work properly
11. lumps are out of the receiver and the gun when the barrels are open
12. kickers are not right
13. barrels drop too far forward
14. ejector springs are incorrected and the product of a botched repair
15. Many other parts have signs of substandard repairs and the gun overall looked very sad.


Ken

Thanks for the update. I wasn't sure if this gun might be the 15k Purdey on Roger Bain's website.

The gun on Roger's site is a nice gun. By nice I mean a good shooter, not much in the way of CC etc. I don't know what the insides look like.

DH

At our spring SxS shoot last weekend my friend bought a Purdy 12ga hammergun in the case for $4500. I had a chance to buy it but passed because it didn't fit me. I thought the gun and case were in just about excellent condition- also had a letter saying it was a pin-fire converted to center-fire by the factory. He has been nice enough to let me shoot it- what a fine gun. Paul