doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Twin Purdey Barrels

I am guessing this seller might be very willing to dump them for 1/2 the asking price. They are not easy to sell . Or realist with a reserve and put them on Auction on the next round.

Edit. - It still odd , he says he contacted Purdey. If I owned them , I would see if I could consign them to Purdey or another Double seller. Or list them on " Matched Pairs". Looking for the rest of the guns if in fact they are indeed extra barrels. Even the Westley Blog might help too. There are better ways than EBay! Even an Ad in the Double Gun Journal .

Well, apparently orphan Purdey barrels can be fitted. According to my google search, Purdey fitted these barrels to another existing gun with different serial numbers. Find that gun and you have a four barrel set.

Good research! So, it would appear that if Purdey fitted them then they would have info as to to previous owner. But the current owner says he does not know and has " written" to Purdey. Purdey might not tell him, but one would think he might ask Purdey to contact the previous owner. I wonder what the real story is or can not be told. ( Maybe that was done and the previous owner does not want them, I would think , however, that would have been disclosed)

10k to gamble on a set of orphaned barrels, with no return, is too rich for me. Now I would be willing to have my gun shipped along with the barrels to a proper gunsmith and have him evaluate if they could work. Along with fitting concerns I'd get complete wall thickness measurements. It would suck to buy them and find out they are too thin and need to be sleeved. Fit is not your only concern when buying orphan barrels. Being 27" make them less of a hot item to me. Sellers always want you to think they have the best thing since buttered pop corn.

They are only of any real use to the person who owns the rest of the gun. If you have a hand made pair of guns you will find that not even the number one barrels will fit the number two gun and vice versa. Lagopus.....

Lagopus you are so right but the dream of finding a set of barrels for a fraction of their replacement cost is such temptation. A fools dream most likely. Worse over here as there might be three smith capable of fitting them to your gun. A very tall task but everyone likes to have hope and as they say a fool and his money are soon departed.

KY Jon, the original barrels for the gun that wore the 27" barrels were or are 29". A gun with two sets of 27" and two sets 29". Not a bad combination.

If you had that gun or pair of guns 10k would be a steal. But to fit them to another, a third and fourth gun is a stretch. If you could track down the gun they were fit to I can see this as a great buy. Just for the rest of the guns that they might fit it is a gamble, 10k with no returns. I've tried this before, not for this much money, and ended up either giving up or getting into a money pit.

If returnable and I had a pair they might fit, I'd roll the dice but with no chance to return them I would not be inclined to take that gamble. It is all risk/reward and while the reward is high the risk and marginal chance for a fit without any chance to just return them and get my money back makes me want to pass. I'd rather drop ten grand on something else and I am not a big fan of 27", 26" or 25" barrels anyways. If they were 30 or better yet 32" barrels my whole attitude would be different.

I emailed the seller on wall thickness, it took a couple of days, but he sent me this last night...

"Good evening. I finally found a barrel gauge. The barrels measure as follows:

1 barrel - 29/1000, 29/1000
2 barrel - 31/1000, 32/1000

Again my apologies for the delay! Let me know if you need anything further.

All the best,

Gary"

Looks like they sold!