Interesting that the ad does not specifically state that it is self opening. However it beats around the point by saying that the gun opens and cocks easily.
The original Beesley/Purdey design was introduced and advertised as "Purdey's Rebounding Lock Hammerless Gun."
At this time we do not know when the term self-opener was applied to the Purdey sxs. We do know, if I recall the late great Don Masters, that Purdeys complained to Robert Churchill when he claimed the Premier was a "self-opening" gun and he then relented and dubbed the two Premier designs and the Hercules were "assisted opening."
I can't recall the date.
