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I went through the 2007 thread and cleaned this post up

Purdey Gun & Rifle Makers, The Definitive History by Donald Dallas

There was very little discussion of the barrels, and no mention of any specific named pattern nor, after the mid-1820s, if any barrels were out-sourced. I was able to establish the progression of barrels used from the excellent pictures.
In summary: prior to the 1840s all barrels were twist. In the 1840s-1860s Laminated steel and 2- and 3- Iron �Oxford� Damascus appear - asymmetric large oval scrolls



About 1870, a distinctly finer 3- and 4- iron English Best �Turkish� (smaller annular symmetric scroll) patterns appear



c. 1890, most of the barrels were Whitworth steel

p.15
Purdey began producing his own barrels in the mid-1820s.
Prior to that time, most were obtained from Charles Lancaster (�CL� marked) or William Fullerd (�WF� marked)
p. 27
Barrels made by Purdey were stamped �JP� after 1826
Also Thomas Evans �TE� and Thomas Parkin �TP� in mid-1820s.
No further mention of any out-sourced barrels thereafter.
Aston Snr. began with Purdey's in the 1850s; his son, Harry, was also a barrel maker until 1930.

Barrel patterns in images
1818: 6b Flintlock #14 - Twist
1821: 4b Dbl percussion shotgun #287 - Twist
1844: 16b Dbl percussion rifle #3845 - Laminated
1863: 12b Dbl Bastin/Purdey slide action pinfire #6424 - Damascus ?2 rod
1864: First pattern thumb-hole pin-fire #6829 - Laminated Damascus?
1866: 12b Dbl First pattern thumb-hole #7225 - Laminated steel
1867: 40 cal. Dbl Express rifle #7464 - Large scroll 2 Iron �Oxford� Damascus
1868: 12b Second pattern thumb-hole #7745 - Large scroll 3 Iron Damascus
1869: 12b muzzle-loading shotgun #7902 - Large scroll 3 Iron Damascus
1872: 10b bar-in-wood hammer gun #8623 - First appearance of Fine small scroll �Turkish� 4 Iron Damascus
1873: 12b bar-in-wood hammer guns pair #8998 & 9000 - same Damascus as above.
c. late 1870s: Introduction of Quality A - E
Jan. 1, 1880 - Pair #10614/10615 were delivered to Mr Hunt by James Purdey 'The Younger' with The "New Whitworth Fluid Pressed Steel".
1881: Bar-in-wood hammer gun #11090 - same 4 Iron �Turkish�.
1885 Catalog - Quality A- Best Gun �The barrels of best Guns can if desired be made of Sir Joseph Whitworth & Co.s fluid pressed steel at an extra cost...�
Quality B- �Fine Damascus barrels.� No other mention of barrel material.
Crolle pattern illustrated is the same 4 Iron �Turkish�.
1884: Beesley gun #11837 - 3 Iron �Turkish�
1886: 8b hammer rifle #12371 - 3 Iron �Turkish�
c. 1890s: Guns illustrated had Whitworth steel.

Damascus---love your Purdey--- I have owned my Purdey for nearly 50 years as well. I'm now looking for the next custodian.

BTW: This 1862 20b Purdey Express Rifle pinfire 2 Iron barrel is a bit of an aesthetic mess and might explain why Purdey began sourcing rough forged tubes in Liege. The action and hammer look to have Nautilus engraving also.

Damascus

Thanks a lot for the photos. They inspired a lot of thoughts. My research so far indicates the Purdey barrel marks normally appear on the barrel flats in front of the hook like your pictures show. A "JP" indicates the barrels were finished by Purdey. Other letters denote other people finished the barrels. Other barrels not finished by Purdey were rare in 1869 when my gun was built. As I am finding out nothing is that straight forward on old Purdey guns. My gun has no marks-see photos below. I contacted Donald Dallas about this and he said no marks were not usual. The barrel marks denote who finished the barrels-not who made the damascus forgings. Purdey got their damascus forgings from the best suppliers available-usually from England and most likely Belgium. I sent a few pictures of my gun with its original case with the Purdey label marked 8142-the gun serial number. As far as I know all the major parts are original. I'll know more about what modifications have been made over time when I receive the original build specs from Purdey. As someone responded to my post the real fun is learning what you can about these old masterpieces! The search continues! Thanks to everyone who responded to this past! In the case a powder measure, an adjustable shot measure, original cleaning rod and a bore bush with rope were included. Sorry no pictures. I'll try to figure out how to attach pictures.

Bob

[quote=damascus]Kathy1




[qoute]

What is the 81 16 on the flats?

Damascus,
I finally figured out how to send the pictures of my 1869 Purday.

Kathy1 A nice Island locks back action version with a re-proof at .740 things cant get any better. The 81 and 16 stamps on the barrels a consensus of opinion on this it is some form of barrel makers identification because there where four guns ordered in this set so it could stand to reason that some form of identification may have been needed for the number of tubes or completed barrels. Though I am always open to suggestions to some other reason for these numbers, I would dearly like to find another gun from this set made for Henry Chaplin just to compare but I have never found another owner to date.

The only reason I ask, is that I have a Birmingham gun that has 80 25 stamped on each sides of the action flats (80 on one and 25 on the other side) I assumed it was done at proof as the gun was reproofed and left little to no room for any other stampings.

RARiddell your suggestion is as good as any though there is still room on the flats at the time of the Birmingham proof also the number of guns with impressed numbers like we have are not that common. On my gun there are the original London view an definitive marks and the Birmingham nitro proof marks and there will still be enough room for re-proof marks at .740 though it will be the next keepers problem to sweat over. My feelings are that the proof houses are not taking in to account the gun making heritage of the UK and seem hell bent to destroy as much of it as possible. It is starting to become ludicrous in the way vintage guns are being destroyed by making them come up to proof levels as if the gun was made last week with modern materials. We do have Ministry of Transport tests for vintage and classic Motor Vehicles, they are not asked to come up to and pass new motor vehicle standards. My personal view of this UK gun proof situation is a little obtuse some would say, though I do feel that because the proof houses have a large input from the gun trade they have the outdated business view the more guns we take out of circulation the more new guns they will sell. And of course if that were true "if Pigs had wings they would be Eagles"

RARiddell

Let me suggest another idea! My gun was re-proofed in London in 1980. I know this because a date code LP over 80 is stamped near the breech on the lower barrel in my picture(you probably can't see it in my picture but it's there). My proof chart tells me your gun was re-proofed between 1954 and 1985. Maybe the 80 is a date code for re-proof. Date codes at the Birmingham proof house were on and off and always very confusing. The 25 may be the identity number for the employee who did the re-proof. Just a thought!

Bob