doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Henry Atkin "by Purdeys"

I recently viewed an auction item on gunbroker.com which listed a beautiful double 20 Ga which was described as being a Henry Atkin by Purdeys. There was comment that Purdy later had Henry Atkin remove the wording "by Purdeys" from the guns. I was skeptical of this description as I could not imagine Purdy making a gun for a lesser seller.

Does anyone know if Purdy actually made guns for Henry Atkin?

http://www.huntershouse.dk/kat189-Bøssemagere-historik/

Henry Atkin was the first co-worker Purdey have,after that came many others.The link above show the history.( If you can translate from Danish).

Regards Lennart

It probably read "Henry Atkin, From Purdey's", not "by Purdey's". William Evans, another former Purdey employee, did the same thing. "From Purdey" meant that the maker was formerly a Purdey employee, and had thus learned gunmaking from the best. Since the statement was true, Purdey couldn't do anything about it. Purdey's sued Evans over it, and lost.

Atkin was a fine gunmaker, and no, Purdey didn't make his guns.

That is exactly my understanding of the matter. Atkin was merely the first to put the information on his labels. It is true that the first Purdey could have said "from Manton's" for the same reason.

I believe James Purdey did exactly that, advertise himself as "from Manton's." This, I understand, figured large in the decision in favor of Evans.

Thanks to each of you for the history lessons. I am just now getting seriously into the English double shotgun world and appreciate your help. For info I just bought a beautiful Thomas Turner 12 Ga with 2 5/8" chambers. I am torn as to whether to have the chambers lengthened to allow 2 3/4" light loads or leave the gun as is and use the traditional 2 1/2" shells. I just got a case of #7 Pure Gold in 2 1/2" and intend to try this gun out on sporting clays tomorrow.

I strongly suggest against lengthening the chambers. If you will do the necessary legwork, you can obtain low pressure loads in 2 3/4" cases/hulls that will be suitable for your gun, assuming it is really up to shooting; if it will handle 2 1/2" CIP loads, it will surely handle low pressure 2 3/4" loads. Reloading is one of the surest routes to known low pressure. Don't assume that light shot charges equal low pressure - it is not necessarily so. Many vintage shooters use one of the 7/8 oz loads of around 1150 fps at around 7000 psi in a 2 3/4" hull. The low pressure is good for the metal parts and the low recoil is good for the wood parts and for the shooter.

Thanks for the info, but my problem is that the existing chambers are 2 5/8", so I can't use the 2 3/4" low pressure loads wothout lengthening the chambers. The 2 1/2" Pure Gold loads from Game Bore claim to be suitable for the old doubles.

there is a good bit of evidence that indicates that pressure is more important than the length of the shell, and that low pressure 2 3/4" shells are ok in 2 1/2" chambered guns.

You should have no problem using 2 3/4 inch low pressure loads in your 2 5/8 inch chambers as long as the gun is on face and the barrels not badly pitted. Most of the A.H. Fox 12 bore guns that I have encountered have 2 5/8 inch chambers. Thomas Turner was a good quality Birmingham maker. I have several of his guns and have shot them all with modern low brass cartridges.

Best Regards, George