doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Trading for an English gun, help.

Purdey is a "Marque Name" but before I would part with a very nice Hussey double, I'd re-read both the late Gene Hill's
"A Shotgunner's Notebook" and his sage advice on British guns and makers, and also words of apparent wisdom (IMO) from John Barsness in his book on Shotgunning- to wit: "Buy the gun that fits you and your shooting style, not by maker's name"- Those dead quail or pheasants won't know the difference. RWTF

maybe the 'dupe' of york...

I can't afford a new or used Purdey but I've saw and handled enough to know there is a diffrence in quality some can see and feel it some can't.

PALUNC, if my memory serves me correctly most English 12 bores are proofed around .729 and at .740 they are considered out of proof. Back boring may remove all the pitting before the Purdey is technically out of proof, and then again it may not.

If you shoot your Hussey very well, I would suggest you hang on to it, or ask the current owner to take care of removing the pitting and measuring the bores to make sure they are still in proof before the sale.

PALUNC,
A call to Purdey and a discussion of what's in the order book may help you make up your mind. You've been given some very good advice here.
Just get that damn Purdey.
Justin

I found my copy of Gene Hill's 1989 book "Shotgunner's Notebook. Page 56- "Guns as Investments" Gene opens with a quote from a 1927 article by my favorite vintage gunwriter and gentleman gunner (not Nash B.- by Capt. Curtis was a close friend of Nash's)-skip to where Gene writes: "But as Capt. Curtis pointed out 30 years ago" and perhaps, like me, you will interpolate this article as being written in 1957-No matter- Gene's words of wisdom make sense to me-Quote: "In the British makers the used gun bargains are just as rare. The famous names are in the $10,000 class and only those who look hard will find one of the many fine but lesser-known makers like Lang, Hussey, Grant or Horsley, to name but a few that are about half the cost of the Purdeys and Bosses but in general their equal in quality and function- The point is that the time for buying investment guns is probably past. But as Captain Curtis pointed out 30 years ago, 'The sportsman should not consider his arms from a cold and mercenary point of view. He does not buy them for profit, but for service, and he should therefore write off a certain amount for service rendered. Nevertheless, a fine weapon will, if wisely disposed of, fetch closer to its purchase price than a cheap gun would, and a really fine one will, if held long enough, frequently bring more"..

I would not be so crass as to tell another man, even one I might know well, how to spend his money, especially on things as important as good side-by-side shotguns, as much as I would not welcome him telling me how to spend my gunning $- BUT, unless you will not live a complete life without a Purdey shotgun, and feel you are getting a fair value in trade for your fine Hussey shotgun- well, you can do the math. I would pay the money to have Jack Rowe examine this Purdey from "stem to stern"- as I too, being of a suspicious nature, as are most surviving Foxes, would question the possible motive of the seller of the Purdey in consideration. For what it is worth, I had Bill Jaqua sell a 12 bore Hammer Purdey that was in the family and came to me-it had Damascus barrels and back then we didn't have the interest and possible expertise in that technology of another era to realize they are shootable, with the right loads and conditions. I wish now that I had kept it, like several Harleys and a few cars I owned in past times, but life is fluid, like a river, and ever changing, and what pulls our heart and purse strings today may not even arouse a blink of an eye tomorrow!!

I'm still blinking...

So what should he do invest in a clapped out Parker ?

What was Capt. Curtis first name?

Title: GUNS AND GUNNING. Introduction by Nash Buckingham.



Paul A. Curtis, author.

The Brand Value of the name Purdey (BV1) has the effect of doubling the value compared to a Hussey (BV3) named gun, Original Quality grade for OQ grade and Current Condition level for CC level. Both the Husey and the Purdey (SLE's both) should be considered OQ1 (best work level). I'm not clear on the CC's as it stands. Bad barrels on the Purdey are a big hit. Poorly done replacement barrels on the Hussey would also be a big hit. Are the replacement barrels by Hussey? Are they best work barrels? Worst case on repair of the Purdey barrels would be Teague lining at about $2500 to make a shooter and $20,000 for new barrels to maintain value. The Teague lining is a big value hit compared to OE barrels.

Wasn't that basically what I said.