I would love to own a nice Purdey self opener, but the feature is an abomination, in my opinion. A much smoother acting assisted opener is the Cogswell and Harrison Avant Tout or the Winchester Model 21. On these two guns, the assisted opening feature interferes very little with the closing of the gun, unlike the Purdey.
. An 'abomination'. A rather strong word in describing anything about a Purdey IMHO. I think the self-opening mechanism only represents the highest level of the double gunmakers art and in that regard is extraordinary. Whether the self-opening mechanism is utilitarian is mere academia. It's a Purdey, one of the finest guns in the world. That's what is remarkable IMHO.
