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.
I agree with you Eightbore that the Model 21 has a nice action; however, I have never read and am unaware that the Model 21 Winchester has an 'assisted opener' mechanism. Would you please cite references which corroborate your statement. Thank you.
