New Purdey acquisitions et. al

[86er]

I found out about an estate that my music attorney's partner was settling. The widow, after 57 years of marriage said her husband had a safe she had never been in. When the locksmith and construction company arrived with the lawyer, they found a large safe door behind a sliding bookcase. Behind the door was an 1130 square foot ROOM containing 858 long guns, over 100 handguns and many accessories, parts and ammo. Since I was on site with them, I was extended a first right of refusal to make an offer on guns before they were inventoried and liquidated. I was drawn to the Purdey's of course. The one's that were going to appraise in the 6-digit range stayed there as I did not want to lie, cheat or steal but just get a good deal. So, the remaining three are mine. First, a 20 bore BLE "C" Grade from 1899, rebarrelled by Purdey in 1937 with 2.75" chambers and nitro proof for 1 ounce. Second, a J. Purdey and Son's marked Winchester 1873 in 44 WCF with British BP proof marks, and lastly a J. Purdey and with Son's marked Mannlicher-Shoenauer Model 1908 in 8X68mm with British Nitro Proof. (Purdey retailed several other brands in their front room, all of which were refinished or fitted by Purdey as necessary. I did not take home, but put on hold until I can pay cash a J. Purdey and Son's 16 bore stalking rifle, fully rifled damascus barrel with sights proofed for "4/5 ounce ball or minnie with 2 3/4 dram eq. #6 powder" with a single standing rear sight marked 100m and features the Purdey bolt, a Holland and Holland 28b hammergun with steel barrels featuring the peninsula locks, and a William Powell double rifle in 500 Express, "regulated 29g bullet - 600m/s" and reproofed "29g over N-BP 68" (which means Nitro for black powder). Here are the one's that came home so far:

[.45colt]

Holy Moly,that gotta be like King Tut's Tomb.Good for You Joe.

[Hobie]

I'd love to have such a room!

[yooper2]

I dream of getting to go through a room like that. Nice grabs!

Eric

[Pete44ru]

Ya done good - too bad there wasn't a Wesley Richards Faunetta (my personal fave) in there..........................



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[hfcable]

Joe, those are just wonderful.... and you are great guy for them to belong to. you understand and appreciate them and can even properly maintain or repair them if ever needed.

and i just gotta see that 28 bore hammer gun!!!!

[2ndovc]

Wow!

jb

[crs]

Congratulations on the beautiful guns and your good fortune.

[Marvin S]

I just love nice SxS shotguns.

[Nath]

Oh boy, I can just imagine how that room smelled!

At times like that you never seem to have enough cash!

Nath.

[Ben_Rumson]

Excellent! Like a dream come true!...

[Marlin32]

And I have been wanting a 8x68mm, and in that configuration, wow. Probably too light anyway. Looks like a good haul.

[Rusty]

WOW! That room was bigger than my first house.


Congratulations Joe. It would be interesting to see the auction list when it comes up.

[rjohns94]

Fantastic Joe. That is awesome

[Chuck 100 yd]

A dream come true!!

[Dave B]

WOW!!!

Dave B

[Boreman]

OUTSTANDING !!!!!!!!!!!!How fortunate you were to be at the right place at the right time.Hard to place a cool factor on those firearms

[cshold]

Awsome Joe
Just out of curiosity, any Parker's in that collection?

[86er]

Only English doubles but tons of continental drillings and assorted rifles. Altogether there were about 40 SxS, 15 3b's and 10 singles. The rest were assorted bolt, lever and semi auto rifles.

[damienph]

That's fantastic! I would enjoy looking through all of that even if I could't take any home.

[rodeo kid]

Joe, I am envious, but happy for you. God Bless.

[EdinCT]

They are very nice! Joe you just made me think of one of my late fathers friends. He told me in Germany during WWII they went house to house with the registration lists from the town halls and placed loads of beautiful drillings in the street and ran them over with a tank! He said it was a sick thing to see but he had been being shot at by Germans for a few years and wanted them harmless.
He also said remember what I told you never never registor a gun its only useful for disarming you. He wasn't politically correct for sure.

[madman4570]

Wow!
Fantastic Joe, couldn't think of a better person to have them!

[Bridger]

My heart probably wouldn't be a able to take a situation like that.

[airedaleman]

Holy Moly,that gotta be like King Tut's Tomb.Good for You Joe.

86er, sounds like you were in the same boat as Howard Carter, the English Egyptologist who discovered Tut's tomb. When he made the first opening on 26 November 1922, his English
patron, Lord Carnavon, asked Carter if he could see anything. He replied:

"Yes! Wonderful things!"

Wonderful things in that vault, and you've acquired some of them. (That Mannlicher is an
interesting gun with that chambering - a cartridge with a 68mm case must be about the maximum length the action/magazine will handle, no?)

[Ysabel Kid]

I'd love to have such a room!

+1 My dream...

[86er]

Well - it wasn't all a pot of gold. After closely examining the Purdey boxlock I became suspect of several points. After calling my old supervisors at Purdey's and then checking the gun book I was correct in thinking something was odd about this 20b. Purdey's gun book and sales book indicate this serial # is a 16 bore sidelock. The first hint was the font on the makers name and address that was nothing I recognized regardless of era. Second was the alleged British Proof marks with no proof pressure (BAR) listed and expressed as 2 3/4" instead of 70mm. The stock did not have the stockmakers initials when I removed it. A fraud! And a very good one at that - luckily I had the knowledge to figure it out quickly. I actually made a few bucks selling this gun as a fraud. WARNING - it is now for sale at Cabelas Ft. Worth TX and they have tagged it as Purdey? BLE and want something like $6K for it. The second issue is a shame. A true Purdey 16b fully rifled stalking rifle that checks out with the exception of the pinfire conversion not being done at the factory. That is neither here nor there as the conversion is very common and typically was done by any nearby gunmaker. However, this one was done without true knowledge of the conversion process. Yes it fires, it was accurate at 100 yds with a 2 1/2 dram load of 1 ounce giving around 1500 fps. However, of the three shots I fired, the hammer was cocked after each firing! What I figured out is that the original "pin" hole is still present and was not filled. Escaping gas rushed out the hole upon firing and sends the hammer flying back about 100 miles an hour. Eventually this will break the hammer or mainspring, and could injure a shoot in the hand or face. It is an easy fix but I dont want to put the effort into it. I sold it to a collector that signed a disclosure stating he knows full well the problem it has. Anyway, there were still some good guns out of the deal and I did profit a bit even from the problematic ones without having to hide, lie or rip-off anyone to move them. Kind of heartbreaking about the 20b in particular but oh well, I have other great Purdey's to love even more!

[rjohns94]

Sorry for the problems Joe. Good you came away with profit and integrity in the dealings. I respect that in you and so many here. Blessings

[KirkD]

Walking into a safe like that would be like walking into a dream.

[Ysabel Kid]

Sorry for the problems Joe. Good you came away with profit and integrity in the dealings. I respect that in you and so many here. Blessings

+ 1

I still saw this site is home to some of the most honorable, patriotic gentlemen (and women) in the country - as well as from around the world!

[hfcable]

" pinfire conversion not being done at the factory. That is neither here nor there as the conversion is very common and typically was done by any nearby gunmaker. "

Joe, i wound up with a beautiful little [ looks new ] pinfire 20 bore SxS shotgun, that was misdescribed to me [ was told it wasnt a pinfire ]; i was going to find some way to shoot it as a pinfire, but the only reloadable shells i can find are 12 and 16 : (
can you do a conversion, or do you know who could and roughly what it would cost ?

i will drag it out sometime and get pictures...

thanks