It was a pleasure just waking the fields with it however, George loved that Purdey gun and was very proud of it.

I never did gun any birds with the Purdey, GBE had shortened the stock because of his rotator cup injuries and, unfortunately the gun did not fit me at all. No way I was giving it up however, it was one of my Grandfather beautiful guns. Smith 16 and immediately shot 2 Quail, he wanted that gun badly after using it so well on 2 very hard shots over 40 yard out. I have never owned a Purdey double gun, however the gun Dr Norris gave GBE was a beautiful 12 gauge and having carried it for a few hours one afternoon hunting Quail, I was very very impressed with the gun, especially the rose engraving. I am much like you and my Best London guns are now all gone. Hopefully it will provide some comfort to those feeling like they are staring down the rabbit hole. Given how many of us are sitting around in self isolation I will put together a post titled 'Vetting an H&H Royal” with pictures. If it snapped I needed to figure in a new stock (properly done) for a finished cost. I made a lowball offer that was declined because I was going to have to bend the stock quite a bit for the proper cast. I knew very little about London Best guns and I spent a couple of weeks boning up on what made a Best Gun. As someone else pointed out the fun is in the investigation.Ībout a year ago I came very close to purchasing a Holland & Holland Royal that looked like a gussied up Dominion. The gun shop in England shared that with me via e-mail. I recently passed on a 16 bore #1 Army & Navy for sale in England because the minimum wall thickness was below my standard. What rabbit hole do you see in that article? Every issue is one that would have been easily revealed by vetting the gun with a skilled gunsmith, or if you have the tools your own vetting. Of course it’s all part of the fun, just as it is for hobbyists and collectors of every persuasion, from Leica cameras to Gravely lawnmowers. But this interesting recent article in Diggory Hadoke’s Journal perfectly illustrates the rabbit hole that one can quickly be drawn into.

Don’t get me wrong, I think British guns are delightful.

Dave erickson gunsmith