Purdey new bolt action rifle

[geoff rath]

Can you afford it, without selling y our soul? Yes? BUY IT, NOW!!!

 

[lockingblock]

Sell a kidney, buy the rifle! You only really need one...

 

[lockingblock]

@lockingblock The M40 rifles are another story altogether. Round-bottom-actioned rifles for 500-1,000 yard shooting are typically rebedded every two years. The. tube rifles obviously will never have that issue but, on the other hand, if you are using plenty of strong loads in a stalking rifle with a round bottom action, the bedding will take a beating and a timber stock may split, due to the extra action-screw torque required to minimize the loosening effects of firing torque.

No such thing as a perfect solution, especially when emotion and finances play significant parts in our rifle choices. Have a good weekend. I hope to see more of your posts.

It is an interesting question...

Frankly, I see no reason that a very expensive wood stocked rifle, should be allowed to underperform a synthetic stocked rifle of similar construction.

Don't the Echols rifles have a metal "I Beam" or similar and some bedding magic? For the $$$...they should perform.

You are correct on a lot of the military teams guns getting full rebuilds. Army Marksmanship Rifles often got a full gutting of the stock and bedded during a barrel swap...which was strange sometimes as their bedding process could use a piece of round bar that matched the diameter of the action, vs the action itself. Easier way to do it...no having to fill the action with clay...but perhaps less precise. The performance was there either way.

Aluminum chasis systems are too easy not to use them. I've used a few professionally for work and they are uber simple, strong, and can be maintained by the end user vs having to go to a gunsmith. A V block chassis is dead simple for a round action... Accuracy International sells these for the Rem 700. I have a couple and they work perfectly...if you 700 is truly round.

For a flat action, it seems equally logical that the Purdey method would work well...metal chassis matted to metal action. Assuming you don't have galvanic corrosion issues (FN has had some bad ones on the SCAR program)...it should be ideal.

I think you could get 99% of that performance with just good solid pillars though...large square ones.

YMMV, just my thoughts.

 

[cem rona ergin]

Sell a kidney, buy the rifle! You only really need one...

i need help on identification numbers .. i do not know how to read them .. can anybody direct me to a reliable source?

 

[K-man]

this has been a fun read so far...I for one am glad some people drive Lamborghini's and Bentley's and some drive Dodge and Ford. For me, the choice is to go on safari with the off the shelf rifle I own or not go at all with a fancy rifle. I sure don't mind handling a fine rifle once in a while, but would much rather have the experience of the hunt over the safe queen.

 

[geoff rath]

Lockingblock, it's way too late for that; I've only got on kidney, and it runs at about 23%, so no shortcuts like that for me, Dammit. I agree, that if we could afford the fine rifle AND the Safari(s), that would be fun. I suspect my one and only African trip so far will be it. I'd love to go back, net time with the Ruger N0 1 being "built" for me: Caliber? 9.3X64.... that should work on the lar(ger) plains game....

 

[Shootist43]

Yes I sort of remember the old Mauser, I recall it being a gift to some "potentate" or government official. The fact that it is unfired and over 70 years old, no doubt adds a few bucks. I really like the double set triggers and since it was a gift, assume the overall quality of the wood and workmanship to be quite high. I know that I'm a cheapskate when it comes to purchasing "quality" over functioning rifles but this one offers both. I also see custom rifles being offered in the States for 9 -10K and they are not Rigby(s), Purdey(s), etc. Not knowing what firearms sell for in your part of the world also makes it difficult to put a "fair" price on any given rifle. So I'm left with trying to compare it, to what you paid for the case colored Mauser you asked about putting a scope on. My gut feel is that this rifle is worth less than that one. How much less, again hard to say, but in my opinion it would be in the $2,500 / $3,000 neighborhood. Gun values to a shooter are far different from gun values to a collector. Which are you? Please don't say both.

 

[cem rona ergin]

Yes I sort of remember the old Mauser, I recall it being a gift to some "potentate" or government official. The fact that it is unfired and over 70 years old, no doubt adds a few bucks. I really like the double set triggers and since it was a gift, assume the overall quality of the wood and workmanship to be quite high. I know that I'm a cheapskate when it comes to purchasing "quality" over functioning rifles but this one offers both. I also see custom rifles being offered in the States for 9 -10K and they are not Rigby(s), Purdey(s), etc. Not knowing what firearms sell for in your part of the world also makes it difficult to put a "fair" price on any given rifle. So I'm left with trying to compare it, to what you paid for the case colored Mauser you asked about putting a scope on. My gut feel is that this rifle is worth less than that one. How much less, again hard to say, but in my opinion it would be in the $2,500 / $3,000 neighborhood. Gun values to a shooter are far different from gun values to a collector. Which are you? Please don't say both.

I am a shooter .. for sure
But this one has been kept in pristine condition for so long that it would be a sin to start shooting ..

 

[Shootist43]

Only the first shot. Most of my collection is over 50 years old, some were unfired and or fired once cleaned well and put away. Lots of people buy guns and never use them. I've purchased several new guns for an Elk hunt in the mid 1970s that never materialized. To this day they remain unfired. But they are not worth significantly more than fired versions of the same rifle.

 

[cem rona ergin]

Only the first shot. Most of my collection is over 50 years old, some were unfired and or fired once cleaned well and put away. Lots of people buy guns and never use them. I've purchased several new guns for an Elk hunt in the mid 1970s that never materialized. To this day they remain unfired. But they are not worth significantly more than fired versions of the same rifle.

Even if I were to buy a purdey or a westley Richard’s I will definitely shoot it . I will take it to Africa use it,push it to its limits both environmentally and mechanically ..
That gives me much more pleasure than keeping it in the closet and admiring it from time to time .
Same with cars .. I see people buying all these expensive SUV ‘s and keeping them on asphalt . Never going off road to truly appreciate the cars abilities..
I could never do that ..

 

[lockingblock]

Gents, I visited Purdey yesterday in London and handeled 3 different double rifles, made for the same customer they said, one in .470, .500 and .600 NE.

Mind you, I say this as an owner of a Purdey best sxs shotgun:

The workmanship is marvelous...but the Beesley action makes it too heavy (slow) to be the ideal action for a double rifle IMHO, time is a luxury you dont have when hunting dangerous game. I really struggled to close that big .600 action...perhaps it will become more smooth with some wear...but my Purdey from 1896 is still pretty hard to close so...well...

No, I do not think that the Beesley is the best action for this kind of rifle..

This is very interesting...perhaps a different topic, but I’ve always been fascinated by Purdey’s action that is used in their double rifles.

Why do you feel it’s sub optimal? Which one is optimal/why?

I don’t often run across people with first hand experience, so your info is appreciated.

 

[Red Leg]

The Beesley (Purdey) SxS action is an assisted opening design. That means it uses the springs to add downward pressure to the barrels to make the gun faster to open. The payback is on closing the action, which is correspondingly harder (resetting the spring). The old joke about the Beesley went that an American visiting the Purdey shop once commented about how difficult it seemed to close the action. The salesman sniffed, looked down his nose and replied "most of our clients do not close their own guns." Their is some truth to that. The ultimate guns to take on a driven partridge shoot would be a matched pair of Purdeys or perhaps Holland & Holland Royals. Indeed, the shooter hands the fired gun to his loader while taking the newly loaded one of the pair to fire. Seeing people practiced at this sort of shooting is a bit of a marvel.

That closing issue could, to my mind, be a real handicap in close quarters with a double rifle. It is hot, you are sweating buckets, you have to reload, and that buff is coming from right there. I personally think the Rigby Bissell Rising Bite action is the finest design ever created for a double rifle. Brute strong, elegant, and smooth as silk to manipulate. Rigby is beginning to produce the first new production rising bites in eighty years. Finding one from the golden age before WWII is difficult and prices reflect their rarity.

 

[sierraone]

The Beesley (Purdey) SxS action is an assisted opening design. That means it uses the springs to add downward pressure to the barrels to make the gun faster to open. The payback is on closing the action, which is correspondingly harder (resetting the spring). The old joke about the Beesley went that an American visiting the Purdey shop once commented about how difficult it seemed to close the action. The salesman sniffed, looked down his nose and replied "most of our clients do not close their own guns." Their is some truth to that. The ultimate guns to take on a driven partridge shoot would be a matched pair of Purdeys or perhaps Holland & Holland Royals. Indeed, the shooter hands the fired gun to his loader while taking the newly loaded one of the pair to fire. Seeing people practiced at this sort of shooting is a bit of a marvel.

That closing issue could, to my mind, be a real handicap in close quarters with a double rifle. It is hot, you are sweating buckets, you have to reload, and that buff is coming from right there. I personally think the Rigby Bissell Rising Bite action is the finest design ever created for a double rifle. Brute strong, elegant, and smooth as silk to manipulate. Rigby is beginning to produce the first new production rising bites in eighty years. Finding one from the golden age before WWII is difficult and prices reflect their rarity.

Will never own a Rising Bite, but I do have an opinion, and it is.....RIG-by, RIG-by, RIG-by....that's all I have to say about that!

 

[cem rona ergin]

The Beesley (Purdey) SxS action is an assisted opening design. That means it uses the springs to add downward pressure to the barrels to make the gun faster to open. The payback is on closing the action, which is correspondingly harder (resetting the spring). The old joke about the Beesley went that an American visiting the Purdey shop once commented about how difficult it seemed to close the action. The salesman sniffed, looked down his nose and replied "most of our clients do not close their own guns." Their is some truth to that. The ultimate guns to take on a driven partridge shoot would be a matched pair of Purdeys or perhaps Holland & Holland Royals. Indeed, the shooter hands the fired gun to his loader while taking the newly loaded one of the pair to fire. Seeing people practiced at this sort of shooting is a bit of a marvel.

That closing issue could, to my mind, be a real handicap in close quarters with a double rifle. It is hot, you are sweating buckets, you have to reload, and that buff is coming from right there. I personally think the Rigby Bissell Rising Bite action is the finest design ever created for a double rifle. Brute strong, elegant, and smooth as silk to manipulate. Rigby is beginning to produce the first new production rising bites in eighty years. Finding one from the golden age before WWII is difficult and prices reflect their rarity.

The new rising bite Rigby start at 97 000 pounds.. about 130 000 dollars . And then you have a lot of custom specs to consider ..
The wood ,engraving ,logo, scope mount even the case .. you are talking about 150 to 170 K dollars ..Damn I have to work harder )) this is not happening just by me quitting smoking ))) and I also have to buy a Westley Richards ..

 

[sierraone]

The new rising bite Rigby start at 97 000 pounds.. about 130 000 dollars . And then you have a lot of custom specs to consider ..
The wood ,engraving ,logo, scope mount even the case .. you are talking about 150 to 170 K dollars ..Damn I have to work harder )) this is not happening just by me quitting smoking ))) and I also have to buy a Westley Richards ..

Cem, when you find that $170,000 let me know, I will settle for the plain one at $100,000 or so....or more likely just look at pictures of yours!!!

 

[cem rona ergin]

Cem, when you find that $170,000 let me know, I will settle for the plain one at $100,000 or so....or more likely just look at pictures of yours!!!

Oh come on Sierraone .. if I am going to drop 100 K plus on a rifle it surely will have the best grade wood , full engraving, gold logo , wait a minute what am I missing? Oh yeah 3000 $ cleaning kit and a 6000$ case .. I won’t have it any other way
And no one should either ..
and I promise I will have the pictures professionally taken so that you can really enjoy them

 

[Pondoro]

For me, a large bore double rifle (.45 and up..) is an elephant hunting only weapon....I simply do not see well enough to use it on ie. buffalo, need optics..

So I am pretty content with my old .475..

Should I ever be able to order a new one for elephant exclusively I would probably go for a Westley Richards gold name model, Anson& Deeley in .577 NE..

 

[Art Lambart II]

@Red Leg,

If my last post came off as a lecture I apologize, that was not my intent. Normally when people use the term weapon on this site I don't say anything but because it was you I did. I did it because I respect your opinion, because of your years of service to our country, your hunting experience and your knowledge of firearms so do many other people on this site. In my opinion you voice carries weight on this forum. I felt that is you made the distinction between a weapon and a firearm other people on this forum would do the same.

My intent was never to spare with you or in any way belittle or criticize your choice of firearms and your love for the gun makers art. Many member of this Forum value your opinion, where you lead people follow.

 

[geoff rath]

Red Leg, Sierraone, and cem rona ergin, you thee gentlemen in particular are three people I would feel privileged to listen to all day, or night. These conversations are enthralling to me. Thank you. What I know of the great double rifle makers would fit on the point of a needle; please keep writing.
Cheers....

 

[cem rona ergin]

Red Leg, Sierraone, and cem rona ergin, you thee gentlemen in particular are three people I would feel privileged to listen to all day, or night. These conversations are enthralling to me. Thank you. What I know of the great double rifle makers would fit on the point of a needle; please keep writing.
Cheers....

Thank you for kind words Geoff ..but compared to these guys I know nothing about fire arms.. they truly are experts .