Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/299259
S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 2 1 I n the long and storied history of gunmaking, there is no name more renowned than that of James Purdey. His rise to fame began 200 years ago, give or take, when he opened a small shop at 4 Princes St., Leicester Square, London, for the purpose of making and selling guns. He was certainly not new at his trade, having apprenticed under his brother-in-law, Thomas Keck Hutchinson, a well-respected maker in his own right. After that he worked for three years in the shop of Joseph Manton, the consensus "Best" gunmaker back then, and for several years in the shop of Alexander Forsyth, who along with Manton, was among the earliest proponents of the then-new percussion ignition system. By the time Purdey opened his own shop, he had already established a reputation as a first- rate maker and soon parlayed that reputation into another as Manton's successor and the preeminent gunmaker of his time. The exact time of Purdey's opening of his own shop is, like almost everything else regarding the early English gun trade, shrouded in the mists and myths of time and book, James Purdey & Sons: Gun & Rifle Makers, argues that it occurred in March of 1816. For all I know he may be right, but the firm that still carries Purdey's name counts the date as sometime in 1814, and that's good enough for me. Of course, in 1814 flintlocks, as perfected by Manton, represented current firearms technology. During his time with Manton and Forsyth, Purdey was thoroughly exposed to the cutting-edge technology of percussion ignition. When the percussion system came in general use in the 1820s, Purdey joined his two former employers at the forefront of the evolutionary leap in firearms technology. James' son, who is now generally referred to as "James the younger," was born in March of 1828 and would apprentice under his father beginning in 1843. In time he joined the firm and took over its management in 1858. James the younger would usher in the era of the breechloader in the 1860s. He is also credited with coining the term "express rifle" to S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 2 1 he Purdey Bicentenary trio includes this exquisite, gold-engraved double rifle chambered in .470 Express. T For the past 200 years the London gunmaking firm founded by James Purdey the elder has never wavered in its pursuit of excellence. Robert Matthews h o t g u n s S is occasionally debated among people who worry about such things. Donald Dallas, in his wonderful