Purdey BLE O/U Sporter 12 bore, 30" bbls, 15" LOP, 7# 10 1/2 oz, 4 1/2" balance (teeter-totter point to trigger), 1.79 unmounted swing (comparison number), 8.06 mounted swing (comparison number), 10.42 compactness of weight(comparison number).
Pirazzi Mirage Pigeon 12 bore, 27 1/2" bbls, 14 3/8" LOP, 7# 14 1/2 oz, 4 1/8" balance, 1.82 unmounted swong, 7.66 mounted swing, 10.32 compactness.
W-W M-101 O/U BLE 12 bore, 27" bbls, 14 1/8" LOP, 7# 12 1/2 oz, 4 3/4" balance, 1.75 unmounted swing, 7.73 mounted swing, 10.21 compactness.
W. Powell BLE pigeon 12 bore, 30" bbls, 14 1/2" LOP, 7# 9 oz, 5" balance, 1.8 unmounted swing, 8.00 mounted swing, 10.51 compactness.
A & S TLHE Castore #1 12 bore, 26" bbls, 14 3/4" LOP, 7# 10 oz, 3 3/8" balance, 1.55 unmounted swing, 6.95 mounted swing, 9.71 compactness.
Perazzi MX8 O/U BLE 20 bore, 29 1/2" bbls, 14 1/2" LOP,7# 10 1/2 oz, 4 1/2" balance, 1.74 unmounted swing, 7.73 mounted swing, 10.24 compactness.
Kriegoff K-20 BLE O/U 20 bore, 30" ct bbls, 14 5/8" LOP, 7# 9 1/2 oz, 5 3/4" balance, 2.20 unmounted swing, 8.99 mounted swing, 11.59 compactness.
The Purdey Sporter is a new design boxlock ejector O/U aimed at the top end sporter gun niche. It is primarly an “off-the-peg” gun and not available with the customization of the SLE O/U gun from Purdey’s. I was curious as to what handling characteristics it would have and jumped at a chance to measure one. In the data above, I have presented the handling characteristics of the Purdey Sporter, along with six other guns to compare and illustrate the handling numbers. Note that the range of lightest to heaviest of the seven guns is 5 ¼ oz while balance has a range of 2 3/8 inches; close in weight but diverse in balance. Unmounted swing effort varies by some 40% and mounted swing effort varies by about 14%; both spreads being quite noticeable amounts.
The Purdey matches well in the grouping of a modern O/U pigeon, a modern skeet O/U, and a vintage SXS pigeon, all these guns recognized as potential sporters. The A&S Castore top lever hammer gun is included to illustrate that weight is not definitive of gun handling. At the same weight level, it is more compact and, as a consequence, requires lower swing efforts. The two 20 bores were included to illustrate that while the P-Gun and K-Gun are widely extolled as prime sporters, they do have very different handling. The Purdey 12 bore and the P-Gun 20 bore are, in fact, very similar.
Any shooter in the market for a top drawer sporter would do well to consider the Purdey. The factory might be willing to shade handling by the range of barrel weight and stock blank density. The one I spun was a genuinely beautiful gun.
