I admire English best guns, have two of them myself, but also see their shortcomings. (weak stocks, inaccessible innards, specialist and costly repairs).
Bruce Owen, former production manager of Purdey, wrote some years ago in Shooting Sportsman explaining how CNC machines forced the use of better steels, brought more machining accuracy to the product and other fascinating info. Presumably the CNC Purdeys will be called "bester" guns since they go one step up from the mild steel receivers of the past.
With so much talent under one roof one reasonably expects them continue with the classic design for those that want it and also innovate in the same spirit of James the Younger, giving us the Purdey vision of contemporary design. And make it as affordable now as Purdeys were in 1920, when they cost a quarter of an officer's annual pay. Now they cost twice the annual pay of a senior army officer.
Owen's comments on the pricing policy of the company are a classic. He puts the question on whether the new CNC machines, (which according to him cut production costs), will mean lower retail prices, he writes: "that is a matter for the marketing department". The implications are obvious.
