doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com HAND DETACHABLE PURDEY?

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A facebook post by Paulo Santos shows a Purdey with what seems to be a hand detachable lock. The lever is replacing the fron retaining pin on the PUrdey lock. From what I can see any attempt to turn the lever would make it bump into the fence.

Anyone know anything about hand detachable Purdey locks?

There was one a few months ago on GI. It was a pigeon gun. May still be listed.

Here you go,

https://www.gunsinternational.com/g...ls-cased-built-1964.cfm?gun_id=103670524

My guess is that the pin is not threaded, but rather shaped like a mauser bolt on the small end, a 90 degree turn and the pin comes out and you can remove the locks.

Thank you both for the info.

This hand detachability lark has its humorous side. The usual explanation is that of the dearth of capable gunsmiths in the far flung corners of the British empire. Therefore they made the locks easily removable for inspection and service.

The local gunsmiths were not to be trusted with unscrewing one or two lock pins for lock removal. Considering that no such provision for quick detachability is made for other bits, like triggers, ribs, stocks, I assume that the gunmakers implied that the locals could be trusted with these parts. There is a dose of British humour there, perceptible to those of us who went through the British education system.

I would think it was a "gimmick" that H&H came up with. Back in the day all gunmakers were chasing the same dollar so they had to come up with new ideas and new gimmicks to get customers in to the store.

It rains a lot there. People shoot out in absolute monsoons. And of course the foreshore is brackish.
Guaranteed rust if you can’t get warm dry air into the locks.

Not necessarily the owner doing the drying of course.

On the GI gun the letter states "Action with third grip and side clips." I see neither in the pictures?

Dave is right. I ain't a pigeon gun. It doesn't have a third grip or side clips. How could that be? The letter disagrees with the gun.

Purdey in their letter states it's a Trap gun. At the weight of over eight pounds I would agree. Remember Purdey like all "Best" gunmakers built guns to the customer's specification.

On a gun shot in the damp and even rain, provision must be made for drying and lubricating locks. Regardless of how careful you are screws can become worn or damaged with too much use. Though not a fan of the Holland pattern guns I have always admired the removable lock feature.

Another rust preventive solution was to gold plate the lock work. Partially due to water and also the chance of a pierced primer. In the past with corrosive priming the results could become bad very quickly. Primers in the past were much more prone to being pierced.
I still have the lockwork on my guns gold plated. Some gunmakers will do this at extra charge others simply will not. Either way it’s best to find a gunsmith to do it after the purchase. They charge much less and don’t skimp on plating all the parts except the springs which are damaged when gold plated.

The Spanish often vented the striker retention screws on thier best sidelock guns. This always seemed a great idea to me but British gun makers are quite adverse to doing this. Possibly due to more rain in the UK?

I sure hope the client was not charged for 3Rd grip and clips on that linked gun. He certainly did not get them.