Business closure, economic disruption, re-development and war all played a part in losing the records that would tell us the story of our guns. While Purdey has been in business without interruption, since founded, most gunmakers existed only for the working life of the man involved, or perhaps for two or three generations. Sure enough, he was able to tell me everything I wanted to know, including for whom it was made, when and what its original specifications were. I called Purdey and asked archivist Nick Harlow to look it up in the book, by serial number.
When I wanted to date my latest Purdey, it was easy.
