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[purdey]

If you let me know where you are, I can come and thin a few out for you.

[Nikitas]

Deniz and Militiades,

In Athens there are wild parrots and they have made our neighborhood their home. We give them whatever help we can but these guys are strong buggers and have no hesiation in attacking any other bird who encroaches on their range.

Apparently they are survivors of some escapes from cages. I researched the phenomenon of escaped parrots creating colonies and it is common in America.

Have you guys noticed anything similar in the UK?

[Nikitas]

Purdey,

A friend owns a collection of Scottish shotguns, and has McNaughtons among them. I like them, but the Dickson still ranks as my dream. Failing that I would settle for a Ferlib round bodied boxlock. The man who makes them is a friend. His workshop in Gardone is a place I love to visit. So much to see!

[pantheman]

Purdey,

A friend owns a collection of Scottish shotguns, and has McNaughtons among them. I like them, but the Dickson still ranks as my dream. Failing that I would settle for a Ferlib round bodied boxlock. The man who makes them is a friend. His workshop in Gardone is a place I love to visit. So much to see!

hey Purdey, how about arranging a field trip to a couple of these gunmakers for us unfortunate few that love the stuff but are not connected?

My boy is into shotguns too, he has been contemplating getting a purdy at an auction, one with a good action and possibly getting new barrels made and a new stock. He is hoping to end up with a 80K gun for around 10K mark.

What do you reckon, good or bad idea??

[purdey]

Your boy can have a job with me if he can pull that off.It can be done...

[Nikitas]

Pantheman,

I will butt in with my experience.

At auctions like Christies, Bonhams et al, there are always dealers who bid on guns. Anything with renovation potential will be snapped up by them.

Many shotguns are valued for their name, the foremost being Purdey, closely followed by Boss,Holland etc.

You can often get a better deal going for makers who are as good as the top ten, but do not have such a valued name, in other words you go for the objective quality and not market cache. These other makers are people like Rigby, Horsley, Hussey, and others. Alternatively you forget the used gun area and go to an Italian maker and spend 10K on a decent new OU. If you keep engraving and wood to reasonable grades you can get a fine shotgun. YOu can get Perazzis for about that money. I have been to the Perazzi factory a couple of times and can vouch that the quality of the work is amazing.

And never forget the Browning B25! It is stilla good buy used.It will not be for long.

[kafenes]

A friend in Australia owns a Boswell and he doesn't even shoot. It's a side by side, belonged to his grandfather who was a champion trap shooter. It was made in the early 1900s and even has ejectors and is cased in it's original leather case. Tried so hard to buy it off him but he wouldn't sell. Another friend in Paphos bought a Bernandelli s/s boxlock for £400 a couple of months ago. Lucky bastard!!

[Nikitas]

Bernardelli has gone under. I visited their factory back in the 80s and they were stuck to the old ways of gunmaking. Failing to move with the times caused their demise.

These days the industry uses high tech CNC machines. In the Beretta factory they shoed me a hall, about 50 meters square with dozens of machines working away without a single human among them. It was eerie. But the result is as good as hand made.In fact many of the :hand made" crowd use CNC machines these days. And a few use investment castings but do not like to admit it. I was surprised to see a casting of the Dickson Round Action exhibited by the Dutch company that casts it.

It all goes to show that it is a bad idea to confuse the object with the method used to make it. The two are not necessarily interconnected.

[kafenes]

Bernardelli has gone under. I visited their factory back in the 80s and they were stuck to the old ways of gunmaking. Failing to move with the times caused their demise.

These days the industry uses high tech CNC machines. In the Beretta factory they shoed me a hall, about 50 meters square with dozens of machines working away without a single human among them. It was eerie. But the result is as good as hand made.In fact many of the :hand made" crowd use CNC machines these days. And a few use investment castings but do not like to admit it. I was surprised to see a casting of the Dickson Round Action exhibited by the Dutch company that casts it.

It all goes to show that it is a bad idea to confuse the object with the method used to make it. The two are not necessarily interconnected.

Nikitas, i suppose it depends what you want the gun for. To use it or to show it.

[purdey]

Nikitas you know your stuff.Do you know Chris Austin,Angus Barnes ? If you can get hold of a 19th July 2001 Bonhams catalogue and look at the lots sold there, after the gunmaker that is us..
Up and coming tip...Greener Blue Rock...