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Inside Purdey & Sons
Jonathan Irby, head of sales at the legendary gun and rifle makers, reveals the secrets behind creating a bespoke firearm
Purdey was founded by James Purdey in 1814, making us one of the oldest gunmakers in existence. The Purdey family originally came from France to Scotland – we think the name is a derivative of Pardieu ("By God"), but it then got changed to Purdey.
The family were originally blacksmiths, as a lot of gunmakers were, because one of the most important parts of the gun was the metalwork - if anything went wrong, it would often be the metalwork. James Purdey himself apprenticed under his uncle and worked under Joseph Manton before starting his own business in 1814, and one of the things that set him apart straight away was his obsession with excellence. This is something that carries on today, more than 200 years later.
Purdey has played a significant role in the history of gunmaking, with a number of key patents originating from Purdey. The majority of people use mass-produced machine-made guns today, but Purdeys are different – our best quality shotguns are handmade in our factory in London and typically take nearly two years to build.
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In those two years, seven different craftsmen will work on the guns, with each one of those craftsmen having apprenticed for five years. So, even if you were to have seven of our younger gunmakers building your guns (which never happens) there would still be 35 years of collective experience going into the making of the guns.
When making a pair of guns, we spend a huge amount of effort making sure each one looks, sounds and feels the same, and, before each gun is delivered to the customer, five different people will have inspected it.
The other thing that sets Purdey apart is our history of and dedication to making a “bespoke” gun. Each gun is fitted to the client much in the same way a tailor cuts a bespoke suit. We look at the build, height and technique of the customer - everything is considered.
Purdey forms part of a very small group of top gunmakers, one of only three “Best Quality London Gunmakers”, and we're the only one with three Royal Warrants. Looking at our past and looking to the future, we recognise the role we have to play in securing the future of gunmaking, and we remain committed to helping create the next generation of craftsmen. But, at the same time, we're excited to integrate science, technology and cutting-edge production where we can.
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Since 2000, Great Britain has won two Gold medals in shooting at the Olympics, and it is interesting to see how many more people are taking up clay pigeon shooting for social reasons. We're in pheasant shooting season right now, but you can shoot clays all year round.
What I love about shooting is that you can go to competitions and everyone is bound under the same rules. Everyone has to use the same load of cartridge, shoot from the same place at the same targets. No advantage is given to anybody. So you and I could enter, you could shoot six and I could shoot four, and well done to you. What's your head start? Nothing. It's not like in other sports where there are men's only disciplines and women's only disciplines.
I think the biggest barrier to shooting is discovering it. However once you've found it, there are schools such as the Royal Berkshire Shooting School, and the Really Wild Clay Company within its group, where you can turn up never having even seen a gun before, and you will have a shooting instructor not only teaching you how to shoot, but how to shoot better. The great thing about shooting is that two to three hours into it you can get quite good at it. And as it has to be done outdoors, you can also visit amazing shooting grounds all around the country, such as the magnificent Englefield Estate in Berkshire, which is just over one hour's drive from London.
JONATHAN IRBY is head of sales at James Purdey & Sons, one of the world’s oldest sporting brands renowned for making the finest shotguns and rifles since 1814
