Duplicate post.

I don’t see how it can be anything other than exactly this.

I believe that, due to impulse and replacing a number of guns I sold a few years ago, that I have purchased a LOT of guns in the last 2-3 years than most people. I have concentrated on doubles during that period. I haven't been buyig really premium guns but nice or ynique guns. My impression is that doubles two years ago had dropped to bargain levels. Since that time I have noticed, IMHO, that the bidding perssure on these guns has risen and availability has dropped significantly. There are always fluctuations but right now I see the market is up. It does seem to me that the availability of really top end collectable guns has risen sharply during that time. If you read the ads, I suspect that the bulk of these are not random "finds" but sale of entire estates and collections. The result of this seems to be a sharp upward jump in prices for these guns. This seems to be counter to the theory of the aging collector vs price. I believe it is due to pent up demand taking advantage of the situation. It may be that this is a permanent repeating cycle or it may just be a short term reaction to a change in market. I think it is really impossible to determine the future in collecting. Compared to the time I graduated from college and bought my first old double, prices are comparitively sky high.

Why a Purdey? Have you looked at H&H Royals or Dickson Round Actions? Purdeys are nice but so are other Brit guns.

Ken

Dickson Round Action shotguns are truly works of art. I wouldn’t discount them. Holland & Holland is right up there with Purdey. But Purdey is like a Rolls Royce or Harvard education. Yes, there are other cars out there, and other universities, but there’s only one Rolls Royce, only one Harvard, only one Purdey, etc.

Ian,

Fair enough. The tough question is are prices rising or falling. If you can time the market, that would be great. You have time to look over a lot of guns. Look at current asking prices and selling prices. When you find the gun, buy it at a reasonable price and don’t look back.

Ken

Based on their recent performance I wouldn't hold up Harvard for anything positive

I won’t disagree one bit! Ivy League schools are overrated, in fact the whole college “experience” is overrated. If I was just getting out of high school now, I’d apprentice to become an electrician or a plumber. Your local electrician or plumber is probably more likely to own that Purdey than the college graduate with mountains of student loans.

Why a Purdey?? They just have a mystique in the world of shotguns. This is especially true in the USA, where Purdey pigeon guns have been used by the elite of the flyer game. Like a Parker, Purdeys have been made in more variety of gauges and weights than other makes, have features like side clips on pigeon guns, which are very rare or unobtainable on other brands. I have owned and shot guns by Greener, William Evans, Cogswell and Harrison, Woodward, and other Brit guns, but the Purdey has a cache that the others don't. Well, maybe the Woodward.

About 15-20 years ago, I got a 4 hour tour of the Holland and Holland factory by the plant manager. Unbelievable. In many places it was like going back in a time capsule. The manager acknowledged that there were places where they could eliminate hand operations by using my CNC, but said that the few dollars that you save would mean that the knowledge would be lost. He said for the customer was more about "I've got it, and you don't". I handled a 3 barrel S x S x S which was surprisingly mobile. A great tour