Gun review
Mike Yardley tests this latest iteration of the Purdey Trigger Plate, evolved from its 12-bore predecessor with bespoke options helping to create an excellent, future-proof sporting gun
WE examine a new Purdey over-andunder this month – a 30in-barrelled 20-bore ‘PTP’ (Purdey Trigger Plate) model. It hits the scales at 7lb 6oz, which is on the heavier side for a bespoke 20 but the test gun is a much-shot prototype and production guns may be ordered significantly lighter. The specification includes: a detachable triggerlock; hand engraving to the action body and sideplates; a single, non-selective trigger; 3in (76mm) chambers; fleur-de-lys high-performance steel-shot-proof, Teague chokes; and a narrow, slightly tapered, solid rib. The stock, of well-figured walnut, boasts a long, open radius, steel-capped full pistol grip and a slim, rounded fore-end with Anson-type push-button release.
It’s a Purdey, so even in a prototype both wood and metal are beautifully finished. The action and sideplates are silver cyanide hardened (there is a colour case hardened option) and the fine rose and scroll is typical of the famous house. Aesthetically speaking, the form and shape of the action are pleasing, although to my eye a little more engraving at the elaborate fences and within the rosettes surrounding the hinging studs might be beneficial. The extensive engraving is beautifully done by traditional hammer and chisel studio work. Although this is a machine- and hand-made gun, some 300 hours of artisan work still go into it. It is bespoke; as well as the stock measurement, you can have the form of stock and grip, the barrel length, the choking and rib type preferred (the rib on the demonstrator was a particularly good 7mm-5mm taper with stippled top surface).
Like its 12-bore sibling, the 20-bore PTP boasts a detachable triggerlock, much like a Perazzi or Kemen. Purdey introduced its ‘Sporter’ with this style of lockwork in 2008. It was and is made in association with the Brescian firm of Perugini & Vissini (P&V). I had some small involvement in the project, and have noted its progress with interest. The original P&V gun was based on a design clearly inspired by Perazzi, but the smaller house (created by former Perazzi craftsmen Vincenzo Perugini and Darko Visini) introduced significant changes. It added rollers to the mainsprings and created a floor in the base of the action to cover the flat central cocking rod (dovetailed and open in the Perazzi but not in the Perugini & Visini). The P&V gun also had another release mechanism for the lockwork – a triggerrelease catch, rather than the slightly awkward Perazzi system of pushing the safety forward against spring pressure.
Oddly, early pre-production Purdey sporters did not allow for the lock to be detached by the user, although the capability was inherent in the design and enabled later. The Anglo-italian gun evolved with monobloc, action, fore-end iron and extractors being made in Hammersmith. These parts were then sent to Italy for completion. In 2018, an entirely London-made PTP arrived. It’s specification was improved with best English demi-lump barrels instead of monobloc, as well as other refinements. We tested it at The Field and although heavy at 8¾lb (the latest guns can be made down to 7lb 10oz) it shot extraordinarily well. No clay birds were missed.
Now, we have the 20-bore PTP. It is essentially the same in mechanical design as the 12-bore but Purdey has approached it as a new design project. Purdey craftsman Tom Nicholls told me: “We treated the 20-bore as if it was an entirely new gun... Whilst we began with the 12 as a mechanical starting point, we created a completely new cad model and built and tested from scratch.”
Purdey then put 100,000-plus shells through the prototype (160,000 were put through the original 12). The extensive trialling included lead and steel loads in different payloads, from the lightest to the heaviest, including almost all the cartridges commonly available today.
We treated the 20bore as a new gun… we created a new cad model and built and tested from scratch