2130 JAMES PURDEY NO. 15089. A .500 BPE SIDELOCK SNAP

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[?]Live Online Auction Starts In 2026 Nov 07 @ 10:00 (UTC-04:00 : AST/EDT)
Category Firearms & Military
Auction Currency USD
Start Price 8,000.00 USD
Estimated at 16,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD
UNDERLEVER DOUBLE RIFLE IN SUPERB ORIGINAL CONDITION WITH CASE, ACCESSORIES & FACTORY LETTER. Cal. 500 BPE. S# 15089. Two letters are included from James Purdey & Sons in reference to this rifle, the first dated 1940 states that this rifle was built in 1895. The second, 15 November 1984 to E.W. Wood Esquire, states that it is his grandfathers rifle. Brass medallion on top of the case is marked "J.W. Wood Jr" & with his Orange, NJ address. This fine rifle has 27" dovetailed steel barrels fitted with full length file cut matted rib holding one standing and one folding leaf, express rear sight and fine white bead front sights. Rib is engraved "J. Purdey and Sons Audley House South Audley Street London", "Made of Sir Joseph Whitworth's Fluid Pressed Steel" on unmatted portion in front of rear sight. Barrel flats are stamped with London black powder proofs for 500 Express. Bottoms of barrels are stamped with S#s. A sling loop is soldered to bottom rib. Case hardened Beasley patent self opening sidelock action features a spring assisted Jones underlever which engages the normal two bites at center of lumps along with an additional third bite that engages lumps from the rear. This incredibly strong action also features automatic bolted safety ("SAFE" and "BOLTED" are inlaid in gold), bushed strikers, sideclips and double triggers. Action is engraved with near full coverage well cut Purdey house style rose and scroll as most likely done by J. Lucas, head engraver. "J.Purdey and Sons" is on the bottom of each lock plate. Bottom of action is engraved "Purdey's Patent". Serial number is on case hardened trigger guard tang, which extends to blued steel grip cap. Finely marbled and well figured European walnut capped pistol grip buttstock measures 14-1/2" over checkered steel buttplate with short top spur. Top of plate is engraved "CHARGE", "5 DRAMS No. 6 Powder". Stock features beaded shadow line right hand cheekpiece, traditional drop points, flat top point pattern checkering at grip and a sling loop matching barrel and a vacant silver oval are on toeline. Matching splinter forend with Anson release is stamped w/ actioners initials "S.P" (Saul Prentice) on iron. UNATTACHED ACCESSORIES: rifle is housed in its original oak and leather case with shaped brass corners. Top of case is embossed "J.W.W. Jr." and central brass medallion is engraved "J.W. Wood Jr.", "South Orange", "New Jersey". Case is lined in scarlet cloth and has small paper Purdey label, hammerless gun instruction label, and charge card for this particular rifle, in lid. Bottom compartment contains an array of original accessories including ebony handled striker key, powder measure by Dixon, pair of turn screws, wad rammer and two pointing pins for mold, one for solid bullets, the other for hollow point (original mold is missing, however space is filled with bronze mold casting hollow base 500 cal. bullet for paper patching. Mold fits case fairly well). Also included is a nickel plated screw type loading tool marked "London 500", "J. Purdey" marked broken case extractor, pull-through cleaning kit and bore brushes in red Morocco leather wallet, unmarked round oil bottle, two piece greenheart cleaning rod with short type handle, along with assorted brushes in a black Morocco leather wallet. Covered compartment holds spare gold plated strikers and silver bead front sight in bone bottle. 2- letters from Purdey & recent Purdey Factory Letter (Ledger listing copied on back.). CONDITION: exceptionally fine but with some evidence of poor storage. Barrels retain over 90% original blue with some scattered freckling and patches of cleaned oxidation. Barrels also have a few fairly heavy marks, most noticeable on rear portion of rib. Action and lockplates retain 90-95% original case hardening color with some sharp edge wear and some scattered freckling. Most temper blue remains on safety bolt, tumbler ends and hinge pin. Stocks retain nearly all of their fine hand rubbed oil finish with some scattered marks and are quite dry, without any added oil. Checkering is also very fine. Buttplate has blue loss at heel. Grip cap shows a goodly amount of original blue but is mostly brown. There is a fairly heavy bright scratch across forend iron on right side with corresponding 2" long deep compression of wood running toward checkering. Action is not affected. Bores are bright and shiny with sharp, strong rifling throughout. Action is very tight. Barrels are on face. Mechanically fine. Case leather is dark with many chips and rubs. Key lock area has been refashioned with new lock mounted on exterior. Straps and handle are missing. Interior cloth is fine with soiling and rubs. Labels are good to fine, considerably foxed. Accessories are generally fine to very fine. A truly fine Purdey rifle. PROVENANCE: Malcolm G. MacGregor Collection. (01-29001/MGM). ANTIQUE. $16,000-30,000.