JAMES PURDEY NO. 15089. A .500 BPE SIDELOCK SNAP UNDERLEVER DOUBLE RIFLE IN SUPERB ORIGINAL CONDITION WITH CASE, ACCESSORIES & FACTORY LETTER

JAMES PURDEY NO. 15089. A .500 BPE SIDELOCK SNAP UNDERLEVER DOUBLE RIFLE IN SUPERB ORIGINAL CONDITION WITH CASE, ACCESSORIES & FACTORY LETTER

01-29001 | 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.).  PROVENANCE: Malcolm G. MacGregor Collection. STATUS: ANTIQUE.