Way, way off topic..

[charlesp]

...would you spend £100,000 on one of these?

Do you think it's great? Or Ghastly?

http://www.purdey.com/guns-rifles/damascus-guns/

[1650bullet]

Thats $152 220.00 Australian dollars or $157 250.00 us dollars. WOW thats out there. Is there a lot of work that goes into them compared to any other gun manfacturer. Im sure all or if not most guns are all made by hand instead of a mass production line. I do know that that damascus steel is a very uniuqe type of method that was used back in the medievil days of syria, Is it that expensive to make. I will also let the other users know the pictures of those guns. They are not engravings poeple. Thats the finish of Damascus steel. The poms have always made some great firearms, but i would rather spend a whole lot less and get somthing just as good.



P.s Charles. Just a question about the Churchill shotgun. They are a very good gun that is used a lot by some of australias best shooters (Best value for money here in oz) I know there not a pretty looking rifle, But how does the churchill compare to the uk.

[charlesp]

The damascus steel involved is not hand made, it's put together by hi-tech methods. And I'm pretty sure that most of the manufacture is machining rather than hand work. The finishing is probably hand done, and so with the stock fitting.

But I couldn't see myself bashing my way through a patch of brambles with the thing in my hands.

Obviously I'm just a cheapskate!

[Collector Inspector]

The history of the device probably shot a Seagull or two along the way.

If it is not a .22 or .222 after vermin then a waste of.

.303 old style for a Kanga or Camel?

Bah!

B

[1650bullet]

The damascus steel involved is not hand made, it's put together by hi-tech methods. And I'm pretty sure that most of the manufacture is machining rather than hand work. The finishing is probably hand done, and so with the stock fitting.

But I couldn't see myself bashing my way through a patch of brambles with the thing in my hands.

Obviously I'm just a cheapskate!

Here Here. I could never use a gun like that threw the scrub, I would be to scared to drop and scatch it.

[david]

not a weapon, an investment. bit like vincent twins that never will never be started let alone ridden

[charlesp]

Churchill made some very good guns. He was referred to by Macdonald Hastings (father of Max Hastings the historian) as 'The Other Mr Churchill' in the book he wrote about the advances he made in firearms forensics.

I have never owned one, but I have shot a Churchill XXV (so named for the 25" barrels) and it really was an excellent weapon, swinging beautifully. I did feel that longer barrels look better carried by a tall man, but shooting isn't about fashion or looks.

There are lots of guns that (in my opinion) are as well made and as well designed as Purdey's - Atkin Grant and Lang, Boss, Charles Lancaster, William Evans, and a few others, but Purdey's were very very good at advertising. They were, at the end of the 19th Century, able to boast that 'Every Royal Family in Europe owned at least one pair of Purdey guns'.

Having said that I still hanker after a Purdey bar-in-wood hammer shotgun...

[1650bullet]

It comes down to what your real intererst is in buying one. It could be a risky investment if you want one to sell latter in the years. If you know the wright poeple and have the contacts in that type of market, Then you will make money. If you dont you could lose heaps and be kicking yourself. As you said before, The royal family has them, And probably poeple from the Monark of the glen as well . But to be realistic about things i would never get one because there are probably other guns on the market that are just as good far way-way less money. Beretta makes some beutiful guns and are well priced to,

[charlesp]

A decent Purdey hammer gun of the type I'm looking at, from the late nineteenth century, need not cost the earth, and if I look around I'll be OK. A Thomas Horsley of York would fit the bill, too, so would a Boss. I had a beautiful Boss underlever hammer gun a few years ago, tight, crisp, much of its colour hardening still there, and a really lovely bit of walnut. But it was a 14 bore, with all that entails, and the stock was very short. I really wish I had kept it.

I have a Beretta, and it is, as you say, very reasonably priced and it does its job well.

Current primary woman regards engines as being the work of Satan, what with all that oil and dirt, and has never set foot in my workshop. So no interference there. My odd collection of silver has attracted attention, however, and I suspect the plan is to convert it into a new kitchen. So engines are safe from predators.

So also guns, which women generally regard as being evil beyond compare, not to be touched, not to be evn thought about. So my investment would be safe at any rate.

[Collector Inspector]

This all sounds like a mid life crisis........................ Collect a gun or two yeh?

Old outboards have seen me thru "Mine"

Ha!

B

[charlesp]

[1650bullet]

Didnt you know that shot-guns are a very useful tool to have for a seagull. A double barrel shotgun. You use the first barrel to shoot the outboard and get it out of its misery, And then you use the second barrel on yourself for owning one in the first place.

[fortyplus]

The answer to the original question is a resounding NO!

Even as someone with a reasonable collection of firearms and a great love for them, I cannot imagine wanting to spend that sort of money, even if I had millions in the bank, because things that are not going to be used for their intended purpose have no attraction for me. All the cleaning, polishing and restoring in the world are only done for the day you can take whatever it is out and give it a good workout. The pleasure of ownership for me comes from using something while improving it's performance and keeping it in great condition, if it's time to put it in a glass case or museum, then it's time to sell it to someone else, there are too many other fun things out there and not enough time.

I can still admire it though, I'd just rather do it on someone else's dollar