Choosing My Guns With Purdey Gun Makers | From Suit To Shoot | Episode 7

Well, you and I selected the fabric, so basically it was my job then to go styling it with you, reaching out to the mill. And Simon, here it is, your Teviot design, fresh out the loom. And then meanwhile, Alex has been cutting your patterns, distributes it with the trimmings, the canvassing, the melton, the lapped hair, the pocketings, bundled together and given out to the relevant parties making your garment. Sitting nice in there. It's a really good first fitting. It means that we're getting close. It does. We're down to what we call finish by finish. How's that feel? Yeah, it feels great. I mean, it looks fantastic. And this, again, is a hallmark of a really properly cut bespoke suit. I'm Kirby Allison, and for years now, I've been exploring the world of quality, craftsmanship and tradition. I've been invited on my very first game shoot up on an estate in Scotland, and I want to make sure that I do it properly. The proper outfit, the proper guns, the proper etiquette. But in today's world, does all of this still exist? And if so, why? Whenever it comes to heritage gun manufacturers, there is no one more synonymous with quality, craftsmanship and tradition than James Purdy and Sons. We're here on South Audley Street in front of Audley House, where they've resided since 1881. Let's go inside and see what they have in store for us. Andrew. Kirby. Yeah, good to see you. So nice to be here. And you. Welcome to Purdy and Audley House. Yeah, well, it's a privilege to be finally stepping through these doors. And, you know, as we discussed, I'm headed up to Scotland in a few days for a proper estate shoot. Wonderful. And I need the full kit. And, of course, you know, whenever it comes to shooting, the guns are just as important, if not more important than the clothing itself. And there's no better place in all of England to be kitted out for that than here at Purdy. So excited to be here. Very good. Well, let me show you through. Yeah, thank you. Wow. So this is the famous Long Room. It is. And very much welcome to the Long Room, which for me is the epicenter of our business. This is everything that is special about Purdy is in this room. It's the original gun room, the only one of its kind from 1882. So you're literally living and breathing history right here. This is it. What I love so much about Britain is the fact that you've got these heritage brands that have existed doing what they do literally since the beginning in the same place with the same families. And that degree of authenticity and heritage really is so unique to this country. Absolutely. And that's what's really important for me. It's absolutely critical to everything we do. You look around the paintings on the walls, the guns in this cabinet. These are very much unchanged in design for 140 years. The side by side is unchanged, as an example, and coincides with this room. This room was founded in 1881. Nothing in here has changed. We've refurbished it. We've made it better. But it's ultimately all original. The gun cabinets are original, designed by the Purdy family. Yeah. So you've got, you know, amazing that wherever you look, wherever your eyes scan, it's history. Yeah. And it's heritage important. Yeah. And even the ledgers. I mean, I see you've got the ledgers from 1902, 1894. Yeah, they go right back. I think our earliest ledger is 1824. And it's important because that right there, what you're looking at right there is history. And that's why when people come to Purdy, that's what they want to see. Yeah. As well as everything else in this room, all these wonderful artifacts, all the great archive material you see in this room. That's what they're coming to see. And that's amazing, in my opinion. Yeah. Well, that's the authenticity. And I think, you know, to have the privilege of owning a pair of Purdy guns, I mean, you're really being inducted into a fraternity in some ways. I mean, you become a part of the firm's history. And that is so rare. Absolutely. And that's what we say to every client. When a client buys a Purdy, they're joining that great long lineage. They're joining that history. They're not becoming history. They're becoming a part of history. And that's really important. And I think that's what people fall in love with. It's what I fell in love with when I joined this company and being in this industry is that uniqueness. You can't get it anywhere else. We're very fortunate. Yeah. It really is kind of part of the romance behind the heritage firms is, you know, that you are joining, you know, an illustrious group of people that have come before you and, you know, really are a part of the history of that fabric. Yes. Yes. Yes. And you're joining kings and queens and nobility and all these kinds of people. And, you know, nobody's more important than anyone else. But it's just this great variation in people and clients that Purdy's have been very fortunate. It's the richness of history. It is the richness. Yeah. So talk to me a little bit about kind of how Purdy begun. And, you know, what was it about Purdy and the way that you approached firearms that made Purdy so famous and so synonymous with the best? Yeah, absolutely. That's a very good question. I always point to the founder, James Purdy, and he was very much a master craftsman. He trained under Manson and he was sort of steeped in craftsmanship. And his aim was to make the perfect gun really, you know, to attain these highest levels. And he was a stocker himself, so he perfected the art of stock making. But he then learned all the arts of gun making and very much was a big part of what we are today. He was then joined by his by James the Younger, picture over there. And you can see various portraits around the family. But I think it all stemmed from James Purdy and his desire to make the perfect shotgun. All right. Yeah. And that's one of the things that strikes me. I mean, as I've had the opportunity to explore the world of quality, craftsmanship and tradition, you know, one of the things that I'm constantly struck by is that, yes, there is embellishment in the design and the engraving in a gun, just like there is in some ways a proper bespoke suit or a proper pair of bespoke shoes. You know, but at the end of the day, a lot of that embellishment exists, you know, not for the sake of embellishment, but for actually making the gun function better. And it seems like that's the foundation of Purdy. Yes, they're beautiful guns. They're highly decorative with all of the absolutely ornate engraving. But at the end of the day, they're actually still better guns. Absolutely. And I think that shouldn't be lost. I think that sometimes that is possibly lost. But ultimately, they're designed to do a job, whether you're shooting sporting plays, bird shooting, whatever your choice is, they are designed to function to the best that they can. That involves the perfect barrels, perfect stock making a perfectly fitting stock. It all balances perfectly. So it feels equally weighted between the hands that helps you shoot better. If you shoot better, you know, you've got a happy client. It's not just about the embellishment and the artistry. It's all about the little details that go once you add them all up to the big picture, the big detail. Yeah. So I think that's that's very important, really, you know, and the engraving side, the aesthetic side is really more of a personal view. So if a customer wants to have his dog on the lot plates, they can they can have anything they like. Yeah. But for us, it all comes down to the gun. And that design is unchanged in over 100 years. So that's the side by side or over and under, you know, so it's that's very important functionality. These aren't these are working pieces of art. Yeah. And there has been an evolution to the design and the engineering of the guns, you know, that's happened over a period of time. But then, you know, at some point, I guess it just it climaxed or it kind of it reached its apex and then has held constant. Yeah, absolutely. And I think I always quote that sort of that line. You can't redesign the wheel. You can improve upon it ever so slightly, but you can't redesign it. And I think what the Purdy's created all those years ago is hard to improve, whether it's the self opening mechanism or the, you know, the perfectness of the barrels or the, you know, the internal mechanism. It's very hard to improve. What we do use nowadays is modern technology to to, you know, get that consistency in every gun, which may not have had over 100 years ago, because it's more, you know, individually led. So what we're what we're trying to do now is is use that those designs and that engineering and that gun making and all that learned knowledge to make sure we get the perfect gun every time and get that consistency of performance. Yeah, that's what's key. And that goes back to the dependability and the reliability that one would expect in a pair of Purdy's. Exactly. Yes. Yes. Which is crucial. Yeah. And I mean, for a company that's been around for this long, I mean, over 200 years, do you see a lot of guns being passed down within families and continue to be used today? Absolutely. We've almost become a victim of our own success because you see, you know, a lot of people come into the long room and they'll say, oh, I've got my grandfather's guns. That's amazing. I find that astonishing. And they're still shooting with them and they're still fine. They go on for over 100 years. That kind of puts us out of a job of being selling new guns. But it's it that's really important that they are passed down. And when we are talking to clients today, this is still true to this day. We'll sell it to a client and he'll say, I'll be passing this down to my son or daughter. So I have to think about what they might like. Yeah. So that's still going on today. And that's still and that for me is brilliant because that's what you want. You want that continuity. You want that longevity because without it, you lose something, I think. And I think it's really important that families get involved, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, whatever it is, whatever that combination is. It's really important that they're all, you know, joined by this sort of love of this Purdy shotgun. It's a real heirloom. Yes, massively, massively. And yes, they pick up marks, they get marked, they get damaged. But that adds to their value. For me, the little scratches, the little knocks, the patina. Yeah, it makes them it makes them what they are today. And, you know, you can look at a gun and go, oh, yeah, this has seen some work. But great, wonderful. We don't want them just sat in cabinets to be admired. And, you know, we want them used. Yeah. And people do send their guns back to be refurbished and restored. We do. It's a large part of our business. We have at the moment over, I think, about 80 or 90 guns in work being serviced. So, yeah, it's that's a big part of our business as well. Will they be restocked? I mean, because again, there's so much. Yeah. Is there customization that goes into the fit? Yes. I mean, that's quite a common problem. People have physiologically got bigger and taller and stronger. So an average stock length today is about an inch longer than it was a hundred years ago. Really? Yeah, it has. And so there is a bit of a problem here when they when guns are inherited, they're invariably a bit too short. OK, could we restock? Yes, we can. It's kind of destroying them a bit because, yes, they're still restocked by Purdy. But where's that? What about that original stock? Yeah. So we sometimes put a wood extension on a pad, which, you know, it's and yes, it's not great with a pad on there, but at least you've got that original stock and that original story. And that stock was hand selected by the father or the grandfather. In some ways, it's like vintage automobiles. There's so much more valuable, you know, the more original they are. Correct. Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. So with over 200 years, what is Purdy's involvement with America? Yeah, your timing is perfect because it's a hundred years ago this year, 1922, when one of the Purdy family, Athol Purdy, went over there on a groundbreaking trip in April 1922. So just, I mean, in some ways that recent. Yeah, it is relatively recent. And in our history, yeah, that's we call that new. And he went over because business was quite struggling. He already had post World War One. There was obviously he had American clients, but what was really important was to go and speak to them directly in person, which hadn't been done before, which was quite staggering when it was late as 1922. But he went over on this very successful trip, which we've documented in a gun this year to mark a hundred years of that famous trip. And he took a number of orders from that trip. Interesting. So I guess he would have gone and gone over by steamer. Yeah, probably been there for a matter of months. Yeah. So he went over on the HMS Olympia and we have the actual floor pan and other details from that famous trip in the cabinet over here. Really? Yeah. So here you can see the floor plan of the Olympic and other bits of memorabilia. Athol Purdy, like all the members of the Purdy family were prolific collectors and brought back everything, all the items they collected. We found all in the archive downstairs, right down to the menu for what he had for lunch on the 18th of May, 1922 there. So it's a staggering amount of history. And this trip, what was really important was he took a total of 22 orders from this trip, which is an enormous amount of gun orders. It may not seem a lot in other worlds or other industries, but for us, it was truly groundbreaking and it changed the fortunes of the business. Really? Yeah, overnight. And so how has America over the years influenced the development of Purdy guns or has it? Hugely, hugely. I mean, you only have to look at that famous trip. He took our first order for an over and under shotgun. The first one? Yeah. Really? And the rest is history. Because from there on in, you know, especially in the UK, but all around the world, the over and under is now the most popular model compared to side by side. Okay. So we saw the roots planted at that time, but now the American market for us, it makes up over 50% of our gun sales. It's a crucial market, integral to everything we do. And the minute we stop listening to what Americans want is the minute we start going in the wrong direction. It's as important as that. Yeah. Interesting. And so how is American shooting culture different than British shooting culture? I think that's a more difficult question to answer. I think the American client who buys a Purdy wants to buy into the tradition and the history and understand our sort of traditions. And so, because I don't believe that that is sort of prevalent in American shooting. So when we get an American client, they want to learn about shooting in this country, how it's done, what you wear, accessories, the whole lifestyle. And that's why we have a whole shop of clothing and accessories, because it's more a case of the America wanting to buy into us rather than us learning about it from the American side. But they do have a different, there are different styles of shooting in America. So we have the American that wants to come to England to shoot, but we also have the American that wants to buy from us, but they go shooting in America, they want this gun for the American market. And so if one was shooting here in Great Britain, they'd be shooting with the side by side, mostly. Mostly. Yes. And in America though, it would be predominantly an over and under. Predominantly. Yes. But I mean, even in this country, a lot of people shooting over and under, but yeah, I think traditionally in this country, it's been side by side and traditionally in America over and under. Absolutely. Any difference in gauges? Well, that's evolved and developed. So now we're saying, well, in America, they've really favored the 28 gauge or the smaller ball, we call it 28 or 20 because for quail and you can do a lot of quail hunting in America. So 28 and 20 is very popular in America. So not so popular here in the UK. Here in the UK, it's predominantly 12 ball. Okay. Even though there is a bit more of an appetite for going smaller. Yeah. Less recoil, more comfortable to shoot. Yeah. A little bit more sporting too. A little bit more, yeah. Less lead, you know, so you've got to be a little more accurate. Yes, you do have to be more accurate. You have to really understand the bird, understand where its flight is. Really know your stuff. Yeah. Interesting. That's so fascinating. Yeah. And it's as we touched on when we entered the room, that history breathes through every conversation we have and every client we talk to. It's the link with the history that's so important. Americans are very much integrated into the fabric of our history and the company. They're crucial to everything we do and we always are constantly thinking about what they want next. Interesting. Actually, over here, I've pulled out a ledger specifically because it's from 1922 and has some of our American clients listed in it. Oh, wow. Can we see it? Of course. Come on. I love all these ledgers. Yeah. I mean, and we're very fortunate. We have, of all the gun makers, we've got the most amount of ledgers going back the furthest. So it's, yeah. A lot of the heritage firms lost their archives in the Second World War during the bombings. Yes, absolutely. And we're very fortunate. I mean, this room was very secure in World War II and actually that's why Eisenhower came in and had a meeting in here in 1941. Really? No kidding? Yeah. At this exact table? At that exact table, he planned the D-Day landings in here. Did he really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You've saved this for some random mention. It's amazing. Yeah. So it's very important and this is one of the ledgers I was referring to. And they're a bit beaten up, but they are all original. So I just want to show you here. These ledgers here, you can see you've got dates in the corner, 1922. And each page is about, has the client's name, has their stock measurements, has details about the gun. And it's basically a record at that time. And it was written at the time, everything about that gun when it was finished. Really? Interesting. So the orders would have been placed in this book? Well, sort of, yes. This is what we call the dimension book. So when the gun was finished, this would get filled out. The order books are downstairs where we take the original order, but they marry up. So this is a record of all the completed guns? Correct. Yeah, yeah. Which is actually more important than the order book, even though most orders we do deliver, some get stopped, canceled. But this is an accurate record of everything that was finished. So every gun that Purdy has made, you could come back and find it in these books. Correct. And that's really important because that validates what someone has in their hand. It tells the story. It says, yes, what you own is a genuine Purdy, and this is where it was from, and this is what was written about it at the time it was built. And it also inducts you into the history of the firm. I mean, you are then a part of the books that sit in this room and will be for the foreseeable future. Absolutely. And well, actually, as a guide, we get around 30 to 40 historical inquiries a week. Really? Yeah, from clients all around the world wanting to know, could you tell me about my Purdy? And it literally is from all over the world. And that speaks volumes, given we're in 2022, and we're getting these inquiries from all over the world. And what they want is they want a copy of this entry. They want, is there any other information that we can find within the ledgers about the gun when it came back? Any other information about the original owner? And Nicholas, our gunroom manager, does all of that work, and it's a big chunk of his day is spent doing that. So owners of Purdy's can actually make inquiries. And we encourage it. We strongly encourage it, because ideally, in my mind, I've got this utopia where we know where all Purdy's are. We'll never get there. But I'd love to know, I'd love to have a database, which records as many as we can of today, where Purdy's are. Well, with a company this old and with this much heritage, I mean, it really is quite incredible to think of just the influence Purdy has had over the centuries. I mean, we're talking centuries, not decades. Yeah, I mean, it weighs heavy on my shoulders, the burden of responsibility in terms of making sure that we preserve and look after the history and the tradition and all these ledgers and the archives. That's quite a weight. Yeah, well, it's really an incredible heritage. It is. It's huge. And there have been a lot of different clients, a lot of varied clients. And I think with all that, it tells a phenomenal story. Yeah, what a rich history. And it's that heritage that makes Purdy so unique in the world, is that there's other shotgun makers out there that I'm sure make fine shotguns. Yes, there is. But you won't find another shotgun maker out there that really possesses that continuity of history and heritage at this level that Purdy has. No, absolutely. And that was, when I joined the company, that was so prevalent. I was shocked at the level of history. Yeah, well, talk to me a little bit. I mean, we've spoken about the shotguns, but we've got beautiful rifles right here. These are absolutely beautiful. Yeah, I mean, another part of our business that may be not as well known as our shotguns, but still an important part of our business. It's our bolt action rifles. Yeah, let me pull out a most recently finished one. Beautiful. Quite some weight on there. Yeah, so talk to me a little bit about this gun. I mean, is this a bespoke gun? Well, we actually, we built this for the shelf here, so people can buy this immediately. It's built in .416 caliber, so it's a large, dangerous game caliber rifle. But with a lot of details on it, super exhibition grade walnut. You can see the highly figured stock there, which is, yes, stunning piece of wood. With a slackened finish, which is especially sort of purdy trademark secret coating. Then we've got sort of rose and scroll. It's got the traditional rose and scroll engraving on the base, which is very purdy typical, which you see across our shotguns. Beautiful ebony tip there. And then highly engraved scope rings and all across the top you see the rose and scroll pattern continues throughout. And then we've finished off with a Swarovski telescopic sight. That's amazing. And what would this gun be used for? Dangerous game in Africa. Okay. So the big five or, but the .416 has been well known throughout for its versatility. It can be used throughout Africa, even on, you know, large species of whatever kind, but it's a great all rounder caliber. Yeah. What would be used for stocking? A smaller caliber. So you would use a .306, .308, maybe a .300 Win Mag. That comes down to personal preference. And we would always ask the customer where they're hunting, what are they using and where they're going. And then that dictates what, you know, the rifle we would build is really sort of tailored to the environment they'll be hunting in. Yeah. And so you can certainly buy a rifle out of the cabinet, but a majority would be made fully bespoke. Absolutely. Yes. Yes. I mean, it's great because we've got these examples that we can show people because people need to physically see it and handle it, but in the main, we will build to order and that's true of shotguns as well as rifles. Yeah. Can we see some shotguns? Absolutely. I've got some over here. Thank you. Yeah. Yep. Wow. Look at these beauties. Absolute works of art. Goodness gracious. So what you're looking at here is a match pair of Purdy Sidelock shotguns. Yeah. Wow. Are they traditionally sold as pairs? Talk to me a little bit about that. Yes and no. I'm answering in a sort of grave, what kind of way, but the reason being is historically, yes, we've sold lots and lots of pairs, but I don't want people to think that you can only buy them in pairs because that's not true. Yeah. We sell nowadays probably as equal numbers of singles as we do pairs. Yeah. I think what's unique about pairs is they, as they go through the build and the production, they have to match identically as they go through production. So they're constantly checking and making sure each gun is the same as the other. And that makes for a lot more work. It's not simply times two. Okay. It's a lot more work in a pair of guns. Yes. We've got a beautiful one here. Wow. Absolutely beautiful. Look at this. I mean, truly a work of art. And what I love about this, just like with bespoke clothing or bespoke shoes, it's a work of art that's meant to be used. Correct. Yes. Absolutely. Really important. As we said, right from the outset, it's really important that it's used. Yeah. So talk to me a little bit about kind of what goes into a Purdy shotgun. I mean, this, of course, is iconic. I mean, this is the majority of what you make are, in fact, side-by-side shotguns. Yes, they are. I mean, we're making more over and under now, but what we really made our name on this specific gun here, this is based on the Woodward mechanism. And it has the, what we saw there, the self-opening mechanism. So just the barrels drop open, saving you fractions of seconds, so that your free hand can load it up with a cartridge. Okay. And then, so your both hands are working. And that's a real unique identifier. That self-opening mechanism is really crucial in the Purdy story. Other sort of classic features of this gun, traditional English straight hand grip, the lovely sort of line, slim lines through the hand. I mean, just look at this detail right here in the stock, how that's sculpted into it. I mean, it's absolutely beautiful. We call these drop points. People sort of look at them as like teardrops. We call them drop points. Okay. But everything you're looking at there is made by hand. Yeah. And all the engraving, I mean, that comes down to the personalization of really commissioning a bespoke pair of guns. Absolutely. Yes. And what's really important to note is the engraving nowadays is the best it's ever been. Really? And that's not in any question of doubt. But it's still done by hand. Correct. But the reason being, it's the best of you. You've now got very skilled young men and women who are artists that have turned their hand to engraving, whereas historically it was, you could argue it was just, it was gun makers that tried their hand at engraving. Now you've got real highly trained artists and that's why you're getting photographic quality engraving, the likes of which I've never seen. I've been in this industry 25 years. I can hand on heart sets the best I've ever seen. How much time goes into the production of a gun? Um, pair of guns like these, you're looking at around eight, 900 man hours per gun. Incredible. Yeah. And how much of that is just in the engraving? Engraving a pattern like that, we call that a large scroll pattern. That's a, that's about 180 hours just on the engraving. So that's, that's quite a detailed in-depth pattern, but sky's the limit. I've seen 400 hours, 500 hours going on the engraving. Really? When it gets really deep, it's highly carved, really sky's the limit. Um, as we always say, engraving is just limited by the client's imagination. That's all. Everything can be done. And so whenever it comes to a bespoke pair of guns that a client is commissioning, you know, what are the characteristics that would be spoke? Yeah. I mean, if you look at, if we take this gun here, um, you've got the grip shape. You can start from the back of the gun. They can choose to have a checkered butt. They might want a leather covered pad. They might want engraved heel caps. Then you've got the stock itself. This would be made to their measurements. Like a Savile Row suit. We take nine measurements when we do a fitting. So they take a large piece of wood like this and they carve it to within 16th of an inch. And we do that nine measurements. So you've got the stock, you've got the grip shape. They might want a pistol grip. This is a straight hand grip. Then they choose the engraving. They can have anything they like. Barrel length. They might want longer barrels, shorter barrels. Um, then you've got chokes in here. You've got different types of chokes. So there's a lot of details that they can really sort of personalize it and really make it their own as well as of course, choosing their own wood. I mean, that's always a sort of quiet moot point. I've done a lot of over the years where I choose wood with a client and they'll pick a piece of wood out and I'll look at it and go, Hmm, it's not really my thing. And they'll fall in love with it. Yeah. That's why I never get involved. They'll always ask my opinion, but it's irrelevant. It's what they like. It's what the client likes. So you'll bring out raw, you know, yeah, I guess blanks and then a client is literally choosing from amongst those. Yes. And you, you, you slowly over the wood selection process, you narrow it down. So I'll start with 20 and go, right, which do you like the least? Yeah. Okay. So it's, it's a process, but it's a fun process. And I mean, the longest it's ever done, I think I did it three hours with one client. Really? He just could not make up his mind on the stock. I'm just on the stock. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We were, it was a long day, but, and how many, I mean, sessions, I mean, like in a bespoke suit, you'll have multiple fittings. How many touch points are there to this experience? Well, that's a very good point in which, and it's something we're, we're very much keen to, to grow. And, uh, it's part of the Purdy client experience. We want, we, we, we've, we've introduced many touch points throughout the build process because we want customers to see it being built. So I'll send them video. We'll send them photographs of it in build. We aim for seven touch points of where we stay in contact with the client, because I have to say that the build process is as enjoyable as taking delivery of the actual guns themselves. So sometimes I could be, it's a little bit of an anti-climax getting the guns because they've enjoyed the process so much. They've absolutely loved it. And, you know, that's why they come back and order another one. Yeah. Well, I mean, I would, I would suspect that again, the Purdy client is a true connoisseur, collector of sorts. Yes, absolutely. I think by the time you are ready or yeah, ready is the best word to, to place your order or buy a Purdy, you've already done a lot of shooting. I think you're an accomplished shop. You've experienced a lot of things in life. I think, you know, we have a different sort of demographic of our client and yes, they kind of know what they want. I think my worst type of client is when they say, I'll leave it all up to you because that will go wrong. My taste is not their taste and that always goes wrong. So they generally know what they like and what they want to see on the gun. Yeah. So you'll guide them through that process, but ultimately they're the ones really making it a completely one of a kind, specific for them. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And that's a good word. We'll guide them through it because there are a lot of decisions to be made and it's just a case of, well, if you make that decision, then you don't need to worry about that. They have knock-on effects. So yeah, just pulled out two excellent examples to just show you progression where we are today. So we've got here at the bottom gun we were looking at earlier, the classic cyber-cyber, okay, not so classic, but a classic large scroll. Here in the middle is something I touched on earlier. It's this deep carved scroll engraving. Wow. And it's almost three-dimensional and there are only, I would count them on one hand, the people in this world that can do that engraving. There are very few people that can get this level of engraving to look so good. And this is one of them. It's outstanding. You've got a game scene there, a small vignette with supporting deep carved sort of scrolling. And then when you tip it up, you can see the name. It's almost three-dimensional. It jumps out of you. Wow, look at that. That's unbelievable. Yeah, it's just outstanding. And there your serial number, you know, it sings out. The grip cap, every part of this pattern has been thought about to really sort of sing. Even the pin here has been highly engraved. And it's just, it always sort of takes my breath away, this level of engraving, because I've seen it done really well like this, and I've seen it done badly. And when it's done badly, it looks really bad. And that sounds obvious, but it doesn't. With some engraving, it can be hidden. With carving, there's no hiding place. It's got to work. And this is a particularly special example. And so would, I mean, how much more time would be involved if there's more in an engraving like this than that? This, compared to that, it's about two or three times the number of hours. You could get three to four hundred hours easily when you come to deep carving. Yeah, it's, and that's, yeah, that's a huge difference. So whenever kind of designing out a bespoke pair of guns, I mean, this would certainly factor in to the design process, but also the price of the guns themselves. For sure, it's huge, yeah. And, but it's also quite personal. Some people would look at that and say, it's not really for me. Some people say, yeah, that's exactly what I want. And then you have to say, well, there's a big price difference. Yeah, it's a big jump. That's incredible. And again, the engraving is so much a part of the gun. I mean, you know, again, Purdy, incredible gunsmiths making absolutely perfect guns. And the artistry behind the guns themselves is really, I mean, equally impressive. And I guess in some ways, it's probably guilty in some ways, overshadowing the gun. It can do. Yeah. And absolutely. And this can be a danger with carving. It can sometimes overshadow the gun itself because your eye is drawn to what's going on with the engraving. Yeah. And you're absolutely right. It's, in my opinion, you need to strike that balance, or at least it's our job to make sure that balance is struck because it's really important and it should work as a whole, not, you know, just looking at that. I mean, I think this gun stands up to it, but some I've seen where they've gone too far. Yeah. But it's easy to almost focus on this and forget or overlook just the work that goes in without doubt to the creation of the firearm. Correct. Yes. Which is equally stunning. Yeah. It's amazing. What about this one right here? So this is quite different. Yeah, this is very different compared to these two, but it shows you the great contrast that's available today and wasn't available 20 years ago, 30 years ago. This is what we call Damas steel. So it's a pattern based on the old method of gun making, which was Damascus. Really? And Damascus is where you have the intertwining of metals. It's actually how they used to make barrels. They take three strands of metal and it would intertwine to get this amazing patternation. This is actual Damask patterning. So you get this. Every gun is unique. This is unique. Is this engraved in? No, it's as a result of the process of building the action and the Damascene process. It's unique. And what's amazing about this is when I've been in the field with a client who bought one, it was spectacular on the backdrop of the field. And you don't really, this is a great room, but it doesn't do this pattern justice in terms, but when it gets out in the natural light, it's phenomenal. I was with this client. I said, my God, I've never seen like, he said, I know. I can't believe it either. And it was the first time we'd taken it out shooting. Wow. And the barrels themselves done out of the Damascus. Yes, exactly. Yeah. So we, we took the unusual decision because you used to, before solid steel, like this, this is made out of solid billets of steel. Before this process was Damascus, the intertwining of metals. And so it just used to be the barrels, but we thought, why don't we run it into the action as well, which had never been done before. And it's proved popular and clients love it. Again, it's personal taste. It's, but yeah, and it goes right across, you know, even to the top, which gives it quite an unusual sensation on the fingertips, but it's just, in my mind, I think it's just something amazing that we've been able to produce, or should I say our craftsmen been able to produce to a very high standard. And it's just another thing we can offer clients that, you know, we're constantly, you know, I think we do our proud of, you know, our founder, very proud that we're still innovating, which is important. Well, the craftsmanship is absolutely astounding. And, you know, these are three completely different examples. I mean, two side-by-sides and over and under very different engraving styles. I mean, what an incredible example of just the breadth design that can exist in a gun. Absolutely. Yeah. It's a huge contrast here. Yeah. So as far as the bespoke process is concerned, about how long would it take, you know, from the point at which a customer commissions a pair like this to actually having them delivered? It can vary. It's approximately 18 to 24 months for a pair of guns. And is that very based off of complexity of engraving? Yeah, invariably. Yeah. It's to do with the engraving. And so standard scroll for 18 months and then anything upwards of there. Wow. And then, so someone like me that needs a pair of guns quite soon, you know, what are the options available? Yes. I mean, in your case, I've actually selected a fantastic brace of heritage guns. Really? I'd love to show you, which I think will be ideal for what you're going to be doing in Scotland. Can we see them? Yeah. So these are a pair here that we've selected for you. I'll get one out now. Wow. That's one. Absolutely beautiful. So these are marked one and two. So this is a proper brace, as it would be called? Absolutely. Yes. Everything about them is matching. Matching wood. So from the same root ball of the same tree. Really? Yeah. Same engraving. So the same engraver would have engraved both guns. Went through production at the same time. And what is really interesting about these guns is they're nearly 50 years old. Really? Wow. And it just shows you the longevity. Yep. So these, again, would shoot today just like they were new. Absolutely. Yes. And you can tell quite a telltale sign is whether a gun has had a lot of use or not. It's by the checkering. This is still very crisp, hardly used. The line, the wood line around here, very crisp. So these are in what we would say is very good, near excellent condition. And so as you bring on these guns, would they be graded? In terms of, yes. I mean, we generally try on the heritage side is to try to locate and find the best examples of heritage guns. So you would only really trade in the finest examples of the heritage. Because what we want to ensure that whoever we sell them to, that they're getting the best of the best. Yeah. So talk to me about some of the unique details of these guns. I mean, you know, when you look on the bottom, I see that they're engraved. So, I mean, I'm sure these guns like so much have a story behind them. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, these are quite unusual. This engraving pattern, it was quite unusual for the period in the mid-70s. That would be considered, you know, almost exhibition grade. Like, it's not the traditional fine rosin scroll, but it's got quite a, what we would call a large scroll. And by that we mean quite in-depth. There's quite a deep engraving right here. It is, yeah. We call these the ball fences. And that's heavily carved. That's almost like a carving, like I touched on over there. Wow. And their sort of leaves, leaf design has been carved in, which is, you know, almost three dimensions. Stunning. Yeah. I mean, it's a true work of art. It's amazing that, again, people would go out shooting in these. Yeah, it is. And people, I think you'll often hear people, oh, I'd never use those. But actually they do, and we want them to, and it's important. And these have been used in the field. You know, the stocks, okay, there are marks on them, but that's great. We, these guns have, you know, had a, lived a life, and they're, they've still got another 50, 100 years of life in these guns. Amazing. Yeah, these are, these are built to last and designed to be shot. So yeah, these are a very special pair. It's like the door closing on a Rolls-Royce. The acoustic. Yeah, and it's a very reassuring sound. Yeah. When you hear that, you know the gun's locked, you know it's ready. And they're just an ideal pair of game guns. So where you're going in Scotland, these are set up perfectly. 28 inch barrels, nice long stocks, 15 inch stocks, perfect for you. But they're just, and they, and they perfectly balance, you know, when you're in the field, these will be perfect in Scotland. Yeah. Amazing. What a privilege. This is going to be a lot of fun. I mean, this is amazing. What an incredible example of quality, craftsmanship, and tradition at the absolute highest level. I mean, this is what continues to inspire me. Wonderful. Yeah. So thank you so much, Andrew, and I can't wait to take these up to Scotland and see what we can do with them. Thank you very much. So I guess the final bit is just some clothing. Yes, and Hugo's waiting to see you on the shop floor and kit you out. Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you very much. Pleasure to meet you. Hugo, thank you so much. You're very welcome. It's so nice to be here. Of course, Andrew's gotten me set up with the brace of guns, but now it's for the rest of the kit. Of course. Here we are. No, but welcome to Purdy. Obviously following your requirements for your, your shoot away, we've carefully selected some pieces here. And obviously Purdy is renowned for our shooting attire and using tweed, but it's also pieces of items that are used for the great outdoors. And we want to expand on that. But the first piece and probably the key piece for an autumn shooting in England is the tweed field coat. Now this is in the Berkshire technical field tweed, which is for the 30th year anniversary. And this is highlighted in the colours that we've used, which is the blue for Royal Berkshire and the golden red for the Purdy. Obviously, the key features are the unique Purdy pocket shape. This will also have the tab, which keeps the pocket open for easy access for cartridges, hand warming and lined. Oh, that's nice. Yeah. And then what we've also done is taken an element from our sailing counterparts in the sport and added a storm cuff. So the wind and the rain can't come down, but it keeps you completely dry. And like I said, this is fully waterproof with something called a Sympatex dry lining. So it's a fully waterproof tape-seamed inner lining, which you won't see, but the tweed on top. Yeah. So it's a proper technical piece, right? So it's got the heritage of the tweed, but that kind of modern enhancements of the... Exactly. And the weight is a key element of this. Obviously, with the environment getting hotter, just adding the kit on top of this, it just makes it much lighter. Yeah. Great. And it's got the belt on the back, you know, the kind of the mock belt. So it's got the mock belt at the back and then you've got the Alcantara trim, so the synthetic suede. Yeah, that's nice. And a key feature, obviously, when you have a Purdy shotgun that's £150,000 in excess. You want to make sure that none of the metal framework or the coat scratches the stock of the gun. So you won't find any piece of metal that... That's exposed. Exactly. Yeah. I'm sure through experience, right? Well, 70 years of experience of making the finest British clothing for shooting. You guys have been making clothing for that long? For that long. Wow. Obviously, we're expanding into the greater outdoors and what it means to be a British lifestyle brand. The next key feature piece is obviously the tweed vest. This is in a newer modern style with a high collar. Okay. Two Alcantara patches. This is padded? Correct. So this has a recoil pad. So D3 recoil pad, which obviously dependent on the individual. If they're left handed or right handed, we can transfer the pad. Okay. Just obviously after a day's pheasant shooting. Makes a little bit of difference. Exactly. And then the high collar vest is just a more modern twist. And like what you can do once you're going for your lunch, you can turn the collar down. You just get a nice lapel, which then shows off the tie and shirt detail. And even the shirts, this is a beautiful tattersall. Correct. So this is a very traditional English shooting attire shirt, obviously with the white background and very small tattersall checks on the inside, which are compliments with the tie and the tweed. Predominantly, tweed is always green or brown. Yes, we have brought navy into it, but then adding the lighter color in the backdrop just allows a bit more pop of color. Yeah, absolutely. There's so much tradition just even behind the patterns that are worn in proper English shooting. Of course. Then the next piece, obviously you don't want to ever get caught cold on the moors. So what we've bought here is an 8 gauge knit in a crew neck, 100% merino. Very chunky. Exactly. This will keep you warm on a proper, you know, English day. Exactly. And we've just taken the colors from obviously the heather and the grass roots, incorporating in that camouflage effect. And you could pop this on underneath the vest if you're on a cold day. Really? Okay. Yeah. And I guess that's the importance of kind of layering. You never know what the weather is going to be. In Scotland, of course, this time of year is known for being quite chill. Of course. Last time I was in Scotland at this time of year, I think we had all four seasons in one week. Always be prepared on the moors. An alternative, like you suggested, is a lighter weight knitted vest, which you can wear on top of a shirt and underneath the field coat. This again is in a fine merino knit with the Alcantara patches. Slightly shorter in stance in terms of the shooting vest. Okay. And wouldn't have the cartridge pockets, but the hand warming elements. And again, this is a key piece just to keep you warm on the moors. What does this fiber have? Does it have any silk in it? It feels... No, just 100% merino. It's just the way that it's been knitted. Yeah. And then what we like to accompany this sort of outfit with is a more modern take on the Plus Four. So what we've done, this is in a moleskin fabric, a lot lighter weight than a tweed. And what we've done is an alternative to the tweed. It just gives you a color combination that you can mix and match. A little bit of contrast. Exactly. And we've made them slightly more modern. So an initiative that we've taken from the field coat on the Storm Cuff, but we've added it to the fastening at the bottom instead of the brass buckle finish, just for comfort wise. Yeah. And this is brand new for the last year and a half. Really? Okay. Yeah, gorgeous. So this would be worn, you know, kind of with any of the items here? Traditionally, yes. So on a warm shoot day, you would wear a vest, tattersall shirt, tie, breeks, socks. And then the last bit, and probably one of the most iconic pieces in our menswear collection, are our twin strap shooting boots. Of course, I love a nice boot. So this is a very high top boot, right? Which you would want. Taken off of a World War II military English boot. It's on a Goodyear welted construction sole. Pebble grained embossed on the top. And then you have a Ridgeway sole at the bottom. And what we've done is we've stitched the bellows of the tongue further up. Now again, obviously they're not 100% waterproof, but by stitching the bellows of the tongue further up is a water repellent method for the water calms to feed down to the laces. Okay. And again, we do them in two different leathers, the pebble grain and then the roughout suede. Yeah, really hard to choose between one of these two. They're so great in and of themselves. Slightly more formal and polished, but then the durability of something like this, you know, could take a beating and still, you know, look better. Correct. These will age so much with time. And it's like a patina on a shoe. It just picks up the history of the of the wearer, but you won't need to do much cleaning on these ones. I mean, one of the things that strikes me is, you know, again, the guns, you know, being works of art. I mean, they're just incredible craftsmanship, but at the end of the day, they're meant to be used. And then here we've got the clothing to complement that, you know, beautiful, you know, very well made, but again, designed and meant to be used in the elements. Correct. And I think you picked up on the key point there. We've tried to add the small pieces of details into our pieces of garment. So whether it's the Alcantara trim, Hurley Rather pull tag, anything that just gives the DNA of the brand into our garments. But like you said, they're designed to be worn and to pick up the great outdoors and take a battering. And you want your piece of garment to tell a story like your gun does. Hugo, thank you so much. You've made some fantastic selections. Of course. It really is a one-stop shop here and I couldn't feel possibly any better outfitted than I do right now. So thank you. You're very welcome. You'd be well equipped for the Scottish Highlands. Yeah, thank you. You'll come now for the final blessing, as we call it. And now we're just down to those small little lathes. And that's what we're doing today to really make it perfect. And this really is that moment where you are an ambassador for us as much as we want to be ambassador to you. No, you've got perfect proportions there. Well, here we are.