SxS 'easy opening' ?

The "Best" British shotguns are a lot like British sports cars. Lovely to drive and admire but they need regular "tweaks" by qualified mechanics and in the case of the gun the gun builder. The gentry sent their guns back to Purdey, Boss, H and H at the end of each shooting season for these "tweaks". Few guns went out of service due to these annual wellness checks. Because of these checks it is hard to determine what features these guns had that may be problematic. Most self openers were built with quality in mind but I really don't know how reliable they actually were due the conditions most were kept in. Sorry for the long wind with no definitive answer.
Darryl
 
I shoot a Purdey from 1933 which has perhaps the most forceful assisted opening mechanism, using the power of the mainspring. As the gun spent most of it's life in Canada it was not subject to the annual "tweaks" referred to in the above post. My understanding of the British gun trade is that those tweaks mostly consisted of a proper cleaning and an occasional honing of the barrels. Regardless, any mechanical device benefits from proper maintenance. Sadly there is the widespread NA mindset that shotguns should be able to be used for a lifetime with zero maintenance and be just fine.

My Purdey, when acquired, was carefully inspected by a very competent smith. As an aside he owns and shoots a Purdey and a H&H regularly. We fixed some issues with the stock but IIRC mechanically it was just fine. That was after likely 80 plus years of not being seen to by a good smith.

I know that because a) the gun was in the same family since new and b) several other guns, including a Greener and a Parker, were absolutely butchered by whoever got to work on the guns. That suggests to me a very high level of reliability and problem free shooting from the Purdey. Which got used the most of the three guns as it was set up as a ruffed grouse/woodcock gun and that was the primary quarry of the main owner and user of the gun. The Greener is a waterfowl gun and I would call the Parker good for birds like pheasant.

BTW my Purdey, my J & W Tolley and the better quality British guns owned by friends of mine are nothing like the TR6 in my garage, the E-Type a close buddy has in his garage, the XJ-12s my dad drove or the E-type V12 my brother owned. All those cars required work and effort to be able to enjoy their pleasures. Not so much with good English guns. Maybe because the Prince of Darkness isn't needed for a shotgun.Laugh2
 
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I owned a British assisted opening s x s shotgun for several years.
It was a Cogswell & Harrison , model "The Avant Tout". The assisted opening
part worked perfectly all the time I had it.
 
I can’t attest to the reliability of the various British self opening systems, I’ve never had one long enough or shot one enough to develop problems. The various systems that saw the most application were all simple and well designed and have left no legacy of being troublesome over time. The makers like Purdey, Lancaster, Atkin and others that offered assisted opening guns were all top tier makers whose reputation ( and therefore their entire business ) was on the line with every gun they sold. I know, a foreign concept to most today. They couldn’t afford to offer a product that could damage this coveted reputation.
Now using assisted opening guns is a different story, some like them some don’t. The idea was to speed up ( minutely) the reloading sequence on driven hunts and I think the advantages were more theoretical than practical, but it was a successful sales point at the time. As with most things, there is no free ride, assisted or easy opening results in harder closing, you rob Peter to pay Paul. Some of these systems, although effective in assisting the opening were so stiff to close that they gained a nickname like the Lancaster Wristbreaker. Some like ‘em, some dislike ‘em, most don’t care beyond a talking point.
 
To your point Ashcroft, was talking with Chris Dawe this morning and we both agree....it feels a bit weird. Maybe if every gun I shot had it I'd get used to it. And, as you suggest, the Purdey is significantly harder to close than any of my other guns. However, if I was at a peg on a driven shoot at an English estate, I think that would be a problem for my loader to deal with. LOL
 
Thanks for the info guys! So as long as it wasn't abused, it should be just fine... at least for the few box of shells I shoot a year chasing birds :p

- Looking for shorter double to chase grouse in the woods... and trying to make up my mind if I ought to go with a newer/simpler gun like a AYA... or spend the $ older British gun like a Churchill Hercules...
 
sillymike said:
Thanks for the info guys! So as long as it wasn't abused, it should be just fine... at least for the few box of shells I shoot a year chasing birds :p

- Looking for shorter double to chase grouse in the woods... and trying to make up my mind if I ought to go with a newer/simpler gun like a AYA... or spend the $ older British gun like a Churchill Hercules...
Click to expand...

The Churchill Hercules uses the Smith easy opening patent, it’s my favourite of the ones I’ve tried but basically an easy opener today for most of us is a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.
 
Well, we could organise something similar... But instead of standing by a peg, you got to walk up or down this/or/that mountain side...

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