Beautiful 14 Bore Purdey Sidelock Ejector Shotgun circa 1891 No 3 gun of a trio!

Description:
PURDEY HAMMERLESS EJECTOR GAME GUN, 14-BORE — GUN NO. 13,981 (1891)

Built for Hugh Robert Hughes of Kinmel Hall
Offered here is a fine example of a Purdey hammerless ejector game gun, No. 13,981, completed on 8th August 1891 and built for Hugh Robert Hughes (1827–1911), known as "HRH," of Kinmel Hall and Kinmel Park, Denbighshire, North Wales. This gun is No. 3 of a matched trio of hammerless ejector game guns built to identical specification for Hughes — a serious sporting client commissioning a numbered set of guns for extensive use across his  large sporting estate.

The Original Owner:
Hugh Robert Hughes inherited the vast Kinmel Park Estate, including Kinmel Hall, in October 1852 at the age of 25, following the death of his cousin, the 2nd Lord Dinorben, who died young, disabled, and without issue. Hughes was the son of Hugh Robert Hughes of Bache Hall, Chester (1774–1836), himself the younger brother of William Lewis Hughes, 1st Lord Dinorben (1767–1852). With both his uncle and cousin dying without direct heirs, HRH became the next male heir to one of North Wales's great estates. Kinmel Park was renowned for its extensive shooting, and a landowner of Hughes's standing would have required best-quality guns fit for the scale and prestige of the estate's sporting calendar — precisely the kind of client for whom Purdey built matched trios rather than mere pairs.

Rarity:
Matched trios, as opposed to the far more commonly encountered pairs, are considerably scarcer in the marketplace. A surviving gun from a documented trio, complete with original Purdey factory paperwork tracing its commission to a named and historically identifiable owner of Hughes's stature, represents a genuinely uncommon find for the serious collector — particularly in the smaller and almost nevery encountered 14-bore calibre, a more specialized choice even by the standards of the 1890s London trade.

Specifications (as built):

• Calibre: 14-bore
• Barrels: 29½ inches, Whitworth fluid steel
• Chokes: Plain (right) and Modified (left)
• Weight at completion: 6 lb 4 oz
• Stock length: 15? inches
• Trigger: Spring-bladed front trigger
• Safety: Intercepting safety mechanism
• Stock: Roached (arched) comb profile

Purdey's factory ledger notes that the stock was filed down slightly at the comb during fitting, which accounts for a degree of residual "crookedness" noted even after the gun was set up — a small but telling detail of the hand-finishing process typical of best London guns of the period. The bend was subsequently adjusted in October 1896, reflecting Purdey's long-standing practice of servicing and re-fitting guns to their owners over time. However, I have had the gun restored to the original stock dimensions in England.

The gun's later ledger card records continued factory attention across several decades, including further stock alterations, reboring, and refitting work, with entries recorded into the early 20th century and a change of ownership noted in 1926 — evidence of the sort of long-term "cradle to grave" support Purdey extended to its best guns.

This is a wonderful opportunity to acquire a documented Purdey hammerless ejector, one of only three built to this specification for a notable Welsh landowner, with an unbroken factory paper trail spanning from its 1891 completion through multiple rounds of bespoke servicing.

Purdey factory records and specification letter available and included with this gun. I will also include 100 fireformed Remington hulls. In 30 years of gun collecting I have only seen a hand full of Purdey trios and this is the first 14 bore Purdey hammerless gun.  I wonder where the other two are...
 

Curio/Relic: Yes
Antique: Yes
Shotgun Gauge: 14 Gauge

Price: $14,900.00
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