James Purdey the Younger was determined to create the best gun — something that couldn’t be bettered. In 1879, Frederick Beesley, a former Purdey stocker, invented a self-opening system that used the residual energy of the mainspring to open the gun. The system was developed and patented with our assistance the following year. Our Side-by-Side hammerless guns and rifles have been built on the Beesley self-opening system ever since. This system proved a great success for us. So much so that by the late nineteenth century, every crowned head of Europe had become a customer of James Purdey & Sons.

It wasn’t until 1949 and the purchase of James Woodward & Sons that the modern Purdey Over-and-Under was created. Patented in 1913, the Woodward design was famous for being lightweight and exceptionally robust, and the perfect basis for us to refine. Two Purdey workers, Ernest and Harry Lawrence, worked to modify the Woodward ejector mechanism. They redesigned the firing pins and implemented other minor improvements to better suit our style. These changes created both the look and design which is at the heart of every Purdey Over-and-Under built to this day.