Both catalogues arrived this week, one from Purdey and the other from Holland & Holland.
Tell me how bad the economy really is, when you look at the price of London Best guns each year skyrocketing. The matched set of the Purdey Side By Side Game Guns going for just £129,000, just $211,126 at the time of writing. And the matched set of the Holland & Holland ‘Royal” Side by Side Shotguns at £122,500, just $200,557. 
The photography and stories are exquisite. These are simply the Best London side by side shotguns.
Of particular interest is the 150th anniversary of The Field Magazine, shotgun with is a side-by-side, round actioned 12-bore embellished with bespoke engraving with flushed pheasants on one side, a fox and hounds on the other, and a stage at the base with a salmon caught in action leaping across the trigger guard. How about a pair of those?
Purdey produces 70 bespoke guns and rifles a year. It takes between 18-24 months to complete a Purdey. And the good news is that while the price has increased by 50% in the last 15 years, the dollar has risen against the pound by about the same, so the net affect is not too much greater for us Yanks, if you are looking for a matched pair of the finest side-by-sides. Or you can go the more country Squier method with a Greener or Churchill but for now I’ll stick with the Garbis.
The Old Man said that if you just confined life to preparation you’d never really be disappointed when the actuality arrived.
