Will Primos SxS shotgun?

Since Savage is a sponser, I'd expect it to be a old Savage/Stevens/Fox model B.

A James Purdey? Expensive, to say the least.

Gary, not to get off topic, but did you use a double in Africa?

Gary O said:

Turns out that Will actually carries a Purdy 16 gauge hammer gun. Now, I wish I knew how his gun is choked and what ammo he uses...

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It depends very much on whether his is a legacy gun or one of the new hammer ejector guns that Purdey reintroduced in 2004 ("Purdy" is how one describes the guns, Purdey is how the maker spells their name ;-) If a legacy gun, the 16 ga was very often a grouse gun while the 12 was the preferred bore for driven pheasants. As such, a 16 ga grouse gun, 2 1/2" chambers proofed for 1 oz loads, was more likely to be choked somewhat more open - IC/LM/M, while 12 bores used on high birds would be tighter IM/F. If it is one of the post 2004 guns, it will be in whatever configuration he ordered, of course.

Gary O said:

Pure speculation?

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Speculation based on fact and sound logic. If a post 2004 Purdey, it will obviously have been delivered in whatever configuration he may have ordered it.

If a legacy gun, the logic applied within the parameters presented will stand whatever scrutiny one brings to bear. The 12 bore was the preferred gun for driven shoots and high birds - a matter of record. While that's not to say that nobody used a 16 ga, it is a reasonable generalization. As I have two brothers-in-law and a father-in-law who all belong to different shoots in the UK, and have myself shot a fair amount there, this is an informed position. Driven, high birds demanded tight chokes, especially given cartridge construction of the era. If his 16 ga is a legacy hammer gun, unless subsequently modified, it will have been chambered in 2 1/2 and proofed for 1 oz loads. That is a matter of record with Purdey. Will one find any exceptions that prove the rule? Quite possibly. Again, while nothing will have stopped people using 12 bores on grouse or 16 ga guns on pheasants, the 16 ga was, historically speaking, more commonly used on the grouse moors and again, with my wife's family in Yorkshire, I do have some familiarity with shooting in the area. While the 20 ga came on the last 10 years or so of the 19th Century, the high volume shooting (the Marquess of Rippon's 575 grouse in a day was remarkable but not extraordinary) in the North still favored heavier guns. As to the choking, that again is a matter of record and averages.

So, while the matter of Primos gun is of course pure speculation, the basis for that speculation is quite sound.

Yes they are purdy,

Purdy damn expensive and Purdy damn likely to stay that way.