G'day Curl,
finally got around to taking a few pics of the Purdey double that is not many numbers off yours. It was made in 1896 as a 303 and is now a 7x65R . These new chopper lump barrels were fitted by Westley Richards and although it hasn't been checked out yet, I don't think this occurred many years back. Bores and finish is as new. A zeiss variable scope in QD mounts is part of the new set up. We have speculated as to what happened to the 303 barrels to cause the fitting of the new and expensive, set. As the rest of the rifle is in such good, almost new condition, corrosive ammo and poor cleaning may be to blame. Or it could be the new owner just didn't like the old 303 and loved the 7 mm. A few enquires to WR will hopefully find the answer.
Although the present owner did part with a good wad of money to gain possession of this beauty, I still think he got a bargain. I have a feeling the pure collectors turned up their noses at it because of the new barrels. A rifle of mixed heritage does not appeal to high end buyers that gather for investment only. The new owner is not a collector but an average bloke who had dreamed of one day owning and hunting with a classic Best double. He cleaned out the gun safe and waited and watched. To him a double that is the combined effort of Purdey and WR is not too big of a burden to carry.

Does it shoot? Well regulation has not been checked yet but last weekend He rolled 6 pigs with 7 shots. All were shot on the run in either sun flowers or shoulder high grass and the comment was that it handled wonderfully. That didn't really surprise me.

Regards,
Ron.