They aren't all the same . . .
 

Just like original Parker Bros. guns there are little idiosyncratic differences between Repros. The following pics illustrates one of these differences that I haven't observed previously . . . both of these guns are 28-ga. 00-frame 26" DHE Repros with SG stocks, splinter forends and double triggers. The gun on the left was purchased new in 1995, the gun on the right was recently purchased by a good friend in new, unfired condition. Clearly, the stock on the right is bigger than the one on the left, it measures just a hair under 5" heel-to-toe compared to 4 11/16" of the gun on the left. Perhaps his is a 28-ga. 00-frame Repro fitted with an 0-frame 20-ga. stock with the larger initial oval, yet it offers perfect fit at the head . . . what other explanation could there be?

The next thing to do is compare the "big" stock with a Repro 20 gauge stock.

Maybe they were near the end of production and needed to use the remaining machined stocks?

My 20-ga. 0-frame Repro stock measures the same -- just a hair under 5" toe-to-heel as the bigger stock above.

The near end of production explanation doesn't square as the bigger stock's S/N is 28-8XX, the smaller gun gun above is S/N 28-16XX, I also have another 28-ga. with S/N 28-32XX that also measures 4 11/16" top to bottom. My friend's gun has a couple of other seldom seen idiosyncrasies: 70mm chamber stamping and it's sans the frame size stamping on the bottom of the rear lug.

The above is further evidence that, just as with Parkers, all Parker Reproductions were not created equal.

Do they measure the same on the firing pin spacing ?

Yep, both 15/16".

Ok, I had to check. My 28" barreled straight grip gun measures just under 4 5/8", and the balance point is about 1/2" behind the hinge pin. Where is the balance point of the larger stocked gun with 26" tubes? I would think the shorter barrels and larger stock would place the balance point well behind that.

We didn't measure the balance point Chad and he took it home with him after we compared our Repros today. Incidently, his gun with the apparent 0-frame stock and 1/16" longer LOP weighs 3 oz. less than my gun: 5 lbs. 6 oz. vs. 5 lbs. 9 oz.

The smaller one is more of what would have originally been on an OO frame.

No doubt some sort of change in manufacturing. Maybe standardizing on the 0 frame plate and stock butt size. ?

All Parker Reproduction leather trade labels weren't created equally either. The top label has all gold shading and scroll, the bottom has green shading and mostly green scroll with a little gold mixed in.