balance
 

One of the things that pulled me to Parkers was there balance, how they handled and pointed. If a gun was made with say 32 inch barrels and send back to the factory and fitted with 26 or 28 inch barrels would that have much effect on balance? Did Parkers select a little heaver barrels for the shorter ones to counter the shorter length ?

Parker Bros (or any good gunmaker) would have made (struck) the new shorter barrels and forend to balance as perfectly as the gun had with the original barrels and forend.





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It is common to see the outline of a plugged hole in the butt of higher grade guns, (or underneath the butt plate of lower grade guns) where Parker would bore out wood to lighten the stock to achieve balance. Sometimes you might see the outline of two plugs. On short barreled guns it was done to lighten the butt end, and on long barreled guns, it was occasionally done to add weight, in order to achieve balance at, or very near, the hinge pin.

That is one of the beauties of a hand finished gun. The job could only be properly done with the complete gun being sent back for fitting of new barrels - striking the barrels for the best weight distribution and weighting or unweighting of the buttstock for finishing the balance.





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Thanks to all.

Just as an example, I have a DH with 32" 10ga and 30" 12ga barrels from the factory. Both barrels weigh exactly the same, gun weighs 9lbs with either set and balances exactly the same with both sets of barrels.