I NEED ONE!!!! Not that I shoot trap, but I always wanted a nice shooter SBT. They are just a very cool design.

I have absolutely no dog in this fight. I do have a friend here in the Inland Northwest who is a big Winchester collector and also has some very nice Parkers. He will have nothing to do with a Delgregoed Parker or a Kusmit engraved Winchester. According to him in both cases "der hacks."

The only Del Grego gun I own is the Davis / Gitman SC. The work is well done but for some reason the stocks were finished with some sort of poly. I removed the poly and refinished the stocks with oil. The nice figure shows up better now. I don't know if the Del Grego's finished with poly in general, or if Shelly Gitman gave them instructions to finish it this way. Regardless, its a wonderful gun and does look better with an oil finish.

One more point, the pad put on the gun was a white line pad with the Del Grego name on it. I took the pad off and fitted a silvers pad which looks more period.

I'm really glad the Gitman SC went to such a great home. I'm also humbled to have my name associated with it.

No criticism of my friend Tom Flanigan, but Shelly Gitman and Larry Del Grego Senior cooperated on dozens of guns that are not meant to be anything other than what they are, redone and refinished Parkers, worked on by original Parker employees. In my opinion, it is a waste of time and money to recolor them in a more original style, oil finish the wood, and trash the Del Grego Pachmayr pads to replace them with Silver pads. They are what they are and to change them is to make them Reproduction Del Grego Parkers. Some day, a Del Grego Parker will be sought after, like some are now.
You will never make them original Meriden Parkers, no matter how hard you try.

I agree with everything you said Bill. But I have a thing about poly and white line pads on a Parker. I knew when I did it that I was removing "original" Del Grego touches. But I decided to do it as soon as I had the gun in hand before even shooting it. It’s just a personal thing. I used oil and didn’t go with the French polish that most original Parkers had. Regardless, it’s a wonderful gun and has become one of my favorite Parkers. It fits me and I shoot it well and it is a beautiful looking gun.

Tom, you should be able to kill a bobwhite at 70 yards with 1 1/8 ounces of #6. I still remember the day you and I were following our pups and a small covey got up when we least expected it. I missed with my first barrel and made a desperation shot at about 50 or 55 yards as my bird disappeared around a brush pile. We were about to continue our hunt when one of our pups emerged from the brush with a bobwhite in his or her mouth. It was the full choke barrel of my little 26" VH 28 gauge. At 75, memories like that are what makes this lifestyle what it is.

My SBT has a non-original / non-authentic pad but I am going to live with it for the time being. It originally had a pad, so may look for one of the same brand as original

I well remember that incident Bill. Hunting with you was a real treat. I have very fond memories of those times. I really have to get around more and go to some events where you, Kevin and others show up. Even though Kevin went to the dark side with Fox’s and sold grandma’s gun, I can’t hold it against him. I actually love the Fox guns although I’ve sold all I had because they weren’t Parkers. I had a beautiful little high condition 20 bore CE that I wish I hadn’t sold. It had factory 25” barrels with both being full choke. A rare little gun.

I remember your 28 bore Parker. If I recall correctly, you bought that gun when you were a kid. I am amazed at what the 28 bore will do with ¾ oz. of shot. I once shot a 24 at the 27 yard line with the full choke barrel of my Holland shooting low gun. I also took a lot of short range mallards with it in Saskatchewan using 7 1/2s back in the lead days.

Except for my trips out West, I don’t stray far from Pawling anymore. I need to get around more.