i always wanted one of them reproduction parkers even way back when they first came out...still want one but aint made the call yet...maybe someday....charlie

I just reread Mr. Trevallian's story on the repro and realized that one small import piece of the history was missing. John Allen reported that 25 sets of original factory 30" 12 gauge barrels were manufactured. This fact is well worth inclusion in the Parker Reproduction History.
Bob Jurewicz

I can't copy the article to our web area because there is some issue with a photo. Sorry.:crying:

I don't doubt you happened to buy a Parker Reproduction in which the checkering had overruns or crossed lines, but I believe that to be the exception rather than the rule.

I just examined very closely the several Repros that I own and could not find a single overrun or any crossed lines in the checkering, nor do I recall any other Repros I have owned or have examined that have shown these issues. I've also gone through the twenty pages of the "Let's See Some Wood" thread and could not find a single example of a Repro that has overruns or crossed lines.

I wish someone would post a pic of what I've been missing. :corn:

The biggest fault in the Checkering on Parker Reproductions is that on the DHE guns and forends of BHE guns, the point patterns are not true point patterns. They are fill in patterns. The whole pattern was laid out at once and then the checkering filled in. Vs. the borders of the pattern being defined by the checkering like a true point pattern should be. ie: the straight borders of the pattern should be parallel to the lines of the checkering. You will find this situation on nearly all Reproduction guns. It is simply a quicker way to do things in a production setting.

Was the checkering done manually, or was it laser cut?

That I cannot say. I wasn't there. It would be interesting to know.

Parker Reproduction brochures state that they were hand checkered.

The checkering doesn’t look to have been laser cut but the border cuts look like they may have been.






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My comments were not meant to be derogatory of the repro’s, just my personal take on the gun being better than the originals. They were an awful lot of gun for the money when they came out and still are. But the fit and finish of the DHE’s is not the equal of original guns. I don’t see how it could be and keep the price at a point where the gun would be marketable, even being built in Japan. The checkering was not a true point pattern as Brian pointed out and the checkered area of the skeleton butt was glued on. And, of course, the case hardening was not bone charcoal. None of this detracts from a gun at the repro’s price point. If the gun was finished the way Parker did it, it couldn’t be brought to market at a price that put it in reach of the average person.

My gun and the few I have examined were early guns. Perhaps the later repro’s had better checkering. Sometimes I can correct mistakes in checkering if they are not too bad. But on this gun I had to take the checkering down to the wood and do it properly. The checkering on my repro was very poorly done, especially on the forend. Cross overs, depressed areas where a mistake was made and then checkered deeper to cover it up and other imperfections. I’m not saying this was typical. But I did see mistakes on a few other repro’s I examined back when I had an interest in them.

All in all it was a great effort to bring these guns to market and price them within the reach of the average person. They were fine firearms and will last as long or longer than the originals. My hat is off to the folks who made this happen.