Please comment on these case colors
 

What is the source of these case colors? Do you think these were redone by Remington or somebody else?

i don't know but i like them :)

Not sure what it is, but they are just not quite right, at least to my eyes. A little blotchy and not enough blue....I don't know but they don't look original to me.

I have an olp 20 PH that has exact colors but Could be a old,old redo?
Several guys at Southern said thet thought original..who knows ?
Bill:rolleyes:

Bill, the reason I asked is because this is the VHE that I just bought. It looks TOO perfect. The wood, fit, finish, everything looks 100% original except the colors. They look too yellow and not blue enough. This VHE is from 1920 (as I recall).

The seller got it from an estate just outside of Gloucester and claimed that it was totally original. The family member who placed it on consignment with the dealer said it had never been shot and had never been taken out of his great-uncle's safe. I have my doubts because of the color, but I liked it enough to buy it either way. Other than the color the photos would suggest that it came out of the Meriden shop. Either it's original or a heck of a nice refurbish.

Original Parker case colors have more blue than straw. Those are nice colors, but I don't think they are original. Great gun.

I'm with you, Ed. These don't look blue enough to my eye either. There are other photos that show quite a bit more blue, but not as much as you'd expect. Also, there's a small difference in the coloring of the butt stock and the forend. However, if someone had it restocked why would they have left the LOP to the front trigger 13 13/16ths? The darned thing is so perfect otherwise it makes me wonder when/how/who did the case coloring?

Wonderful gun John. Congrats! My PH 16 gauge has colors almost identicle to yours.And it is also a New England gun. My thoughts would be the Ohio Case Color Co. Keep in mind the blues are the first color to subdue in my experience.

This gun appears to have been totally redone. These case colors are very typical of those done by Frank Lefever of Herkimer NY in the late 1950s up to the late 1960s. They are cyanide, not bone charcoal colors. (If they were original Meriden colors they would be bone charcoal). Parker Bros. dabbled in cyanide colors just before the sellout to Remington but this gun is way before that. Also, the wood is so absolutely pristine that it does not make sense for an original condition gun; oxidation alone, inside or outside of a safe, would have dulled the finish sheen long ago. Also note the extremely crisp checkering; even casual handling of "safe queens" takes off the needle-sharp points in short order. (To give credit to the consignor and the seller, it probably has not been shot since it was redone).

This gun reminds me of the very recently-PA-auctioned CHE 20ga., whose condition was advertised as "totally original, untouched", until (whoops!) a relative of the owner "seemed to remember" the owner having the gun "touched up" years and years ago. Quite appropriately, the auction house issued a revised description of the gun, which helped reign in the hysterical bidding which usually surrounds these 'virgin' guns.

But now you have a gun that all of this has already been done. It is a great looking gun and be satisfied that it is what it is and above all - enjoy it!

Kevin,
Thanks for your input. I am confused about one thing - the method of case coloring. I used to own a S&W Elite Gold shotgun and it's case coloring was VERY similar to that on this shotgun. Everyone who ever discussed or described these guns from Turkey identified the case coloring as "authentic bone charcoal case coloring". The case colors on this VHE look for all the world like those on the S&W Elite Gold.

Link: http://www.billhanusbirdguns.com/swgoldelite.html

In any event, you're right - it's a gun ready to be shot. The deal I struck with the seller was based on my suspicion that it was not original and the ultimate purchase price reflected that. Either way I'm happy to have it and will definitely be smoothing off some of those checkering diamonds in the future.

Thanks again for your input.