VHE Skeet 12ga with D grade stock?

[J.B. Books]

This is currently on Gunbroker. I think the entire gun was restored by DelGrego. I noticed the large oval shield and then saw the skeletal butt plate. I wonder if this was originally a special order or if the stock is a replacement. Nice looking gun.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=222540627

[Double Play]

Don't you wish every seller on the internet would post a wide variety of crystal clear pics as this seller has done?

[J.B. Books]

Originally Posted by Larry Frey

Don't you wish every seller on the internet would post a wide variety of crystal clear pics as this seller has done?

Yes for sure. I have learned recently there is no substitute for bright sunlight. My little Kodak digicam can take some great closeups of engraving if the photos are taken outdoors.

[Brush Buster]

I am not being critical of this sellers gun in any manner ,it is a very nice looking gun and he has very clear and very sharp pictures ,but please notice the stock is not exactly as a D Grade should be ,it is missing its drop points . Russ

[Researcher]

Yeah. No drop-points and the checkering pattern on the grip and forearm is not at all DHE-Grade. It is a VHE with a really nice piece of wood and the optional skeleton butt. A "normal" VHE-Grade Skeet Gun would have a bare wood checkered butt. During the Remington years the VHE-grades often got a lot prettier wood than they did in the Parker Bros. days, but this gun is really over the top in that respect. Looks like wood you'd find on a Winchester Model 21 or a Grade 4E NID Ithaca.

[Opening Day]

Originally Posted by Dave Noreen

Yeah. No drop-points and the checkering pattern on the grip and forearm is not at all DHE-Grade. It is a VHE with a really nice piece of wood and the optional skeleton butt. A "normal" VHE-Grade Skeet Gun would have a bare wood checkered butt. During the Remington years the VHE-grades often got a lot prettier wood than they did in the Parker Bros. days, but this gun is really over the top in that respect. Looks like wood you'd find on a Winchester Model 21 or a Grade 4E NID Ithaca.

Agree Dave, plus the receiver has been redone, look at the left side not Parker or Rem. colors, very nice gun for a shooter but not original. Also is there a through bolt on that forend? And yes they are great pics and to restock this gun.... close to asking price.

[Autumn Daze]

I agree the gun sure looks like Larry's work with a V grade stock. Researcher stated that later Remington guns had great wood and he is right! The thing that intrigues me most is the skeleton butt plate. The engaving sure looks to be compatible with a V grade gun.

[Brush Buster]

She sure has pretty wood ,and if it were mine I would tone down the colors a bit ,If shes not too heavy ,I would think it would be a very nice gun in the Grouse woods , Skeet and Skeet ! I need'em open when it comes to OLE RUFF !

[Bill Murphy]

Parker would install a skeleton butt on any gun, for a price. A member of my gun club when I was younger had a 12 gauge GHE vent rib skeet with skeleton butt. I didn't know enough to ask him about how he came to have those features on his gun. He probably ordered it new. He was in his eighties in the 1950's. He also had an X Grade Fox trap gun with vent rib. Both of those guns are probably still with his family today. He lived just up the road from me. I guess I should check out his granddaughter. I have a skeleton butt on a GHE that letters. Of course, no one knows what a V Grade skeleton butt looks like, but the one being offered for sale looks about like they should look. To get LDG to look up a gun, you have to know the customer's name. He does not file by serial number.

[Greg Miller CTGunLaw]

Given the unusual wood, one would expect the seller to remove the trigger guard and provide a picture of the serial number on the stock. They can be faked, but not that easy to do well. To me this is a more interesting gun if the numbers all match.

As to higher grade wood from Remington, my VH with fancy wood is within a couple of hundred digits of this gun, is from 1935 and mine is matching numbers and checked as would be expected for a Grade 4. It is stamped 4 on the stock where one would expect it on a C. So, I do believe Remington in 1935 offered the VH with upgraded wood. Some of the records are missing and if the numbers on this gun match, might be another indication that such things were occuring during 1935 even if it was not in the catalog as an option.

The oval on my gun was missing and was replaced with a Galazan oval and the pad on my gun was replaced with a new Silver.