The first letter from the Stock/Order books!
 

According to our esteemed Chief Researcher, Mr. Bishop, I recieved the first letter to be generated after the recent purchase of the Order and Stock books.

The Order Book provided the provenance of the original owner of the gun and the fact that it had been returned to the factory to have the barrels shortened from 30" to 28". IÂ find the gun provenance interesting in appreciating the history of the gun, and it's original use. Only having one other gun with this, it can be enlightening. Not sure how much value it brings but it will be interesting to see what else I can learn of the original owner. The documentation on the factory barrel modification is of value in establishing it wasn't hacked off in somebody's basement and done at Parker.Â
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If this is an indication of the additional information available, it will certainly make our collecting and shooting more interesting! :)

 Cheers,
Keavin Nelson

Keavin, I have days when I feel like I'm older than dirt, but I'm positive you're not. My ex-wife can probably get a hold of the original owner for you.

Seriously though, I actually did track down the original owner of one of my lettered guns. I was stunned when I connected with him, because I was certain I was going to be talking to a son, if not a grandson. If I recall, the man was in his mid nineties and he bought the gun at A&F in 1936 as a high school graduation gift from his father. I believe the letter was written by Ron Kirby.

You beat me to it, although my silent auction win is not really worthy of such a distinction.

Is there any way to find out if more information is available on a gun that already has been lettered? Other than just ordering a second letter!

Dave said out loud what I what was thinking, too.

If only Bob Beach was still doing research letters (packages) on guns from A&F…





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Really old dirt!!!!
 

Edgar,
The Parker in question was made in 1907, and while the Swedes in Minnesota are a tough bunch that might be stretching it a bit!!!!! :rotf: They say the thrill is in the hunt, we will see what can be found on the original owner!

Sorry for the edit. My head was on fire trying to separate Keavin's gun from Edgar's.

Dave and John, that hasn't been determined. I'm just guessing that if there is an archived letter, there would be a small price involved for a revised letter. It's going to be a while before all the Stock books have been rephotographed

I find the fact that original factory records exist is remarkable, how many other companies were able to keep their records safe from fire,floods,sunlight etc?
Getting info on production dates and specs are one thing- knowing the who,what,why is what really intrigues me.
I never really gave much thought to investigating who ordered my VH20 , with the Internet I may start looking.
I'm anxiously awaiting the letter on my 'new' VHE trap gun!

what is the serial number range of the new books?

There are no "new" books, it's just that now we actually own the "stock books/ledgers" which contain information that the old copies of the books were left out due to the size of the xerox machine copier. I'm re-photographing the stock books which will include the new information left out in the original copying that was done in the 1990's.

Each stock book/ledger contains approximately 105 pages. There are 52 stock books which equals 5,400+ individual pictures so you can see it will take a while to photograph all the books!

I am sure that all members appreciate the enormous task you are undertaking. If no one has done so, let me be the first to publicly thank you for what you are doing.

You are so right, William. We all owe Chuck thanks for all of his work.

Will letters ordered now contain the new information or will that happen after all the books are completed

I'm starting with SB #1 and working my way up. If you order a letter and I've photographed that SB, yes it will be included in your letter. Have patience. I'm trying to photograph a book per day so it won't take too long to do them all.

When I get a chance, I'll show what the extra columns contain.