Help with my CH

[Ray Masciarella]

I have a CH circa 1900. Factory letter stars it started life as a basic CH with Bernard barrels. It states the "stock book" is missing but I'm not sure what that means or what it may have told me.
It now has ejectors. I'm wondering if this was done at the factory. How can I tell? Of course it has a different stock but the stock does have the factory serial number so I assume it was restocked when the factory installed the ejectors?
The gun is in really good condition. Stock has a lot of finish with just a few compressions here and there. Barrels show all pattern with a few light marks and some wear at the muzzle. Almost too good to be a 100 year old gun. I guess it's possible the barrels were redone at the factory when the ejectors were installed, assuming that's what actually happened.
The other odd thing is that the triggers have a gold finish. Does that make sense?
Is there anyway to determine by inspecting the gun whether this work was
done by the factory?

thx, Ray

[Bruce Day]

Ray, I might know a little about C's, particularly of that era, and Bernard barrels and might be able to help. BUT, you have to post photos, a lot of them. The only thing cheaper than pixels is unbased advise.

I won't comment about a specific gun unless I see it.

[Bill Murphy]

I once did some research on early factory ejectors and the first ejector guns. Post your serial number and I will check on whether your gun is one of the first factory ejector guns.

[Ray Masciarella]

Bruce, posting photos has always been a challenge for me. I did have a friend of mine takes some photos recently of some of my guns and I did finally learn how to post them (nothing like reading the fourm instructions). Problem she didn't take photos of this gun but I will have her do so and post them asap.

Can you tell me what the significance is of not having the "stock book" is? I understand that some books are mising that may have showed factory repairs, modifications, etc. Is that correct?

Bill, I don't believe it origianlly had ejectors because the factory letter didn't say so. The stocks are different not the original because the pull is different them indicated in the factory letter, which also doesn't indicate the Hawkins pad (which is period). Also the forend latch has the later patent number and the serial number is stamped with different characters then those on the water table. This all leads me to the conclusion that the ejectors and stock were done by the factory at a later time. Anyway, the sn is 95372.

Thx, Ray

[StubTwist]

Originally Posted by Ray Masciarella

It now has ejectors. I'm wondering if this was done at the factory. How can I tell? thx, Ray

If the gun was first made with extractors but now has ejectors, you may want to look under the barrel lug to see if the screw hole that holds the extractor in has been welded up. You can see a faint circle if this has been done.

This is my contribution... hope it helps. All other C grade questions and answers reserved for the experts.

[Ray Masciarella]

Frank, it does have that old hole so that confirms that the ejectors were added. Thx, Ray

[Bruce Day]

Ray, with that mfg date, its clearly a pre ejector gun.

An order book entry tells the order configuration, and is helpful to determine if the gun remains as made. You already know it is not, so the order book is only of historical value to you. As for later factory improvements, a Parker guy ought to be able to determine within a small margin of error by careful inspection whether a feature is factory.

I follow the known Bernard guns and am always interested in looking. Your year of 1900 puts in the range for roundell engraving.

Gold plated triggers would be unusual, certainly not standard for grade, but its possible that when the gun went back to be restocked and ejectors added, the owner had it upgraded with gold triggers. I have a C 16 like that with silver checkered triggers.

[Bill Murphy]

The stock book that should include your gun is, in fact, among the missing books. However, the order book must have provided the information that the researcher put in your letter. The stock books and the order books are two different sources of research. The order books list the guns in the order in which they are ordered and include the name of the entity that placed the order or ordered a repair, as well as the price. The stock books list the gun and its specifications, as shipped, in serial number order. No information about the purchaser is included, generally.

[Ray Masciarella]

Bruce, I made a mistake. It does not have gold triggers. Not sure what I was thinking when I said that! I'm pretty sure the modificatios are factory. Who else would have done them? Ray

[Dean Romig]

Ray, without pictures or the gun in hand nobody can even speculate who did the work on your CH. We don't even know what kind of ejectors it has. I have seen Parkers with three different kinds of ejectors installed, (the most common of course are those made by Parker) and there may even be more.