CHE Double Trap

[Dean Romig]

I have occasionally referred to the CHE double trap that I once owned. It was a fully optioned gun and was one of only four known with 30" barrels.
It has twin ivory beads on a Parker factory original ventilated rib, ejectors, "beavertail" (trap style) forend, soft rubber recoil pad, and Miller SST. I took it to the trap range once. I had shot trap at a few of my local clubs throughout the 80's with a 20 gauge and have a few second and third place trophies, but I was not prepared for what happened on that day when I first shot my CHE double trap gun.
I stepped to my assigned position at the line and when my turn came around I smashed the target with authority... or maybe I should say that the gun smashed the target with authority.
This continued uninterrupted by a miss and the others on the squad, never having seen me shoot trap there, were all kinda giving me the old "hairy eyeball". So I moved to my final station and "Pull!" - POW!(break) "Pull!" - POW!(break) "Pull!" - POW!(break) "Pull!" - POW!(break) "Pull!" - POW! :shock:(MISS).... I couldn't believe I had psyched myself out of breaking that last clay after breaking 24 straight. What an embarrassment!
I was determined to shoot another round - this time I would relax through the entire round and very carefully and in supreme control of myself, would quite easily redeem myself before the other shooters who were snickering just a little bit because they know only too well how this game can get into your mind.

I will only humbly and unashamedly tell you that on my second round I DID EXACTLY THE SAME THING - MISSING ONLY THE VERY LAST CLAY THAT I WOULD EVER SHOOT THIS WONDERFUL GUN AT.

Here are some pictures of this wonderful gun that I recently found in an old folder I had stashed away in my hard drive.




.

[Scott Siegmund]

Beautiful gun Dean. I know that dropped last bird feeling too well. :banghead:

[Mike Franzen]

Sometimes you find a gun that just seems to be a natural extension of mind and body. You pick it up and it feels like part of you. I had that one time with a perazzi Ithicas trap gun.

[Pat Dugan]

Wish there were side pictures of the rib

[Dean Romig]

I'll try to accommodate that request. This gun was made in 1929 and the stock book is missing so I was not able to buy a research letter on it but everything but the pad is original - so sayeth some long-time Parker experts.




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[Larry Frey]

Dean,
Didn't that gun cost you one book of raffle tickets?:whistle:

[Jean Swanson]

Dean:

The story goes something like this:

While I was in Las Vegas several year ago , at some point I was looking for a PGCA raffle gun, I asked Frank to look for a gun with a reasonable price . Frank came to me with a list of guns that he thought would fit the bill. One of the guns was the CHE. I went over to see Mike Methe and borrowed a hand full of cash. I went to the dealer that had the CHE and offered him a cash deal of considerably less than he was asking----he took the deal.

The gun needed a very little TLC and I gave the gun to Doug Turnbull, he did his magic touch.

Dean upon winning the gun came to Vermont to pick up his winnings along with his wife Kathy-------the first time I met them.

I am glad that Dean enjoyed the gun for a short time.

Allan

[David Dwyer]

Dean
Fantastic Parker and a great story. I own her "big sister" who sports 32" barrels. I purchased mine at Pintail Pt from a fellow PGCA member. I have never shot her as she is almost unfired, and I suck at trap.I purchased her for her beauty and condition.
If you need any pictures of her "sister" let me know.
David

[Larry Stalnaker]

Dean,

Absolutely beautiful gun.

Like Mike says, sometimes a gun just fits perfectly. That's the whole reason I'm in this organization. My VHE 20 was that way for me, that's why it is now mine.

PopPop

[Bruce Day]

A Parker double trap gun is exactly that.....it is designed for trap. They have high combs with little drop. Mine had one inch of drop at the heel and 1/2" at comb. They provide a built in vertical lead. You place the clay on top of the bead and it leads the clay up for you. They do not do well for sporting clays or hunting but they are a wonderful gun for trap.

They also have enough weight, mine was 8 lbs.

[Brian Dudley]

That is a lot of forend on that gun. Wow!

[Dean Romig]

Actually Larry, I bought $100 worth of raffle tickets because I wanted it so badly. I even blabbed endlessly on the forum about the fact that I knew I would win it. I couldn't make it to the Annual Meeting that year but when I learned on the forum that I had won it I nearly fell off my chair.... :shock: I was shocked!!

Thanks Allan for the "rest of the story". And thank you for bringing it back to New England making it easier for me to 'claim my winnings'. That first meeting was the beginning of a really good friendship.

I'm not a trap shooter. And like a lot of others, I generally don't keep a gun for a long time that I don't intend to shoot so that great CHE went down the road - hopefully to a dedicated trap shooter or sporting clays shooter. It was a great privilege to call it mine for a year or so.

[Dean Romig]

Mine was built on a 1 1/2 frame and I'm sure it weighed just under 7 1/2 lbs. What a dream it was to shoot... so incredibly well balanced.
Mine had high dimensions and the wide "trap" comb that are pretty common on dedicated competition guns from Parker. Unfortunately this is the best picture I have of that feature on this gun.




.

[Bill Murphy]

Late Miller trigger. Dean, we don't sell guns like that. My CHE Trap is a project that has been in process for "a while".

[Chuck Bishop]

I had just joined the PGCA and it was the first raffle I entered. Too bad I didn't know you back then, you could have sold it to me, a REAL TRAPSHOOTER:banghead:

[Rich Anderson]

My DHE trap has an even wider forearm I believe then the CHE Dean had. I don't shoot it much but a friend continually borrows it for the sxs shoots. Maybe I'll dig it out for a round at Drakes this April.

[Dean Romig]

Bill - I've been kicking myself ever since!

[charlie cleveland]

dean what happened to that 20 ga...it is a nice gun for sure.... charlie

[Dean Romig]

What 20 ga.?

This trap gun is a 12 ga. and I sold it too soon and too short.

[Pete Lester]

So I moved to my final station and "Pull!" - POW!(break) "Pull!" - POW!(break) "Pull!" - POW!(break) "Pull!" - POW!(break) "Pull!" - POW! :shock:(MISS).... I couldn't believe I had psyched myself out of breaking that last clay after breaking 24 straight. What an embarrassment!
I was determined to shoot another round - this time I would relax through the entire round and very carefully and in supreme control of myself, would quite easily redeem myself before the other shooters who were snickering just a little bit because they know only too well how this game can get into your mind.

I will only humbly and unashamedly tell you that on my second round I DID EXACTLY THE SAME THING - MISSING ONLY THE VERY LAST CLAY THAT I WOULD EVER SHOOT THIS WONDERFUL GUN AT.


I was not shooting a Parker, but in the 2001 NH State Championship I missed the 200th target in the Singles Championship, a dead straight away from station 3, for a 198x200. I wasn't the least bit nervous, it was the last target of a long day, I had a 199 in the bag, or so I thought. Instead of focusing on the shot I had to make I was mentally polishing the Champion or Runner-Up trophy in my mind. Remember when your parents told you not to count your chickens before they hatch? Complete focus on each target is always required in trap, the most important bird you will shoot is the one you are about to call for, every time. It was a hard lesson.

[Jeff Christie]

My SC requires a lot of 'float' as well. It is brutal on targets. I love shooting it. I'd be afraid to use it for turkeys for fear of shooting over the top of the bird.

[David Dwyer]

I just received Julia's book 1 and item 1035 is a decent BHE DT, 60% redone case color.
David

considering putting my CHE DT in the Julia fall sale.