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View Full Version : What can be done with a Repro - The final chapter.


Brian Dudley
01-02-2020, 01:40 PM
I had previously posted some other separate threads on the wood work and engraving work on this gun, but I thought I would start a new one on the finished result.


This gun is a 26" Parker Reproduction 20g. DHE Double Trigger gun.

My intent for this project was to refine as much as possible on the Repro platform as an example of what can be done with these guns to dress them up some more.

I started with reworking the wood for lower shooting dimensions. The comb was brought down quite a bit and reshaped, and the heel lowered a little. The forend was thinned out a lot as well. The finish was redone in a medium gloss oil (to somewhat resemble the Urethane that was put on the repros) and the figure and color was enhanced a lot in the finishing process. The checkering was recut and the borders than mullered.

The barrels were not touched as they were just fine. Only the breech face was striped as original Parkers were.

I replaced all of the screws on the gun (metal and wood) with new ones that have much thinner slots than the original repro screws. Especially the wood screws. The slots on repro Wood screws are huge.
Then I polished out all of the metalwork.

Geoffroy Gournet then embellished all of the scroll work on the gun to give it more dimension and to make it all look hand cut vs the machine done "engraving" by the factory. Special attention was paid to the 3 game scenes and a lot of detail was added to them and also background detail. A note on the engraving is that the factory "engraving" can look washed out with the faux case color, and even with bone charcoal case color. But that is not the case with fresh hand cut engraving. It really stands out through the new bone charcoal case color. The hand cuts allow the light to be reflected off of it.

The trigger guard serial number was redone in the original style with the No. before it.

The frame and metalwork was case colored by Turnbull.

I Nitre Blued the buttplate, trigger guard and screws.

Oh, yeah... and the triggers were Nickel Plated, like original grade 3 guns.

I also had Geoffroy engrave the stock oval with my monogram as this is my personal gun and it will be shown and shot. Look for it at some of the upcoming events if you want to see it up close and in person.

79201

79202

79203

79204

79205

79206

79207

79208

79209

79210

79211

79212

79213

79214

79215

79216

79217

79218

Brian Dudley
01-02-2020, 01:47 PM
Here are some side-by-side comparisons with a factory repro.

79219

79220

79221

79222

79223

79224

79225

79226

Andrew Sacco
01-02-2020, 02:29 PM
Good God. Gorgeous work.

Bob Hayes
01-02-2020, 07:37 PM
Very nice Brian

Sam Casey
01-02-2020, 07:46 PM
Was anything needed to be done to improve function of Repro? Cosmetic improvements are truly fantastic.

Chuck Bishop
01-02-2020, 09:24 PM
Did you give any instructions to Turnbull as to how you wanted the case colors to look? The blues and rust colors are excellent with very little straw and the blues go all the way to the edges. The colors are about as close to circa1900 Parkers as I've seen.

Brian Dudley
01-02-2020, 09:26 PM
No special instructions. It is the way I got it back. With original guns, I usually get very good coverage with minimal straw from them. But every gun is different. As far as repros go, they usually all look pretty close to this. They color nicely.

edgarspencer
01-03-2020, 07:13 AM
It appears you tightened up the radius of the heel, and reshaped the fore end to look more like a Meriden gun. Those are the two visible features that have always bothered me on a repro, and this gun is such a wonderful redo. Four thumbs up. (My dog likes it too)

Brian Dudley
01-03-2020, 07:31 AM
Yes, edgar. I was able to lower the heel dimension some by bringing down the spur of the plate.
You dog has thumbs?

Brett Hoop
01-03-2020, 07:52 AM
Well Done! Not many of these type of enhancements totally come together in such a pleasing manner and look true to a Parker gun.

Bill Murphy
01-03-2020, 09:26 AM
Outstanding color, both metal and wood. Congratulations.

Dean Romig
01-03-2020, 10:15 AM
Brian, did you use the original checkered insert under the skeleton butt plate or did you shape and checker the butt yourself?





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keavin nelson
01-03-2020, 10:46 AM
What an outstanding result, if they looked like this originally I think they would have been more successful, and more expensive! Very nice!!!

Paul Ehlers
01-03-2020, 11:01 AM
Outstanding to say the least!!

I'm constantly amazed by what you are doing Brain, you've taken Parker restoration & repro upgrading to the next level!

Awesome job! Kudos to Mr. Gournet & Turnbull as well :bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:

Brian Dudley
01-03-2020, 12:39 PM
Brian, did you use the original checkered insert under the skeleton butt plate or did you shape and checker the butt yourself?





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Yes, I reused the original butt insert.

I did not like how light the back end of the gun was, so I added some weight to the butt in the hollow section of it and filled the rest with solid wood. Then glued the insert back on.
The weight of the gun feels much better to me now.

Matt Buckley
01-03-2020, 02:00 PM
Nicely done Brian. You have me drooling once again.

ED J, MORGAN
01-05-2020, 06:58 AM
FANTASTIC ! Thanks for posting that. Ed

Mike Koneski
01-07-2020, 07:08 PM
Beautiful work Brian! There's just something about a skeletonized butt plate and checkered butt to make a gun POP!

JACK MURPHY JR
01-07-2020, 09:28 PM
Very Nicely done as usual Brian.

todd allen
01-12-2020, 10:36 PM
I would love to chase some quail with that one!

Bob Jurewicz
01-13-2020, 05:36 AM
I saw and handled Brian's gun over the weekend. It is even better in hand than the pictures show!!
Bob Jurewicz

charlie cleveland
01-13-2020, 06:15 PM
one thing for sure this is as nice as they come....charlie

William Woods
04-09-2020, 10:52 AM
Really nice work Brian. A pleasure to look at.

allen newell
05-09-2020, 06:54 PM
Outstanding work Brian

John Allen
05-17-2020, 02:54 PM
Brian,The gun looks great!Just curious,how long did the project take start to finish?