REMEBERING KERRS

[chuck brunner]

The quintessential west coast playroom.... I have owned and sold some of Parkers finest from Mr. Alex.... Lets see some pics. Rich and friends? I have had over a dozen guns that were sold thru Kerr Sport Shop and all of them were something special.

[chuck brunner]

A view from the inside

[chuck brunner]

Hollywood reached its Golden Age from 1930-1960, when such luminescent stars as Clarke Gable, Cary Grant, Gary Cooper and Bing Crosby became icons. Many of these Golden Age cinema stars, including Gable , Grant and Cooper were noted shooters. But who did they buy their skeet and upland guns from?

[chuck brunner]

KERRS
John Barrymore and Clarke shooting Skeet in West Hollywood.

[chuck brunner]

Some famous movie stars frequented Abercrombie & Fitch, of course, but since A&F did not have a West Coast presence (at least not until later, when they opened a branch in San Francisco), and many stars more or less made their homes in Hollywood, there had to be some place for them to frequent that could sate their piscatorial and hunting desires.

This is where the Kerr Sport Shop of 9584 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills stepped in. A fixture among the Hollywood elite anglers and hunters for decades, it was truly the Gun and Tackle Shop to the Stars. Founded by transplanted Chicagoan Alexander H. Kerr (b. 1913) in the mid-1930s, this full service tackle shop sold a full line of firearms and fishing tackle as well as other sporting goods, including sporting clothes -- an important line in a city so image-conscience. By 1937 The Coast magazine was calling it that "super sporting establishment in Beverly Hills."

Alex Kerr was certainly a sport himself, best noted for his shooting skills. In 1941, he won his first World Championship, then spent the war years as a Navy gunnery instructor. In 1946 he won the Sports Afield trophy for All-Gauge skeet shooting champion. A year later he became one of the founders of the National Skeet Shooting Association. He was a 16-time world champion in this sport.

Although the shop was perhaps best known for its custom gunsmithing department, where the rich and famous could have their high-end double barrel shotguns tailored to their needs or purchase Remington-special Kerr Skeet Guns, it did also sell a lot of good fishing tackle, too. Studio executive and film director William R. Lasky recalled in his autobiography Go Tell it on the Mountain about one particular incident where "we drove to Kerr's Sport Shop in Beverly Hills, and he bought us the best of everything: hundred-dollar Canadian quilt-lined fishing jackets, Arctic goose-down sleeping bags, European trout creels, and so many trout flies…"

And there were stars. The Oakland Tribune for 15 January 1942 wrote that Alex Kerr was the "blond expert from Beverly Hills, and instructor to many of the men and women from Hollywood's motion picture colony…" Preview Magazine in 1958 declared that Oscar-winner Gary Cooper often "visits Alex Kerr's sports shop, browses in the gun department, always hefts a pair of matched Purdy's and murmurs, 'Wish I could afford these,' and has coffee with Alex in the coffee shop across the road." Robert Stack was a frequent patron, and an exceptionally good shot with a gun, too. He referred to Kerr often in his own autobiography Shooting Straight.

Kerr spent a lot of his free time collecting and documenting the history of skeet shooting. The Long Beach Press-Telegram could declare on 30 January 1972 that "Kerr has probably assembled probably what is one of the most complete collections of equipment used from the earliest days of shotgun competitions." He was also a conservationist who in 1963 was named by the California Outdoor Writers the "Sportsman of the Year."

[chuck brunner]

The man himself on left with Ken Barnes on a California dove shoot in 1980

[chuck brunner]

The finest Boss 28ga Skeet gun sold new at Kerrs in 1938 and remained as such. Self opener, factory single trigger, straight stock, beavertail forend and factory leather pad at a respectable 14 1/2 lop. PULL!

[Dean Romig]

Thanks for a great thread Chuck. Excellent pics and information!





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[Randy Davis]

10 or 12 years ago his daughter had a San Francisco Glass Co. auctioned off his collection of Target balls. Was able to win some examples from Alex Kerr`s collection...

Trap3

[charlie cleveland]

this man surely was a friend of shotgunners...only to have lived in this mans shadow....charlie

[Dave Noreen]

The California Team at the 1936 Skeet Championships --

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My 1953 vintage 12-gauge Model 21 Skeet Gun went to Kerr's according to the Cody letter. I have a 1950 vintage 20-gauge Superposed that went to Stanley Andrews Sporting Goods in San Diego, but must have passed through Kerr's at some point in time --

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[Dave Noreen]

I first visited Kerr Sport Shop in Beverly Hills in the spring of 1969 when I was an E-3 in the Navy, stationed at San Diego. The thing I remember most about that visit was that they had an Ithaca NID Grade 7E 20-gauge for sale. Unfortunately that was a bit beyond an E-3's $137.70 a month at that time. After I came back to San Diego as an officer in 1971, I began shooting NSSA skeet and remembered Alex Kerr arriving at registered shoots at Winchester West at Long Beach and at El Monte, in his white Rolls Royce. At that time, bursitus (sp?) in his shoulder limited him to shooting only the .410-bore events with his Winchester Model 42.

From the USC Trojan, Spring 2000 --

ALEXANDER H. KERR ’36, of Toluca Lake, Calif.; March 25, 1999, at the age of 85. He owned and operated the Kerr Sport Shop in Beverly Hills, Calif., from 1936 until 1982. During World War II, he was a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy, serving as head of gunnery training at Alameda, Calif., naval base. He was called into the service because of his excellent reputation as a skeet shooter, holding several world records for consecutive hits in competition, as well as many individual and dual team meet championships, the latter with actor Robert Stack. Kerr was also a member of the California Fish and Game Commission for many years. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Carolyn, two children, and a brother.

[Stan Hoover]

Dave,
was that before you were tallying serial numbers or do you perhaps have the serial # of Ithaca 7E 20 gauge?
That shop must have been an awesome place to see.
Stan Hoover

[John Davis]

What a great thread.

[Dave Noreen]

Dave,
was that before you were tallying serial numbers or do you perhaps have the serial # of Ithaca 7E 20 gauge?
That shop must have been an awesome place to see.
Stan Hoover

Long before I went completely crazy.

A fellow from my unit in San Diego was moving to Port Hueneme and he dropped me off early in the morning at a coffee shop near Pachmayr's at 1220 S. Grand in downtown L.A. on his way, where I waited for Pachmayr's to open. Saw my first Fox SBT at Pachmayr's. Then walked up to 1 Wilshire and took a bus out Wilshire Blvd., stopping at the La Brae Tar Pits, on the way west to Kerr's. After Kerr's I got an anniversary present for my folks at a nearby shop and then took a bus to the airport and caught a hop back to San Diego. Probably a much better way to spend a day off than drinking two bit PBRs at the base bowling alley!!

[Rich Anderson]

I'd LOVE to have that Boss 28ga. I honestly think the grouse would just surrender.

The Hollywood Gun from Kerr's. An embellished GHE 16ga with all the options and a two bbl set with two BTF forearms. Once set is SKT/SKT the other M/F and both 28 inches.

[Rich Anderson]

another try at the pics:whistle:

[Rich Anderson]

the floor plate

[Dean Romig]

Rich, any idea who (engraver) did the relieved the game scenes and the gold inlays?





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[Bill Murphy]

Chuck, was Kenny Barnes really an actor as seen in your picture? I know him as a California skeet shooter and waterfowler. Let me know.

[Dave Noreen]

http://zone7skeet.org/?page_id=251

https://northhighathleticshof.com/kenny-barnes

[Dean Romig]

Just incredible! :clap:





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[chuck brunner]

you are correct Murph...My apologies. Ken was a friend of Kerr and a skeet shooter from California that shot occasionally with Kerr's son in law Russ Long. They were both friends with Robert Stack who shot with Kerr on the All American Team.

[chuck brunner]

Rich's gun was a factory cased 2 barrel set with vent ribs and built and ordered for trap and skeet.... Only set built with all options and fantastic.

[Dean Romig]

I wish I had recorded the serial number of the 12 gauge CHE Trap/Skeet combination gun that sold on Gunbroker more than ten years ago but all I took from the ad was a 3-in-1 picture of it.

Judging by the quality of the photos, it could have been from Ivory Beads.


No Wait.... I just found more pics!!


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[Bill Jolliff]

Long before I went completely crazy.

A fellow from my unit in San Diego was moving to Port Hueneme and he dropped me off early in the morning at a coffee shop near Pachmayr's at 1220 S. Grand in downtown L.A. on his way, where I waited for Pachmayr's to open. Saw my first Fox SBT at Pachmayr's. Then walked up to 1 Wilshire and took a bus out Wilshire Blvd., stopping at the La Brae Tar Pits, on the way west to Kerr's. After Kerr's I got an anniversary present for my folks at a nearby shop and then took a bus to the airport and caught a hop back to San Diego. Probably a much better way to spend a day off than drinking two bit PBRs at the base bowling alley!!

Dave;

Does PBR = Pabst Blue Ribbon beer?

[Dave Noreen]

Yes.

[chuck brunner]

In Kerr's Sporting Goods Store in Beverly Hills sometime in 1974

[chuck brunner]

ELVIS. Elvis Presley. "The King." A great narrative about him came from Jerry Knight, who was Alex's head man in the gun department at Kerr Sport Shop. He said that a few days before Christmas one year, Elvis was in the store buying guns for some of his friends as gifts.

There was a customer off to the side looking at a display case that held nothing but expensive Browning over-under shotguns. Presley went up to the gentleman and commented on how nice the guns were.

The man agreed, but said they were way out of his price range, since they were all probably in the thousand dollar plus area. Elvis asked the guy which one he would buy if he was purchasing, and the fellow said probably the Diana grade with the gold inlay. Elvis then went back to the counter where Jerry was, and as he left said to Jerry, " When that guy gets ready to leave, take that Diana grade shotgun out and put it on the counter and give it to him. Tell him Elvis said Merry Christmas."

Jerry said he did just that, and he thought the guy was going to faint when he received the gift. Awesome story about "The King."

[Rich Anderson]

Dean I have no idea who did the engraving on that gun. None of it is std for a GHE grade. It's my go to sporting clays gun for the last 15+ years.

[Reggie Bishop]

Chuck while you are here, I don't suppose you made it to Grand Junction this year due to the Championship being closed to visitors due to Covid? Your report last year (I think it was last year?) was great!

[John Allen]

When Kerrs went out of business,my friend and mentor,Don Criswell bought 5 Winchester model 21 20gauge barreled actions from them. Kerr would order the guns without stocks or forends and custom stock them for his customers. It must have been quite a shop.

[chuck brunner]

Hey Reggie
We did not get to Ames this year. I had a dog running with Mike Tracy at Union Springs AL at the Shooting Dog Nat. and they cross over..... The Rona B.S. shut down most of it.... Hope you are well!!!! Girls win!!!!!
Year of the female at Ames with Coldwater Thunder

[chuck brunner]

BTW
John Allen, My friend, is spot on! Rich's gun was originally fitted with a very different stock pattern from a "G" Parker.... Kerrs was the place to buy guns.. pre-communist California. John also lives within a close spin over to Ames and hunts the hallowed grounds of Mr. Nash..

[Bill Murphy]

Chuck, you are the man. Your experience with your pointers is what I want to have in my next life. The guns are great, but the dogs are what it's all about. By the way, I believe Kenny Barnes shot the first four by four in NSSA skeet. He is the only person to have shot a 4X4 with pump guns, three Model 12s and a Model 42. A great bird hunter also. By the way, I have moved four miles to the east and can't see your spread from my upper deck any more. I hope to see you at the Southern.

[todd allen]

When Kerrs went out of business,my friend and mentor,Don Criswell bought 5 Winchester model 21 20gauge barreled actions from them. Kerr would order the guns without stocks or forends and custom stock them for his customers. It must have been quite a shop.
I used to shoot with Don occasionally. Bought a nice BHE from him. I haven't heard anything about Don for some time. Any updates?

[chuck brunner]

Looking forward to seeing you guys Murph... Southern? We have had 3 litters this year... 7 pups with professional handlers in both circuits. We are blessed to have great friends in gun and dog world. Tell Linda hey!

[chuck brunner]

a lifetime of love

[chuck brunner]

The tri-fecta pic is 3 dogs 2 litters American field and 1st, 2nd and 3rd.... Miss Traci raises them right.

[chuck brunner]

Murph's right....without our dogs the sport is nothing that's why they forever memorialized the sides of a D with dogs .... Pics!

[chuck brunner]

PLEASE READ

http://www.amesplantation.org/field-trials/2021-national-championship/2021-national-championship-report/

[Daryl Corona]

Great read, thanks Chuck. Tell Traci Hi for me.

[Reggie Bishop]

Enjoyed the read! The lore, nostalgia and great tradition of Bobwhite quail, bird dogs, horses and shotguns put into words!

[Carl G. Bachhuber]

I wandered around Kerr's a time or two when I was a kid. If you liked nice firearms it was the ultimate candy store, and the people behind the counter were nice also. I saw the photo of Alex and Ken Barnes. Ken is a very interesting guy. I have talked to him a bit about the good old days of duck hunting in California. He is quite the skeet shooter and he still writes occasional articles for the Bakersfield Californian. Boy, have times ever changed.
C.G.B.

[Rich Anderson]

Bring those pointers to the U.P. and lets see if we can make a grouse dog or two out of them:rotf:

[Mike Franzen]

Thanks for a great read Chuck. It makes me wonder though where did all go off the rails. Some of the things most celebrated back then are so disparaged today.

[chuck brunner]

Traci says hey Daryl ..... Rich ... its hell staying on a horse in the alder thickets
:shock:

[chuck brunner]

I miss the time with my Grandfather. We had some fine big running pointers. His best dog duke was a male from Johns S Gates 1940 National Champion
"Lesters Enjoys Wahoo"
A very small world in that I am friends today with John Rex Gates thru my father-in-law OG Greene

Here is a picture of my Pap ( On left with hat )

[chuck brunner]

My Stud Rip is a son of Caladens Storm Trooper handled by Mike Tracy and Luke Eisenhart out of the great Guardrail owned by Gene Casale who went into the HOF under the handle of the HOF George Tracy
Here is a portrait of Guardrail hanging at Ames ...... Lots of stories from George from this dog

[chuck brunner]

Yours Truly with John Rex and my father-in-law in front of Johns statue at the entrance to the museum at Ames

[chuck brunner]

My winning stud All age and shooting dog RIP
The fruit never falls far from the tree. He could pass for Rail and lives up to his reputation for the lady friends.

[Kevin McCormack]

OK, I was going to hold out on my favorite Kerr's story, but since I see this thread has "gone to the dogs", here goes.

Years ago while 'chasing Hedderly', I spoke to Jerry Knight at his home in Minden, NV about famous Parkers that had come through Kerr's, and he told me this story: Kerr's ordered and received a beautiful Remington Parker DHE .410, which Jerry immediately fell in love with and determined to buy it. He used a strategy of pointing out how to people who looked at the gun as to how hard it was to hit anything with a .410, that it really was pretty useless as a hunting gauge, and how ammo was pretty relegated to skeet loads for the gauge, although this particular gun was not a skeet gun.

His negative reinforcements worked, and the gun languished in the shop for several months. During this time, Jerry put away money every week against the purchase price of the gun, which would have included his substantial employee discount as manager of the gun department.

One day Robert Stack, who had been off making movies, strolled in and noticed the little .410 sitting in the rack and asked to look at it. As Jerry put it, "He hefted it, waved it around, and mounted and swung it for a few minutes. At that point I knew I was toast." Stack told him, "Well that's a delightful handling little gun; reminds me of my 28 gauge. I'll take it!"

[Dean Romig]

Chuck, who is the artist for the Guardrail portrait?

It looks like Foster’s work.





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[chuck brunner]

Dean
I don't know. My guess it is Ross Young. Guardrail (Jack) died the day after Christmas 1984. William Foster would have been way back. I will look at the signature when we return in the Fall.

[chuck brunner]

Guardrail
Gene and Jack

[chuck brunner]

Guard Rail
Posted on February 6, 2019


Guard Rail had died tragically on December 26, 1984 in an accident on Interstate 95 in Woodbridge, Virginia as his owner Gene Casale and Truman Cowles were headed down the road to spend the winter working dogs and attending trials in the South. Jack, as Guard Rail was called, was buried 50 miles away at the home of Ed Emerson, a bird dog friend who lived in Mineral, Virginia. The dog was nine and had already mowed a large swathe through the field trial world. In his career, Jack accumulated 42 field trial wins including six championship and 3 runner-up championship placements.

During his life Jack was bred 150 times and from the beginning started producing field trial winners. When Everett Skehan wrote an article for the March/April 1993 issue of PDJ Guard Rail had already sired 30 champions and an untold number of other winners. As of today, according to the records of the Field Dog Stud Book, in addition to his 42 wins, Guard Rail has sired 289 winners of American Field and Amateur Field Trial Clubs of America sanctioned stakes that have amassed a total of 2,708 placements. In addition, the grandsons and granddaughters of Guard Rail have produced over 90 more field trial champions and the total number of winners and wins by that next generation are collectively almost impossible to tabulate as they are still being added to on a regular basis. At the peak of Jack’s success, Gene remembers one trip to the South where he showed up at a field trial to find four breeders standing in line waiting to breed bitches to Jack.

Guard Rail’s career might have turned out a lot differently if Gene had not taken a chance on a young dog Rich Guiliano had gotten from Bob Nolan of Atlanta, Georgia. Nolan had offered the pup from the breeding of Smart and the blue hen bitch Nel’s Rambling On (both have been elected to the Field Trial Hall of Fame as has Guard Rail) when he learned that Guiliano was trialing and breeding pointers in Rhode Island where he had once lived. Right from the start Rich was impressed with his puppy that was soon winning puppy stakes. His puppy wins were followed by an impressive derby year that included winning the New England Futurity under the tutelage of Connecticut professional handler Bruce Jacobs. But as fate would have it, Rich was also involved in a new business venture and had less and less time and resources to devote to working and campaigning Guard Rail. He made the decision to sell the dog.

Jack was already out of shape and overweight when Rich brought him out and offered him to Gene Casale at a trial in Woburn, Massachusetts. Gene was skeptical as three or four people had already passed on the dog, but negotiated a two week trial so he could have a better sense of what he was buying. Once Gene got Jack home and was able to let him start running in the large meadows along the Connecticut River near his home in Glastonbury, Connecticut he began to see a transformation as the dog quickly regained his winning form. He and Rich negotiated a price of $2,500 with a $1,000 bonus if Jack won a championship.

Gene bought Guard Rail in August of 1979 and worked him at home for a while then took him to Pennsylvania where he could work him on the then plentiful wild pheasants prior to taking him to the National Amateur Pheasant Championship in October. There were 67 dogs in the field that year and Jack ran early the first day. He laid down a performance that had the gallery buzzing and Gene on pins and needles as the rest of the field tried to top Jack’s performance. Three days later Jack was named National Amateur Pheasant Champion and Gene gladly paid the bonus to Guiliano.

A storybook career followed with George Tracy winning three open championships with the dog while Gene added the amateur wins. Although glad to see Gene succeed with the dog, George claims that if he had had Guard Rail full time his record would have been even more impressive.

Fortunately for the bird dog and field trial world, Gene Casale was an early adopter of semen collection and storage. Gene found a vet in Georgia who was equipped to collect and freeze semen, and before the accident they had collected between 50 and 60 straws from Jack. Over the next 28 years, Gene has selectively used the straws to perpetuate the Guard Rail bloodline. Unfortunately, when the vet moved his practice north to Maryland some of the Guard Rail straws were lost one way or another. At this point there is only one straw of Guard Rail semen still in storage. When they first started using the stored straws to artificially inseminate bitches, they would use two per breeding. With advances in technology, they are now able to split a straw. The last straw that was used resulted in one pup in the first breeding and eight in the second.

Over the years, as I gained experience in field trials by running dogs in various stakes, watching as many braces as I could, and eventually judging, it seemed like every time I saw a pointer I liked, it was by Guard Rail or one of his progeny. When it was time to breed my bitch, Elhew Liebotschaner, I looked for a dog that showed the same drive, class, style, and bird finding ability that I had seen in those dogs from the Guard Rail line and those who had seen Guard Rail in his career reported he had in spades. In the fall of 2003 a young phenom burst on the scene in the New England woods that seemed to embody the Guard Rail traits I admired. The dog proceeded to capture both the National Amateur Grouse Championship and the International Amateur Woodcock Championship while still a derby. When I inquired about Wynot Ace’s pedigree, I learned that his father was Elhew No Trump and his dam was a line bred Guard Rail dog. That clinched the deal and we bred the two of them later that fall. That breeding produced my dog 6X Champion Wild Apple Jack and Jack Harang’s 7X champion Autumn Moon. As my Jack became successful, I was faced with the dilemma of who to breed him to in hopes of producing more winning dogs.

Lying under the desk as I type this is a four year old daughter of Guard Rail bred by New Jersey professional handler Gary Malzone. We bought her specifically to breed to our Jack and have produced a nice litter of puppies that are just 13 months old now that already showing promise. Wild Apple LJ placed this spring in the 44 dog Grand National Puppy Classic and seems to be cut from the Guard Rail cloth.

There has always been a little confusion about something called the Guard Rail spot. Some felt it was the dot on the top of his head between the evenly marked halves of Guard Rail’s liver mask. Others considered the small liver patch at the base of his tail with an otherwise all white body the Guard Rail spot. The jury is still out on whether LJ will shine like his illustrious father and grandfathers, but at least he has both of the Guard Rail spots.

The place where you can find the most Guard Rail blood is Caladen Kennels in South Carolina. Ross Calloway reports that there are currently 17 direct sons and daughters in the kennel from frozen semen-bred Guard Rail litters. He was the breeder of the dog Gene won runner-up laurels with at the 2011 Region 13 Amateur Shooting Dog Championship – Caladen’s Railway Max, as well as other Guard Rail bred dogs that are winning on both the Shooting Dog and All-Age circuits.



Ross’s interest in Guard Rail started serendipitously. In 1987, after he’d moved to South Carolina, the only place he could find to run his accomplished North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) and National Shoot to Retrieve Association (NSTRA) German shorthair pointers was in local National Bird Hunters Association trials. At the time the NBHA required a retrieve and he was amazed that the English pointers in the trial appeared to be enthusiastic retrievers. He had believed the common wisdom among AKC and NAVHDA folks that pointers don’t retrieve. Despite that epiphany, he wasn’t really interested in anything but his GSPs. All that changed when one of the judges at the NBHA event invited him to his farm to train dogs and then wouldn’t let him leave without taking one of his pointer puppies. Ross gave in and took a little black and white female home that he called Pepper. She proved to be one heck of a dog that placed in a number of NSTRA trials and even passed the NAVHDA UPT (there second level test) with ease on her first try in a NAVHDA event. She was a Guard Rail daughter and when we fast forward to 2007 and Ross’s decision to switch to English pointers almost exclusively he went out and bought a direct daughter of Guard Rail. When bred to Rock Acre Blackhawk she produced Ross’s current All-Age winning dog Caladen’s Rail Hawk. And Ross has gone on from there.

He attributes the success of his Guard Rail breeding to the traits Jack has passed on. Jack was a tough-minded and driven dog that at the same time had an innate willingness to please. But even more important for Ross and the rest of the Guard Rail followers is the intelligence that the dog had which has been passed down through the line. If you are at a trial today and see a pointer that is “out on the edge” as Gene characterizes Jack’s usual performances but has the intelligence to stay connected by that invisible thread, you probably won’t have to dig too deep to find Guard Rail in the dog’s pedigree. Gene is going to save that last straw for a very special bitch or two, but considering the number of Guard Rail dogs competing and winning today you can bet Jack’s impact will continue well into the future. People like Ross Calloway, and to a much lesser extent me, will continue to mix Guard Rail blood into our breeding programs. Gene’s also got about 10 straws of one of Guard Rail’s most productive sons, Rail Dancer, to use and at 91 is still making plans for his dogs in the future.

[chuck brunner]

Kevin
I had a Dhe 410 vent rib skeet gun shown to me at the Southern 2 years ago that may have been that gun. The gun was in incredible condition and there were some whispers that Robert Stack may have owned it. Came from Kerr's and it fit like a glove. What a Parker!

[Bruce Hering]

Chuck:

What a great picture. The Gates family knew how to run a dog. Robin did not to to bad with the shag either....

Having had some pups out of Rail Hawk and a Gunsmoke/Elhew bitch I have to agree with their desire and bird sense. They were a dream to work and hunt with. Always searching and always wanting to please.

[Kevin McCormack]

Kevin
I had a Dhe 410 vent rib skeet gun shown to me at the Southern 2 years ago that may have been that gun. The gun was in incredible condition and there were some whispers that Robert Stack may have owned it. Came from Kerr's and it fit like a glove. What a Parker!

Chuck;

I've been trying to find Dave Noreen ("Researcher")'s recent post where he shows a picture of Robert Stack's 28- and .410 gauge DHEs, but can't seem to find it. I don't think the .410 was a bona fide skeet gun as we recognize them (e.g,. I don't recall a vent rib, straight grip, or BTFE). Maybe Dave can set us straight.

As you well know, "whispers" attaching various guns to famous former owners are like UFO sightings - location, time, place and observer/participant are crucial elements of verification. When I bought Robert Stack's 1953 Grade V Browning Superposed at the Las Vegas show some 10 years ago, the dealer who had bought it at the auction of Stack's estate had no clue as to its significance or value in our milieu, so to speak.

It had 30 inch Cordy (Belgium) barrels fitted by Simmons thru Kerr's and an aircushion stock (not a hydro-coil) by the Shiokaku brothers of Bel Air CA, who specialised in recoil-reducing devices for older or medically-compromised shooters who couldn't stand the recoil of a 12 ga. target gun anymore. Tried as I might, I could never find out what happened to the original FN Browning barrels after he had the Cordy barrels fitted.

I knew and shot with a couple of people (John Milius, Shelly Gitman, Roger Bain, Akio Mitpmura, Dennis Behrens and others) who shot bunker (Olympic) trap with Robert Stack at Chino CA (Bob Petersen's shooting park that he helped develop for the Olympics). None of them were able to put me onto who or where might know anything about those original Grade V SP barrels. I would have paid a lot of money for them.

I eventually traded the gun off for something that I wanted more. I knew the man and I knew the gun well, and I felt the better for having someone who really wanted it appreciate them both.

[Dean Romig]

Dean
I don't know. My guess it is Ross Young. Guardrail (Jack) died the day after Christmas 1984. William Foster would have been way back. I will look at the signature when we return in the Fall.



Thanks Chuck - I didn’t realize Guardrail (Jack) lived that recently. Foster died in 1941.





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[chuck brunner]

Kevin
I remember the Browning. If memory serves me you showed it to me at Pintail during the vintagers a few years back but forgive me if I am crossing timeline..... I have access to the 410 thru a business/acquaintance
the 410 is not skeet choked but is skeet configured.

[chuck brunner]

Bruce
Robin "BIG" Gates's heart was as big as his presence. He will be forever missed. Mike Tracy made the funeral and it was well attended. God Bless and rest our friend. Here is Robin "BIG" Gates and our friend Mark Mclean at Hoffman with the great setter " Shadow Oak Bo".... There you go setter guys!:) Bo was a two time National Champion!

[chuck brunner]

Nuff Said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The great " SHADOW OAK BO" at the "Drop Zone" Hoffman , N.C.

[chuck brunner]

Shadow Oak Plantation and the ever generous and humble "Mr. Butch"

Shadow Oak Plantation owner Butch Houston is a renowned bird dog man and upland bird hunting enthusiast. He has bred and trained bird dogs as well as guided quail hunts. For the past 40 years he has campaigned pointers and English setters on the major field trial circuits with top professional handlers, primarily dogs competing on the Open All-Age circuit with trainer/handler Robin Gates. No name in the field trial world earns more respect than the name “Gates” as Robin’s father John S. Gates and brother John Rex Gates are both honored members of the Field Trial Hall of Fame. Also in the HOF is Butch’s great champion pointer Joe Shadow from where the name “Shadow” Oak Plantation is derived. Other field trial champions include: Ch. Silky Sullivan, Ch. Live Oaks Bo, Ch. Lady Addition, Ch. Flint Shoals John, Ch. Phillips White Twist, Ch. Law And Order, Ch. Shadow’s Back Talk, Ch. Three Rivers and currently being campaigned, Ch. Shadow’s Next Exit, 2016 Purina Derby of the Year.

Most famous of all, Butch’s English Setter Shadow Oak Bo rocked the field trial world with his back-to-back wins of the most coveted of all, the National Bird Dog Championship in 2013 and again in 2014! No setter had won the grueling three-hour endurance stake held on the Ames Plantation in Grand Junction, TN in 43 years. And no Setter had won back-to-back since the great female Llewellin Sioux won in 1901 and 1902. Bo’s list of field trial championship wins also includes the 2011 Continental Open All-Age Championship run on the prestigious Dixie Plantation, Greenville, Florida. Retired in 2016, Bo now lives a life of luxury at Shadow Oak Plantation.

[Dave Noreen]

Old Researcher of course has saved out the auction pictures.

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94396

94397

By the condition, Mr. Stack obviously wasn't out "huntin' the bottoms" with Dave Lien with this gun!!

Robert Stack's Parkers were all different grades. The .410-bore was a DHE, the 28-gauge was a BHE and the 20-gauge was a CHE. Unfortunately I don't have the serial numbers of them.

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

Chuck: Here are some of the champion dogs mentioned in your Ames Plantation story. These are calendar tops put out by E. I. Du Pont De Nemours Paladin 1951,Sierra Joan 1949,Saturn 1947,Mississippi Zev 1946 Setter,Ariel1945 and 1941,Luminary 1942. I have all the national Champions from 1938 to 1961 and had planned on framing them but you put them away and forget about them. Thomas

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

couple more

[Kevin McCormack]

Dave - thanks so much for the pictures! The fact that the .410 bore was not a straight grip was one of Jerry Knight's 'ploys' steering people away from the statement that it wasn't a "real" skeet gun (e.g. straight grip as usually encountered vs. a pistol grip and not bored skeet). Apparently Stack didn't care!! Stack requested and got AH-grade wood on his BHE 28 gauge as part of a sweetheart deal from Remington when he traded in his LC Smith award gun as skeet champion for the Parker which he had always wanted.

Chuck - excellent memory! The .410 is not skeet choked, another downplay factor in Knight's very skillful deflection of potential buyer's interest in the gun. As you will recall, the Grade V Browning was a spectacular gun, even after with the alterations in the stock and Cordy barrel set. Engraved by Gaston Vandermissin in deep relief with dark shaded backgrounds, it was one of the best Superposeds I ever had the privilege of owning and shooting. Choked .027 and .040, it was a killer bunker gun, which Stack loved to shoot.

[Bruce Hering]

Bruce
Robin "BIG" Gates's heart was as big as his presence. He will be forever missed. Mike Tracy made the funeral and it was well attended. God Bless and rest our friend. Here is Robin "BIG" Gates and our friend Mark Mclean at Hoffman with the great setter " Shadow Oak Bo".... There you go setter guys!:) Shadow was a two time National Champion!

So many are gone. I worked for Herb Holmes when he was in IL and "Billy" was just a kid. Got to meet John O'Neal Jr, Mr Elhew, and a bunch more as they would pass through headed south stopping at Herbs. They were all gentleman and what knowledge they had....

I learned a great deal, including "some tricks".

[chuck brunner]

Kevin
I will see if I can get the Stack 410 to the Southern.....Its that good. The browning was spectacular and you were grinning like the proverbial Cat!

[chuck brunner]

Tomas
Those deserve a place on the wall. What I would give to see just one of those dogs cross the line at Ames... As Mr. Buck would say "Hallowed ground"
What a place. Interesting note... Hobart Ames was supposedly a Parker guy and a few of his shooters are displayed including an old C single if memory serves me, along with some other guns.

[chuck brunner]

Herb
Bob Wehle was quite a guy. Real genetics guy. Unfortunately the Elhew line has been bred out and mudded. He really produced some great shooting dog lines.
Sinbad, Fibber etc.... The pointer world is getting thin on really good conformation dogs with "Bird dog" traits. Ferrell Miller and Gary Lester are still breeding IMHO the finest running dogs on the face of the earth. Big fancy moving dogs with sense style and class. Millers White Powder (shown)

[Rich Anderson]

Dan Andrews who owns Drake's Landing got a pointer from Ferrell Miller. A nice dog but born deaf. Dan (to his credit) kept the dog and trained him using an E collar. I haven't seen Dan as the Southern was cancelled last year and I'm not able to attend this year but I hear the dog is doing well. He was solid on point with a wing at 12 weeks so the potential was there.

[chuck brunner]

Rich
That's awesome. I know you have had some great sporting clays shooting at Drakes...
Ferrell is a great guy and his stories are classics. He and Gary Lester both won the nationals as Amateurs... Quite a feat. To ad to this the great trainer/handler D Hoyle Eaton just passed and he was tied and very close to Ferrell running those great white dogs. Another legend passes.

D. Hoyle Eaton Passes

BOONEVILLE, MISS. — Dexter Hoyle Eaton, 90, passed away Tuesday, March 2, at his home.

Hoyle was born July 20, 1930, to Flake and Lois Eaton. He was a U.S. Army veteran.

His tenure as a professional bird dog trainer-handler spanned some fifty years, and he left an indelible mark on the field trial sport.

Hoyle handled dogs that won virtually every major stake, from Canada to the Deep South, including the National Championship with Riggins White Knight, Red Water Rex, Rex's Cherokee Jake and Miller's White Cloud. Dogs he handled won the coveted Purina Award six times.

Hoyle Eaton was elected to the Field Trial Hall of Fame in 1979 and he was joined there by four of his contenders — Riggins White Knight, Red Water Rex, Ormond Smart Alex and Miller's White Cloud.

It doesn't seem that long ago that he developed a young nearly all-white pointer he named Sir Lancelot, and the recollection of Lancelot's bid in the National Championship is surely still vivid for the many who witnessed it that sunny day on the afternoon course.

Hoyle was instrumental in the establishment to the Hell Creek Area near Blue Mountain, Miss., a venue for a number of leading trials.

He is survived by his wife, Betty Gwyn Maxwell Eaton; two sons, Joe David (Cherry) Eaton and Paul W. Eaton; two sisters, a brother, Dan (Cathy Frasier) Eaton; four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and special caregiver, Jennifer Hancock.

He was preceded in death by his parents, five brothers and two sisters.

A Celebration of Life service was held Thursday afternoon, March 4, at McMillan Funeral Home with Bro. Ricky Bishop officiating. Burial was in Oaklawn Memorial Park.

[chuck brunner]

D Hoyle Eaton 7/20/30 - 3/2/21
A Classy Old school gentleman. True Dog Man
Mr. Hoyle's presence at the Nationals will be missed!

R.I.P

[Jon Weber]

I was fortunate to have lived in West Hollywood in the mid-1950s to early 1060s. On rare occasions my dad would take me to Kerr's to look at firearms and such and maybe even catch a glimpse at a movie star or celebrity - which wasn't all that rare in Hollywood in those days. I was pretty young and I never thought too much about it again until I purchased a Browning Pigeon Grade Superposed 20ga two-barrel set from a collector in New York. I received a letter from Browning indicating that it had been sold by Kerr's in August 1960...one year before my family moved from California. I have no idea who purchased the gun new as the letter didn't specify. I have the invoice number and I'd love to know but it seems the records from Kerr's are no longer available. I've often wondered who the original owner might be.

[Alan Phillips]

I used to shoot with Don occasionally. Bought a nice BHE from him. I haven't heard anything about Don for some time. Any updates?
When Don Criswell was active as a dealer in high grade shotguns (mostly 21's) he also shot skeet competitively and was very good at it. He used a 32" mod. 21 before long barrels gained favor. I shot on his squad for years. I think it was on Thursdays that Jerry Knight would put out all the new arrivals at Kerr's when he worked there. Don and I would always be at the store as early as possible with all the other dealers and collectors to view the new merchandise. Jerry would let some of the dealers, John Kilgore, Mike Weatherby, Bill Moore, Criswell to name a few take the guns home with no more than a handshake and try to sell them on commission. I remember one, a Purdy 20 ga. new in makers case that Kilgore had from Jerry that was offered to me for $5000.00 and I passed. Still lay awake at times just thinking how dumb I was. We won't see the likes of Kerr's and the people who frequented the store ever again. All the people mentioned here have passed away. Don Criswell died last winter 2020. His wife Donna passed about a month before Don. Jerry Knight moved to Minden, Nevada in the early nineties and continued to shoot skeet (mostly .410) and do a little varmint hunting until his passing about 16 years ago. An interesting note, the records from Kerr's may be out there somewhere. They were in bound books and I looked through them when Mike Weatherby had them. It seemed like every movie star from the era was a customer.

[chuck brunner]

Alan
Thanks for adding to the thread. I called Don about 10 years ago on a 21 that we purchased and originally was built for Kip Farrington. The 2 barrel set was cased and engraved. He spent over an hour on the phone talking about 21's and the good old days. You are completely correct. We will never see times like those again. Really a shame. The big box stores have taken the customer care and appreciation out of the retail world and technology has made it sterile. I used to really enjoy opening up Shotgun news or the Gunlist and browse the ads looking for a deal. I still have some old A&F catalogs from the fifties that belonged to my Grandfather and chuckle at the earmarked pages with an asterisks next to a Parker or Smith..... "fruit don't fall far"

A couple Years ago I tried to reach Kerr's daughter to research an A1 special Trap gun that came thru him. Jim Tyne provided her number. I called and was told the books no longer existed. Pretty short conversation. I often wondered if they were kept under lock to protect their customers identity..... May surface some day.

[Bobby Cash]

Czars 2 barrel soft case. Yeah, he shopped there too.

https://i.imgur.com/D1sHYfS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/EYkJPT3.jpg

[Dean Romig]

Okay Bobby - inquiring minds want to know.... "Czar's two-barrel soft case - he shopped there too." "He" who?...what Czar?... what gun?





.

[Bill Murphy]

Well, Dean, there was this story, started in a newspaper article in a Meriden newspaper before the war...........Oh, heck, it's to much information for you to absorb. I assume you are new to this Parker business. Joking of course.

[Dean Romig]

Well, Dean, there was this story, started in a newspaper article in a Meriden newspaper before the war...........Oh, heck, it's to much information for you to absorb. I assume you are new to this Parker business.

Okay Bill, I'll take the bait... I know about The Romanof Czar's Parker no. 168304 but I wasn't aware of the colonel who ordered it or the Czar himself ever shopping at Kerr's. Further, I wasn't aware 168304 was made as a two-barrel set, or maybe I had forgotten. Maybe someone could fill us in on the details.

Maybe it was the New York gentleman who had the gun stashed away for so many decades was the one who shopped at Kerr's?



.

[Mike Franzen]

A man can learn a lot from this post.

[John Davis]

I'm also curious as to the Czar/Kerr connection.

[Bobby Cash]

...... Founded by transplanted Chicagoan Alexander H. Kerr (b. 1913) in the mid-1930s.....

The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution across the territory of the Russian Empire,
commencing with the abolition of the monarchy in 1917 and concluding in 1922 with the Bolshevik establishment of the Soviet Union.

Ok, it's going to be difficult to prove that the Czar actually shopped there which suggests a possible whimsical exaggeration on my part that the plastic handled Naugahyde two barreled "Kerr's" case of which I am the current caretaker, could ever have belonged to Czar Nickolas.

I feel like Orson Wells.

[Dave Noreen]

I still believe the whole Czar's Parker business was in Wilber Parker's imagination to market an A1-Special that was lingering in stock.

[Reggie Bishop]

What a great thread. We need more like this one!

[Jim Thynne]

I used to shoot with Don occasionally. Bought a nice BHE from him. I haven't heard anything about Don for some time. Any updates?

I recently found out that Don passed away. Soon after Donna passed away also. Bill Skinner "his shooting partner for years" said the boys had kept it secret for some reason or another, and he said it had been over a year. I d miss Don he was Mr. 21.

[Garry L Gordon]

I still believe the whole Czar's Parker business was in Wilber Parker's imagination to market an A1-Special that was lingering in stock.

If so, it was a great strategy, don't you think?

[Bill Murphy]

I still have a thick 3 ring binder with my Don Criswell mailings. I missed a bunch of good guns over the years.

[John Albano]

One of the first doubles I bought was in Vegas from Don. It was a pleasure to do business with him.

[Jim Thynne]

When Don came into my store, I sat down and listened. Don was certainly one of the greats. he was the king of the 21 Winchester, but loved the Parkrs as well. He showed me several of the very high grade upgrades, and then at the Las vegas show showed me a Monogram L C Smith and then showed me another. He said look at rhe serial numbers, and I was surprised to see the same serial numbers on both guns, and the engraving and wood were absolutely identical. Another Don Criswell lesson. Always look before you leap.

[todd allen]

I have shot pigeons with Don quite a bit, back in the day. We had a few Parker vs Winchester match-ups, with some side bets, of course.
In his later years he went to a Beretta auto loader and a release trigger, with which he punched into Master Class in sporting clays.
Don was a class act, and the real deal when it came to shooting.

[Jim Thynne]

Funny Story; John Milius was telling a group of us about Kerrs and how it started. Alex was a gun guy, and wanted to start a sporting goods store. He was the Heir of Kerr Glass( like Ball Glass ) everyone used his jars etc. So he did indeed open the store, and his siblings thought nothing of it. They just paid the lights and heat etc. for years, until they found out that they not only owned the property, but Alex had never paid a cent for rent electricity etc. He was not in love with the rest of the family so he had the last laugh. Then he closed!