A gifted Parker

[Ed Nicholson]

Although a dedicated double gun enthusiast, I never owned a Parker until now. A dear friend gave me his 16 ga VHE just this past weekend and I am like a kid at Christmas. I'm an avid bird hunter and want to make sure the gun is ready for the field this Fall. the gun has been in a gun safe for lord only knows how many years and is gummy and needs a good looking over and cleaning, just for starters. I intend on sending it to Del Grego and Sons for what ever needs to be done. Since I intend on using it in the field, I will want to open the chokes up and assume that this regularly done. Re bluing too. Stock refinishing is in order also. The serial number is 241120. I see that my old skeet shooting friend from Indian Head days , Dave Noreen, is a member of your Collectors Association, so hello Dave. Comments and/or suggestions are welcome.
Ed Nicholson

[Bruce Day]

Whoa pardner, slow down. More Parkers are harmed by people messing with them than by any other reason.

Hang around here for a year and look at photos of original and messed with guns and make up your own mind. Most restored guns fall short of being returned to the way Parker made them and are in fact devalued by the restoration. That particularly includes recase coloring frames. Many collectors here would also not ream out the chokes. Parker hand lapped bores and chokes and adjusted them until they shot perfect patterns as specified for the gun. A gunsmith with a reamer doesn't improve upon that.

Your gun is in the last couple years of production and V grades made during that period are well regarded by many. I suggest posting good photos and seeing what advice long time collectors here give you.

[Larry Frey]

Ed,
First of all, congratulations and welcome to the PGCA website. What Bruce said is true in that a Parker in original condition will always be worth more than a gun that has been altered/restored. Of course if a gun is in very poor condition to start with then spending money to save the gun makes more sense. I would suggest if your type of bird hunting requires more open chokes that could be resolved by either spreader loads or my personal favorite method buy another Parker with open chokes.:)

[Dean Romig]

Good advice from both Bruce and Larry. Don't rush into anything that isn't absolutely necessary. Del Grego is the place to send it for disassembly and a proper cleaning but anything beyond that should be reconsidered.

[Harry Collins]

Ed,

I agree with the coments above. I shoot SpredR www.polywad.com hand loads in most all my Parkers. The 10 and 12 gauge the most, but the 16 and 20 get their fair share as well. RST www.rstshells.com and Polywad make spreder loads for the 16 that are perfect for your Parker.

[Ed Nicholson]

Thanks guys for your advice. As you say, first things first. I'll get the gun to Del Grego and have it inspected, cleaned and put in shooting order. I have used Spred-R loads in the past, but not sure they'll bring the mod/full choke pattern down to be effective at grouse and woodcock range. As soon as I can figure out how to post photos I'll do so.
Many thanks again,
Ed

[Dave Suponski]

Ed, I have used the Poly-Wad spreaders in both a 20 gauge M/F Trojan and a 16 gauge VH and l have to tell ya they work just great on Grouse and Woodcock...

[Dean Romig]

I'll vouch for that Dave.

[John Dallas]

Ed - From the FAQ section at the top of this page, if you type in "Post Pictures" in the search box, you will get the following:

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