Interesting VHE 20 Gauge

[Greg Baylander]

Saw this VHE 20 gauge serial# 203160 28"barrels with beavertail forend, but the kicker is a 13"LOP to the end of the pad and a Montecarlo stock. First question is that stock original? Do you guys have any suggestions on the stock ? Interested in any comments ? The guns price tag is $2700, but I definitely think I can weasel a lower price. Probably not the greatest pictures I was trying to be fast , just happy they let me take photos

[edgarspencer]

First question is that stock original?

Not even close.

[Dean Romig]

Nor is the forend.

If you think it’s original, a PGCA research letter would certainly address it.



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[edgarspencer]

There’s no code for a Monte Carlo stock, but there is for ‘wide’ (beaver tail) fore end. Had that been original the gun would have optioned code 11. It’s listed as a 2, so was a conventional splinter fore end ejector gun, far more desirable than it is now. That butt stock would be destined for the wood stove if it were mine.

[Alfred Houde]

If the Parker Gun Identification & Serialization Book is correct, it is listed as having a capped pistol grip. No mention of a Monte Carlo type stock.

Other information listed are V grade; 20 gauge; ejectors; 28" barrels.

The stock certainly meant something to STG...

[Greg Baylander]

The serial number on the forend match the receiver and barrel, and totally agree on burning the stock. What $$$ should I offer gunshop, and where do I get stock?

[Brian Dudley]

That has to be one of the poorest restocks on a doublegun that I have seen. Barf…


Thats a $500 barreled action if I ever seen one.

[Paul Ehlers]

That has to be one of the poorest restocks on a doublegun that I have seen. Barf…


Thats a $500 barreled action if I ever seen one.

Bingo--We have a winner!

I classify this type of gun as a run-don't walk gun. Keep your money in your pocket and run from it as fast as you can. I don't want to pop a member's bubble, but I also feel the need to tell it like it is. There's just too many nice ones out there in this price range to be taking on someone else's train wreck of a restock. Bottom line--Don't make their problem, your problem!

[Dean Romig]

The serial number on the forend match the receiver and barrel, and totally agree on burning the stock. What $$$ should I offer gunshop, and where do I get stock?


I honestly don’t believe the seller would ever accept an offer for what that gun is truly worth. He’s probably into it for a lot more than it’s true value.





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[edgarspencer]

Tough crowd here, but I've always focused on the finish line, not the race (as Brian well knows :rotf:)

A 28" 0 frame 20 is a joy to hunt with, and shoot. If someone offered me a barreled action, such as this, for $500, I'd be delighted.

[Don Strelioff]

r also would be interested in a bbl and action like that for 1000-1500$ providing everything is fine
a candidate for a restock with nice wood and you end up with a very nice hunting gun

[Greg Baylander]

r also would be interested in a bbl and action like that for 1000-1500$ providing everything is fine
a candidate for a restock with nice wood and you end up with a very nice hunting gun

That's what I'm thinking

[Alfred Houde]

The reason that the numbers match the forend is that they used the original forend parts when re-stocking the gun and adding a Beavertail style.

Like others have said, the price is way too high. The problem is, they will probably only haggle minimal because the shop paid too much for it themselves. They saw Parker, 20 gauge, and O frame and probably knew they had gold. Even a couple hundred bucks off is still too high a price for this gun.

Be patient and keep looking.

[Paul Ehlers]

That's what I'm thinking

Sorry fella's--I've been down this road too many times before. These type of project guns start out with great intentions & dreams, but in most cases, they either end up years down the road for getting the work completed or stuffed in the back of the safe & forgotten. Then if you do get after it for the getting the work done, more than likely you'll be buried in the gun financially when it's all said and done.

After getting my grad degree from the school of hard knocks for project guns. I've came to the conclusion that if you can't live with a gun the way it is, it's simply better to walk away from it & keep looking until you find the right gun at the right price. There's plenty of them out there that don't need much more than maybe a good cleaning. The best value money wise is finding a good solid condition gun that you can live with just the way it is. The gun in this thread simply wouldn't fit that bill for me.

[edgarspencer]

A casual stroll down Guns International Lane will tell you, the days of the $2500 small bore ejector gun are long gone. It's pretty common to see such gunss well over the $5k mark.
As a collector society, we all expound on the virtues of saving them all. I'd be talking out both sides of my mouth, as more than a few do here, if I said none should be parted out, and clearly here, the sum of the parts is worth more than the whole. I've seen more than a few 0 frame ejector fore ends , here, and elsewhere, going (not asking) for over $500. Ejector barrels, $1500 an up. So saying it's a $500 barreled action is a bit much to accept.
I get the fact that there are plenty of people out there who don't even know which end of a screwdriver to hold onto, let alone tackle a project such as this. I'm not one of them.
You might wait a while to find the perfect butt stock, but it doesn't take perfect to beat the one on the subject gun. Fore end wood is out there.
A matching number 28" 0 frame small bore is a great starting point for my kind of project. I'm glad for all the people who prefer to pay retail. They sleep at night, instead of dreaming of the next step in a project, and they also elevate the value of the marque.
When you consider it's been nearly a century since the last Parker was made, there are an awful lot of them them have been 'tinkered with'.
Hell, someone's got to keep the stock makers and gunsmiths in pocket money.

[Jerry Harlow]

The only good thing about that stock is the amount of wood left in it. I can see it now as a straight grip, new checkering, with a much diminished Monte Carlo cheek and the cheeks around the action put on a diet, plus a black spacer and a solid red pad. A salvaged splinter forend from a donor gun and then a gun to enjoy.

[David C Porter]

Responding to make it a straight stock: there's not enough wood behind the pistol grip to do this.

Also, if you can't live with it the way it is, or you're a stock maker wanting a to upgrade or restore, then move on. To have someone restock it (price of wood & labor), then color case harden, bluing, you'll be waiting years to get it back & probably be into it 2-3 times more than it's worth. Use your money wisely & buy one that's in nice original condition. There's lots of them out there.

Here's some photos of a project VHE that I upgraded to a AHE. But I had the wood & I'm a stockmaker & had a working relationship with the engraver. But in ordered to make it worthwhile you need to be either the engraver or stockmaker.
https://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=1114&pictureid=15009
https://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=1114&pictureid=15013

[Paul Ehlers]

Well said David!

This would be one of the caveat's I didn't add to my postings here. There is a something to be said if you have the abilities & correct tools to perform the needed work yourself.

By the way, that is one super nice upgrade gun you shared with us--Thanks!!

[Bill Murphy]

Yes, the upgrade pictured is a great gun, a great project. However, the gun in question is best purchased at a bit lower price by someone who has access to a stockmaker who will build a new stock and forend for less than a grand. I don't have access to such a stockmaker.

[Larry Stauch]

A quick look at the Parker VHE 20 gauges on GI shows 9 guns that range from $4 K to $19 K. If we throw out the top and the bottom guns and just look at the rest that are more reasonably priced there are 7 guns that average about $6350. Draw your on conclusions as to what the market is offering and what the value of the subject gun is.

[edgarspencer]

That's a great piece of wood!!!

[Kevin McCormack]

Yes, the upgrade pictured is a great gun, a great project. However, the gun in question is best purchased at a bit lower price by someone who has access to a stockmaker who will build a new stock and forend for less than a grand. I don't have access to such a stockmaker.

Neither does anyone else because they're are'nt any!

[Greg Baylander]

I am going to take this thread into the gunshop , and see what kind of deal I can get. This particular gunshop is know for buying used guns cheap, so maybe they don't have much into gun.

[David C Porter]

That was my $100 bargain. I knew the supplier & could hand pick my wood.