1ST CH grade

[dwight pugh]

just got this & thought i'd share..
1892 grade CH 12 gauge 68069, a couple of interesting things....original Damascus barrels are missing... came with two sets of Italian barrels that fit perfectly. i was able to determine barrels were made in 1962 & 1968 from prrof marks,
i think it is a #1 frame just from measuring.. it has a Monte Carlo stock on it with DH style checkering....initials on stock shield are " C. J. B. " according to PGCA Research letter...a C. Bristol sent it in for repair in 1896, so i assume stock is original. has a White Line pad that i'm sure was added. it has a Miller single trigger that is installed perfectly, no gaps front, side or rear. sent back again in 1899 to have safety instaled ( needed for selective Miller trigger ) & set "trigger" pull at 5 pounds not triggers ...
Beavertail forend that also is DH style checkering. maybe a Trap shooter ?
anyway am excited to have it and am looking forward to spring turkey season !!!
ddp

[Brian Dudley]

Congrats on your purchase!!! I know a nice CH is kind of my benchmark gun as well.

[David Noble]

Congratulations on the CH! I believe you're right, it may well have been used as a trap gun.
Could you post some pics of the Italian barrels and markings? Thanks, David

[dwight pugh]

here are the barrels & beavertail, one set of barrels is even serial numbered to the gun. i found the Italian proof marks in " A Basic Guide To Old Firearms" by Joe Vorisek

ddp

[Bill Murphy]

According to the Miller Single Trigger website, Elmer Miller started designing the Miller trigger in the twenties, so I guess the safety installation was so he could go hunting with his trap gun. Where did Mr. Bristol live. I'll try to get information on him for you. The forend checkering is not a Parker pattern and the tip is from a splinter forend. What a great gun.

[dwight pugh]

i guess you're probably right...selective is on the safety, up fires right first, down fires left, middle is safe. Mr. Bristol was from New Haven , Con. & from what my wife can dig up, he may have been a Yale graduate & Preacher. i miss quote the letter ,he sent the gun back for repair of action in 1896...no charge.. returned a second time by Bassett & Roves of New Haven for safety & trigger set in 1899.
ddp

[dwight pugh]

here's a pic of safety...R & L look to be stamped by hand and not realy very well.
ddp

[David Noble]

Dwight, you'll have some fun with that! Are the barrels different lengths?

[dwight pugh]

Thanks David, i can't wait...barrels are 26" choked IC/M & 28" choked M/F both 2 3/4 "

ddp

[Brian Dudley]

I have always heard that the older miller trigger installations were pretty rough. If something was in their way, they bent it or cut it out of the way. Hence the hand stamping for the trigger selector.

[dwight pugh]

But...the trigger plate looks like it was made for the trigger.....perfect fit & perfecly centered.
ddp

[Brian Dudley]

I think that they would just remove the middle section of the trigger plate if a double trigger gun. The miller trigger is wide enough to fill the large slot.

[edgarspencer]

Dwight, the gun isn't listed in the serialization book, but the next two, 68070 and 68071 are listed as Bernard barreled guns. It seems likely your was also originally Bernard steel barreled. If it were my gun, I would get a letter on it, and that may prove the wood was special ordered a grade lower (or all he wanted was C grade engraving)
Also, post under the lost and found. Who knows, the barrels may still be out there.

[Dave Suponski]

Dwight, How about pictures of the water table? I agree with Egger order a letter.

[Bill Murphy]

From the gentleman's first post, I gather that he already has a PGCA letter. Oh, now we see the letter and we know a lot more than we did before. C.B. Bristol of New Haven was a prolific pigeon and trap shooter in the years before the turn of the century. He was a director of the New Haven Gun Club in the nineties.

[dwight pugh]

Bill is correct...i have the letter, but here is the water table & letter anyway.
it's what makes these fine guns so interesting to me....all the unknowns.
food for thought, so to speak.

ddp

[dwight pugh]

Edgar, where is the " Lost & Found " ? & i'll post...would be a miracle to find those barrels but worth the try.

ddp

[Andy Kelley]

What a beauty!! Good luck with it ....the engraving has really stood up ,with the background othe dogs sharp and very clear. The gun will be the grim reaper during turkey season!

[Bruce Day]

For reference, here is SN 65,557, an 1891 CH 12Bernard/10damascus set. It has Juglas regia wood typical of the period.

It still shoots.

[dwight pugh]

Wow , 2 gauge set...didn't know they did that, that early. thanks for the post. Great looking shotgun, do you shoot both ? also , could you post a closer pic of the Bernards !
ddp

[Bruce Day]

several 12's and a 16. This will provide an idea of what they looked like. They were the Paris designer barrels of the day and Leopold Bernard had been the cannonier to Napoleon Bonaparte.

All are original aged finish except the one in the next to last photo, which has been refinished.

[Bruce Day]

Several of us will have maybe 50 or so Parkers between us on exhibit at the NRA show in Houston May 3-5. People might find the Parkers interesting, we are usually jammed with lookers.

[dwight pugh]

Thanks for the pics...amazing in that original condition. who knows, maybe i'll get lucky & find mine.
ddp