He did a very nice classic oil finish on that VH. Thanks for sharing frank.

Thank you Brian. Just to clarify, although it looks like an oil finish, the stock has three coats of an old time exterior varnish that's finished to a satin look. The varnish is at least 48 years old; it came from a hardware store my Dad bought to convert to apartments. He liquidated most of the inventory and kept some paints and varnishes for himself, which is where I got the unopened quart can after Dad passed a few years ago. I tried it on some test pieces of walnut exposed to weather all last (rainy) winter and it held up very well. Craig sealed the wood pores with whatever he uses for that purpose, and Dad's varnish was applied afterwards.

Thanks for the clarification.

According to the safety switch it is a pre-Remington gun.

I received a e-mail reply from Craig. "That wood was stained with a really light application of Minwax ebony stain and wiped off after being on for only about 10 seconds. That darkened the wood enough so that when the finish was put on, it turned that real nice brown."

I had two questions on the gun weight. With 12 gauge barrels: 8 - 0 right on the nose. With 20 gauge barrels: 8 - 8. Those 20 gauge barrels have heavy walls. This pic was taken right after I found the gun last year. Old stock is shown here.

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/...7/IMG_8072.jpg

Yeah, you will get that with those multi barrel sets of different guages.

I've been a stockmaker since 1976 doing factory work on American doubles. I specialize in factory work, mainly on the L.C. Smith guns, but I've done my share of Parkers. I'm very impressed with this work and I don't hand out compliments very easily on stock work, but this guy is very good. Nice to see the craft surviving. Jerry Andrews

Thank you Jerry. I'll pass your comments on to Craig. So, I had 56 loaded shells left from the Vintage Cup and shot this VH on Wednesday with the 12 gauge barrel on it. First time I fired the gun since the stocking. My buddies made it a little tough and wanted to shoot all simos at my local club (Rock Mtn here in PA), but I did 53 ex 56 with the Parker. I was straight on the last 34 targets until I ran out my S x S shells and switched to the over/under. :) I shoot 1 ounce loads/7.5 shot with "PB" powder almost exclusively in all my 12 gauge S x S's. Frank

Wow! Some darn good shooting! I've not shot the damascus Parkers much, used to hunt with a PH 20 damascus gun, I loaded my own blackpowder shells at the time. Now with the RST loads it should be much easier. I have a graded hammer gun, 12 gauge, heavy with color & pattern, I've been saving for a turkey hunt. I'll buy some RST loads and give it a try. The workmanship in this early gun is simply outstanding! Jerry