is it true that runge was darth vader's other son?

thank you to all who submitted positive, on topic posts here. I learned a lot, specially the part about bob runge working for both Parker and Remington. it is the best explanation I have heard as to who the artist might have been, who engraved the atypical G grade gun pictured at the beginning of this thread.

and here is some speculation:

runge was the new guy at parker, having started work in 1934. the g grade with the v grade barrels was made in November , 1935... wonder why the new guy got to engrave the gun assembled with the wrong barrels?

Probably, as a good employee he worked on whatever the company put before him. I am still not convinced the barrels were the wrong barrels. Could be any number of reasons why that Parker was configured that way. IMHO.

I thought you instructed us that we weren't supposed to talk about barrels on this thread - just G engraving patterns?

If I have your permission to talk about barrels now I think the gun shipped from the factory with those barrels.

harry: from what I have read, when Remington took over the Parker shops their primary goals were to ship product and to use up materials so they would not have to move parts to New York...therefore, Remington management were not as strict as the Parker Bros. managers, and did make some deviations from the normal rigid Parker production standards. maybe the vh barrels on the gh gun was a mistake? maybe it was intentional? factory research letter does confirm gun was made in November, 1935, which supports the R D date code and vh in a circle stamps on the barrel flats.

for more details regarding the Remington era, see "the parker story" and muderlak's fine books "old reliable" and "shoot flying".

ok, lets talk barrels.

anybody seen any other parker guns with the "wrong" barrels that could be factory?

pitchers would be great!

better yet, I will start a new thread!

How come you can go off topic but we can't?

ed you are the master of baiting, trolling, and leg humping. Many times I have shaken my head in disbelief at your posts. :bowdown:

anyone wishing to discuss parkers with atypical factory barrels, please see new thread:

Parkers with "wrong" barrels

[QUOTE=ed good;125319]is it true that runge was darth vader's other son?

Not exactly - the Bob Runge pertinent to this thread is Robert Phoenix Runge, son of Parker Bros. master engraver Robert Rudolph Runge, who joined Parker Bros. in Meriden in 1911. A master of deep-tendril cutaway scroll, the fabulous A's, AA's, and A-1 Specials of the post-WW I era all show his hand as well as those of Fred Aschutz, William Leidtke and other Parker Bros. masters.

Having been employed as an apprentice engraver to his father on July 17, 1934, approximately one month after Parker was purchased by Remington, it is highly unlikely that "our" Bob engraved anything but screw heads and diamond-dot barrel band borders by the time the GHE/VHE gun featured in this thread was made c. 1935.

On the other hand, odd-out, one-off style of the birds engraved on this gun, along with the overly-wide circular border around the floorplate scene suggests that it could indeed have been the product of a fledgling apprentice - Robert Phoenix Runge's first engraved gun?

So far as the "VH-GH" conundrum goes - clearly a re-barreled gun for whatever the reason.

kevin: thank you for your input re the runges.


"So far as the "VH-GH" conundrum goes - clearly a re-barreled gun for whatever the reason. " please do join in the new thread. barrel stamps and research letter seem to support likelihood that barrels are factory original.

Mr. Romig that does make sense but the barrels are fit so poorly and in such an unworkmanlike manner. I can't imagine that a Parker or Remington employee did that work. Is it possible that in the past some rascal that knew the Parker repair date codes and the date of the gun's manufacture added the date codes to the water table to add to the value of the gun? I can't imagine that the Remington shop let this gun out with this poor of a fit:

http://parkerguns.org/forums/attachm...1&d=1388849174

Compare that to the fit of this gun:
http://parkerguns.org/forums/attachm...1&d=1388851067

I think the case colors on the lower gun are "aftermarket" by the way.

not seeing the poor barrel fit that you are...


and the case colors on the gun in your lower picture look like after market work to me as well.

In the lower gun can you see how the "bead line" on the bottom of the barrels flows into the line between the ball and the flat of the reciever? That is standard. On the top gun the beadline slopes down and away from the ball/flat line and misses it by probably an 1/8".

Also it appears to me that the barrel breech extends beyond the ball down low. That the barrel breech sticks out to the side, but just on the bottom.

From the first picture, neither am I.

Russ thanks for the offer of the pad, the gun has a checkered butt.

Rich ,You are quite welcome ,,I sure wouldn't change anything on that gun if I didn't need to , just wanted you to know it was available ! Russ