Jay (or Brad),

Do you have a picture of the frame? I'm considering having this done but am not sure where best to send it.

You'll have to ask Brad to post a picture or send you one. I did not take one while I was there.

My 28" barrels "where" .017" and .035". :eek:
They are now .004" and .014" :rolleyes:

Dave,

Brad must have mis-read the short barrels. Sounds like my 28" barrels are pretty much "stock" so I have to assume the 26" barrels are, as well so they should be .004/.006 or .008. The 26" berrels work pretty well for me on the skeet fields - no reason to mess with them. This afternoon I talked with Emily, who works with Brad and Lori, and changed the re-choking to r= .008 and l=.018.

Jay

Jay, did you pattern your gun before you decided to have them done? I personally think on any old gun, before you get a hankering to change the chokes, you should go mic the barrels and then the chokes. Then go pattern all 4 barrels. You might find that you like what you have.
IMHO.
Tim

I just got back from a trip to the eastcoast today. I pulled out the Repro and looked. It's obvious the chambers are hardchromed. No coldblue testing is needed to see that. The muzzles don't appear to have hardchrome as described above.

Chuck, all Parker Repros had chrome lined barrels. In a conversation with Jack Skeuse years ago, I was told that this does not include the choke area, in order to make it easier to open the chokes.
Joe

Man, this is like Ground Hog Day... I could swear I read that same response by Joe a few days ago... Am I losing my mind?? It's like Deja Vu all over again :eek:

True that, but it didn't sound to me like Chuck read it (how do you lose something you never had :rotf:?).
Joe

You been talking to my wife??

:corn:

Pretty sure I am the owner of the 20ga viewed by Mr.Gardner in Brad's shop. To say I am well pleased would be an understatement.

If that's the case I can certainly understand you feeling that way.

Did you see the wood?
-plc-

Trying to remember. He showed me one stock he was staining but I don't know if it was your or not. It appeared to be mid-process but it looked pretty good. It was a straight stock.

Indeed, gun has straight stock. I had him muller the borders and the gun looks for all the world like a new DHE from the past. At least to me. I like it well enough that I am sending him two more. I like these guns so much that I will forego the "new one" I could buy with the price of the refinishing.

Peter,

Do you have any pictures? I'd love to see the gun!

Marvin

I do have some Marvin if you give me an email or tell me how to post here.
Jay, I sent to your e-mail but they rejected???

Before
 

Here are before pics, if it works!



Attachment 3266

Attachment 3267

Attachment 3268

After
 

Here are after pics.

Attachment 3269

Attachment 3270

Attachment 3272

Attachment 3273

Peter,

Beautiful gun! The stock finish and case colors look great. What work did Brad do on the gun besides the case colors and stock refinish (if anything)?

Also, is that an oil finish? It really brings out the grain, and the color is very nice as well. Big improvement over the "before" photos!

Marvin,
He also mullered the borders on the checkering and chased it. Nitre blued the trigger guard and buttplate. I have to send it back , however, because it is a 2 barrel job and the barrels have to be re-fit after case coloring. I neglected to send both sets in. I shoot this gun like it is part of me so I am very happy to have it so pretty. I will send him my other two repros for the same treatment. I am a confirmed repro lover and shooter. The finish appears to be an oil finish but does have some shine to it. The stain makes it look more Parker.

WOW! Can't wait to get mine back. Should be another 2-3 weeks.

Jay

Peter,
Approx how much can a fellow expect to pay for the metal and wood refinishing you had done?

HI Marvin
I just bought a 28 gauge 28 inch barrel straight grip M/F'
I was thinking the same of opening the choke-losing the collector value.
any thoughts?
anthony

Anthony,

Of course I pondered that very question for some time, but ultimately I decided my two barreled set was a "shooter" not a collector piece. So I had the 26" barrels open to Q1 & Q2 and the 28" set to IC/M. Now I have a two barreled set that is actually useful!

So in a nutshell, if you are a frequent Repro shooter and don't own your gun as a collector item (95%+ condition), then I'd say go for it.

Dang gun should have been a Q1/Q2 and IC/M set in the first place! Who needs a IM/XXF 28ga anyway? :banghead:

Anthony,

I would shoot the snot out of it first to see how it does for you. If you do decide to have it opened up, just do the right barrel to about .012 of so first and try it again before deciding on the full choked barrel. When hunting this is a great choke combination. One shot for close birds and one for long bird.

Harry

Good information, Harry. My old #97,032 28 gauge was bored cylinder and full from the factory. It measures .000 X .020 and killed a second barrel quail two seasons ago at 40 yards plus. Only my Wirehair suspected the bird was dead, and happily proved it.

Bill,

My early 0 frame 28 is choked exactly like yours and I would not want it any other way.

Harry

thanks everyone-
anthony

My PH 16 gauge is choked cyl and full. Perfect for the uplands...

I just had my 28" barrels opened to .008/.018. Seemed about perfect for grouse and clays. (Although, my 26" barrels, .004/.006, have been EXTREMELY effective on grouse).

We're close Jay, I had my 28" barrels opened to .004" and .014"

Great minds....

I picked up my Repro and Brads work actually looks better in hand than in the pictures. Also, I showed the gun to Nick Ranzau at Jaquas and they sold that repro originally in 1995 for $2,800. Small world.

I did a test with my repro 28ga. set....shot 50 rounds of clays X2 100 total. at each station I shot both sets of barrels IC/M M/F factory chokes at .oo4/.013 .014/.033 My scores ended up about the same for each barrel set. did well with open chokes on close birds and less good at longer shots....better with tight chokes on the longer shots and not as good on close ones. The chokes do exactly as they were ment to! In order to improve my score I would need to swap barrels for the presintation at hand. I have not paterned them barrels as yet....will be doing that soon. If I find no problems with my paterns I will not mess with the factory chokes. Will use the barrel set most usefull for the game to be hunted. I hope the 5# shot hunting loads patern well from the .033 full choke or the 6# shot. If it does I will be very happy and leave them alone! I have always shot SXS guns with ample choke. I do well at clays.....live birds are either left untouched or stone dead. Shotguns like rifles can be fussy about loads and paterns....If the patern is good the choke just needs mated properly to the range of the target. My Kansas bird gun is a 16ga. choked ic/full with double triggers, close in and far out....perfect....(-: Thanks all Kenny Graft SXS ohio...

Need advice and info on 28ga Repro mods Need advice and info on 28ga Repro mods
 

I agree with Kenny. I really don't think barrel chokes should be changed or opened from the factory milling. Before long all too many of the Parker Reproductions will be in with the sea of molested guns like Parkers, Smiths, Winchesters, Ithacas, Remingtons and so on where it is becoming almost impossible to find an original choked shotgun. It is far better to use the choke as it was intended, instead of lowering value by opening the barrel. You might think you will own your shotgun until they close the lid on you, but in reality I think this happens very little. True you may have had your shotgun for 5, 10, 15 or more years, but eventually I think most owners change their mind, sell and move to another shotgun. If everyone would just slow down a bit and try different loads at various ranges you might learn that how each barrel is choked is really not that bad. Before too long you will be asking the seller of every Parker Reproduction that you want to buy if someone has opened the choke or not. Thankfully though, I think most of us are past using a hacksaw to solve a tight choked barrel problem like in yesteryears. That is why I never knock anyone who chooses to buy a screw-in choke shotgun, as they are not the ones who are destroying the very few unaltered classic shotguns still out there. Just my opinon, but a good one!

I'll drink to that Bill :cheers:

There is a use for every choke combination. I find it strange that a guy who owns forty shotguns insists that every one of them be suitable for pointed quail. For gosh sakes, if you need a quail gun and don't own one, buy another shotgun.

"buy another shotgun" I like how you think Bill...:)

:rotf::corn:
Good one Bill.:bowdown: