| allen newell |
11-08-2021 08:09 PM |
Steve, the family story goes like this. My Dad's father, my grandfather was an exec with one of the big leather companies in Boston. They lived in Dedham, mass. At the height of the depression and to relieve the stress, my grandfather bought a farm in Bow, NH. So my dad and his three brothers spent a fair amount of time on the farm, hunting in Bow and surrounding towns. One weekend when my grandfather was shooting hand trap in one of the fields with his sons, upon the recoil of his 16 ga VH his thumb which for some unexplained reason was high on the stock, the recoil from the gun drove his thumb back striking his nose. He went home to Dedham with a headache and died the next day. Apparently instead of getting a bloody nose. It bled inward and he died of a cerebral hemorrhage. My dad inherited the 16 and my brother and I hunted with it growing up. We thus became inbued with Parker , it's a disease of the blood. When my dad died, my brother inherited the 16 and a few yrs later I bought it of my brother. About 8 yrs ago I drove out to Ilion to sit down with Lawrence DelGrego and had him do a total restoration. It needed it from all the years of hard use. The stock at the head was punky. No case colors remained and the barrels needed work. A yr later I picked it up. I still shoot it but sparingly. It's already spoken for by one of my Newell second cousins in Utah. I want it to stay in the family. My apologies to anyone for hijacking this thread but I wanted you to know how much 16 ga Parkers are so very special no matter the grade.
Steve, let's chat off line about a bird hunt up your way next season. I'll shoot the 16. There's a history behind every Parker.
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