The breach balls probably hinder the buffing process. Just a guess on my part.

$40 for a PGCA Annual Membership and then $40 for a research letter - but that's still a savings of $20 over the $100 for a letter for a non-member.... but Bill, you're a member so it's just $40 for a research letter with everything that's on the IBM card if it is available.... :whistle:

I can't say I have a lot of experience with Parker case colors but when I saw the very first photo I thought they were not original case colors. They simply do not look right to me. I sure like that gun though.

Dennis

Rich,
Maybe he has a prescription for what the slower is smoking, thus making it legal if he is in one of those type of states.
Anyway... Yeah, that line is from buffing. It shows up grew in that photo and I is a good example of it. The line can be very difficult to see most times and it normally needs to be held just right in the light to see it. I am sure he flash on the camera made it stand out here.
But who needs a buffing like to determine that cyanide case colors are not original.

Overall a very nice gun. It does have the correct forend iron for a BTFE. It looks like it also has a second pin back farther in the wrist in front of the checkering pattern.

Interesting that the gun books as a PG stock. There is nothing that I see that jumps out as the buttstock not being replaced. Other than the quality of wood being much higher than normally seen on a VH. But Remington did hat a lot.

Brian, the type of grip on late guns in the serialization book is a crapshoot. For one, the IBM card probably doesn't specify the grip type, and some kind of default was used. Notice that all guns in the SB have grip type specified. That is what is known as a "clue". If I had the remotest interest in this gun, my $40.00 would be in the mail. Amazing things can be found on the IBM cards.

I would kind of think that many legit "skeet" guns were Straight Grip. That seemed to be a popular feature in a skeet gun.

Brian,
I have a 20 ga skeet gun that has a PG and from the IBM card I know the man who purchased it. A well known skeet shooter that Bill helped me research. You never know and yes the rest of my skeet guns are straight grip.

Yes, Brian, many legit skeet guns are straight grip. Many are pistol grip. If we are interested in a $7500 Del Grego skeet gun, a $40 trip to IBM land is certainly worth a shot. Del Grego turned many standard guns into skeet guns. This gun doesn't show any sign of being a fake skeet gun, but for $40, I would be ordering a letter.

OK, here's what I know about skeet guns and Del Grego skeet conversions. If a gun is generally in skeet configuration originally, a LDG conversion to skeet markings is not easily discovered because, again generally, skeet is not mentioned on the IBM card or the stock book entry. All LDG had to do was apply the choke markings on the barrel flat. Grip styles are not generally specified on IBM cards and often not specified accurately in stock book entries. Butt treatments are not generally specified on IBM cards or stock book entries, so a field gun restocked with a checkered butt and skeet choke markings is miraculously a "Skeet Gun". For these reasons and a couple of others, a skeet configured gun with Del Grego colors is always suspect of being a skeet conversion. With all these facts in mind, it is just about impossible to determine that a 26" gun with skeet features is an original skeet gun. When such a gun has Del Grego colors, suspicions go up exponentially. The occasionally seen skeet marked, Del Grego colored gun with 28" barrels or double triggers is almost certainly a conversion skeet gun.

That's mine Bill. 20ga, 28", single Parker trigger, PG, checkered butt, marked SK in/ SK out, definitely done by LDG. I still consider it a skeet gun though.