Rebarreled VHE
 

Hi Everyone,

I got my research letter returned today on my 12 gauge VHE and I was a little surprised to find that it was originally ordered with 26” barrels. There are 28” barrels on there now, that to my eye, look to carry about the same amount of wear as the rest of the gun. All Serial ‘s match. Can anyone interpret the markings on the barrel flats for me? It looks like there is an 11 that is out of place. I can’t match it up to the Remington codes I found, but i might not know how to interpret those. Any help is appreciated.

The HT above the A also seems out of place per the identification guides I followed on the site.

After some self research....the barrel is rollstamped “ —> Parker Brothers Makers, Meriden, Conn. Vulcan steel <—“ so if the gun was rebarreled, it had to have been done shortly after it was made in mid 1917 due to the change in roll stamp after world war 1. It seems like there are only a few possibilities.

1. It never was supposed to have 26” barrels and the order book is wrong. Although the weight would have to be wrong also. Noted as 6.5 lb. Currently weighs just under 7. Further bolstering this theory is that the balance is exactly on the hinge pin, i imagine replacing 26 with 28 would knock that off a bit.

2. It had 26” barrels but was returned to be made with 28” barrels at the customers request shortly after manufacture.

3. The customer changed their mind after the order was placed and it was switched to 28” barrels. Similar to item 1, but in this case the order book was originally correct and just not updated.

In the case of possibility number 2, could that “11” on the barrel flats be a Roman numeral 2 for a second barrel at that serial number? Or would Parker reuse the serial number with no indication that the barrel was not the original?

Not sure how to rule out 1 or 3....

my re-barrelled VH has the correct serial number and no #2 marking Roman or Arabic numeral

Thanks for the input, just trying to understand this gun. How is the balance? Wondering if they added weight to the rear end to rebalance on the pin.

A second set of barrels that was added to one of my guns in the late teens or early 20s, "CT, U.S.A." but before the "Overload Proved" stamp and they have a 153 in the same area where yours has the 11. Mine also have the oval with the JG for Jim Geary, same as yours.

Are the forearm loop and the forearm iron marked with a 2?

In thumbing through my barrel flat pictures I see several guns with a one, two or three digit number in that area.

I am away on business but I can check tomorrow night. That seems like it would be the telltale sign it was a second set, and from the roll stamping we can narrow that down to pretty much immediately after it was manufactured correct?

Who is Jim Geary? Sounds like someone notable from Parker.

Dylan, in response to your numbered questions/suppositions:

1. Replacing 26" barrels with 28" barrels would have had nothing to do with the balance point or the overall weight of the gun. Parker Brothers would balance a gun perfectly regardless of the length of the barrels simply by filing/carding off metal as barrel length was increased.

2. We can't make that assumption without support of a PGCA Research Letter.

3. Same answer as number 2.

4. Parker Brothers did not make a practice of using Roman Numerals in place of the Arabic numerals that are in common use today.

5. Get a PGCA Research Letter on your gun. Anything other than that which the letter supports is mere supposition and assumption.





.

Thanks Dean, Makes sense. Would the rib roll stamping support that wherever the barrel came from, it was made before the change of the roll stamp in mid 1918’ish?

Edit: I did obtain a research letter. It indicates the gun was manufactured originally with 26” barrels. I’m trying to understand how the current barrels came to be with the correct serial number(is that a thing Parker would do), whether or not that work was done by Parker based off of barrel flat markings, and any approximate timing for their creation based on available markings. I agree, the exact origins of how we went from 26-28 is fun speculation at best. I probably should have been more clear on my ask.

Jim Geary was foreman of the barrel assembly shop. Earlier the oval had a WK in it for Walter King. The oval with the JG disappeared when the started using the PARKER BROS. OVERLOAD PROVED stamps.

Thanks Dave, and when was that? Sorry for all the questions but you have to learn somehow.