First bird with father's Parker Repro
 

Hi everyone. Thanks for such a great forum. I've learned a lot from browsing through your posts. It's time to add one of my own.

For all the years I was growing up, my side-by-side crazy father always insisted that I use one of the many double guns he owned through the years. At age 35 (almost five years ago), I finally took him up on his generosity and began using a lovely B-SS that he set up for me (years before) for clays and for upland hunting. It was stocked not unlike my 1100 Special Field, and for as little as I shot, it worked quite well.

But recently, I took the next step. My father's all-time favorite gun from the mid-1990s until he had to stop shooting (for health reasons) a few years ago was this Parker Reproduction 12 gauge (26" IC-M, one of a two-barreled set). Last week, he suddenly insisted that I take it into the field. I was nervous about taking such a nice gun out into late-season weather, but he prevailed.

I had the pleasure of using this incredible "hand-me-down" for the first time on pheasants earlier today. First shot, first bird down. It handled like a dream. I'm hooked on this beautiful gun. Now I understand what all the fuss is all about. And, of course, it's quite obvious that I am lucky to have a fantastic father with even better taste.

Cheers!

welcome the the club :)

nice story and nice gun - is that a melanistic phase pheasant? looks quite dark.

I've been out with my 20 ga Reproduction and it is a joy to carry and admire...haven't shot a bird yet but I reeked havoc on a leftover pumpkin...:rotf:

Thx for the pic...:bigbye:

Give your father a hug. He sounds like a great guy and just wait till you shoot a 28 Repro.

Thanks, gentlemen.

That is a melanistic mutant pheasant--a so-called "black pheasant." Maybe someday I can graduate to a 28-gauge. I'll have to become a much better shot. But because this one was my dad's favorite, it will always be special. And yes, I'm not ashamed to say that I hug him all the time. I'm a lucky son in multiple ways.

All best!

Good going.

Father's last rooster
 

My father shot his last rooster with a Repro 28 at the age of 88 in 2004. It was the first and last shot he ever fired out of the gun. The gun piled the bird up nicely. I still have the empty case. It was a 1 oz Super X No. 6. An ounce of 6's will roll any rooster under 25 yds- especially when pointed.

Michael, yours is a great testament to the Parker Reproduction. Many of us really like the Repros and appreciate that they aren't just a cheap 'knock-off' of a fine old American side-by-side but are so well made they are the closest thing to the real deal of anything made to replicate the old American side-by-sides.
Your Dad passed it down the line to you, knowing how much you would appreciate it, and that's exactly the way it was done - father to son - with the original Parkers.

The beat goes on!!

Welcome to the club. Enjoy the legacy your father has passed down to you. There is no better gun for the money than a Parker Reproduction IMHO. I assume your hunting in a preserve setting and the Pheasant looks like a Seshwann (I question my spelling) not a mutant. Mich did some released Pheasants years ago and this was a different strain of Pheasant from the Chinese Ringneck we are used to seeing.

Hi Michael, Welcome, I know a George Lansing in Minneapolis. Is he any relation?