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-   -   Butt Plate Surprise (https://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=16082)

Mike Franzen 04-07-2015 10:57 PM

Butt Plate Surprise
 
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While taking down "Buster" my grade 2 10 gauge hammer gun I decided to remove the butt plate and see if anything was there. Pictured is what I found.

Jim Wescott 04-07-2015 11:19 PM

Might be David Trevallion, Trevallion Gunstocks of South Berwick, ME. 03908

Mike Franzen 04-07-2015 11:46 PM

Yep. That's what I was thinking.

Patrick Butler 04-08-2015 01:19 AM

After reading a few blogs in this forum regarding finding old hunting licenses and such in the
balance holes under butt plates, I used my investment in a set of correct screw-drivers to look under the plates of my small collection of Parkers and found just dust. However, I'll still keep looking...

Patrick

Jean Swanson 04-08-2015 08:32 AM

Give David a ring------207-704-0450----he may remember working on the gun & what he did. David has a good memory.

Russ Jackson 04-08-2015 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allan H. Swanson (Post 164620)
Give David a ring------207-704-0450----he may remember working on the gun & what he did. David has a good memory.

And always a pleasure to talk with !

Phil Yearout 04-08-2015 10:34 AM

Cool! I keep looking for at least an old hunting license or maybe an emergency $50 bill under the butt plates on guns I get. So far, no luck...

Dean Romig 04-08-2015 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allan H. Swanson (Post 164620)
Give David a ring------207-704-0450----he may remember working on the gun & what he did. David has a good memory.


Right! Because you'll probably never be able to find any evidence of a repair he might have made to it. :cool:

greg conomos 04-08-2015 02:35 PM

This is just me but I'd kinda rather not have the name of someone who repaired my gun scratched into it.

Rick Losey 04-08-2015 02:44 PM

on the underside of the buttplate?

IMHO- it adds interest to the history of the gun

Dean Romig 04-08-2015 02:47 PM

Just me, but I'd rather know David did it rather than wonder who had... and if I could trust the repair while not having known it had been done by a true artist.

Erick Dorr 04-08-2015 03:25 PM

Maybe he could have put in a copy of his old hunting license with the date of repair on it and made everyone happy rather than scratching on the underside of the plate. It doesn't bother me but where do you draw the line? This might encourage a lot of "smiths" to pull the electropencil out of the bottom drawer to sign their work.
Is the but-plate original or a replacement?
Erick

Dean Romig 04-08-2015 03:43 PM

Conversely, I would rather see Doug Turnbull's, Runge-DelGrego's, Brad Batchelder's, Dale Edmond's, and a host of other artisan's names or trademarks scratched, etched, or engraved into a redone gun and know for certain who did the work than only ever be able to guess who's work it was, judging by how it "looks". A receipt may only last so long and often will not even accompany the gun the very next time it changes hands.

Mike Franzen 04-08-2015 04:28 PM

I thought it was kind of cool seeing his name on there. The work done is part of the guns history and now I know who did it. As to its originality I don't know how to tell but would appreciate being educated. Thank you

Jim Signore 04-08-2015 06:22 PM

I bought a set of wood from Mr. Dudley for a small frame Lefever project gun of mine. When I got it and started looking, I found what I presume to be the original owners name and date scratched into the underside of the plate. Granted only the wood is all I have, but I thought it was kind of neat. Plus the gun I had came with the broken wood, and under that butt plate was a receipt for some work done in the early 80's. I enjoy the history aspect of stuff like that, and I think original owner's info scratched into the underside of a plate is fine. For restoration guys to start marking things, I'd rather see a receipt of some kind stuck somewhere I think. 1, it's not there's to mark unless they bought it, restored it and then are selling, and 2, I can start buying plates and carving whoever's name I want in it and try passing it off as having been worked on by someone better than me, if I were unscrupulous that is. People do stranger things...

Erick Dorr 04-08-2015 07:39 PM

Mike, I'm not qualified to judge the but-plates originality. What I would look for is does the wear on the plate match the rest of the gun. Others with more experience would know which dogs on the plate are right for the era. I didn't see a size # on yours and I don't know that a size # was used from the beginning when PB switched from metal plates. Others have said that PB chalked the sn on the inside of the plate and I've observed that this is true. Obviously in this case if the plate is original it would have been wiped off.
Erick

Brian Dudley 04-08-2015 11:14 PM

I too ch do under buttplates for surprise finds. The Lefever stock that Mr. Signore mentioned above was one of the few that I have personally found. Another one was finding two packs of matches in plastic wrap inside the butt of my Grandfsthers old Btowning Light Twelve.

In regards to a smith "marking" his work. I tend to lean towards the 'shoildnt do it' side. Custom work is one thing. But a restoration of repair should appear as untouched as possible when the work is done.

Mike Franzen 04-09-2015 12:24 AM

1 Attachment(s)
If I get a chance tomorrow I'll call Mr. Trevallion and see if he remembers working on the gun. This pic, if you look closely shows the gun had the stock cut off near the grip and was spliced back on. It's done so well it's barely noticeable.

Bill Zachow 04-09-2015 06:40 AM

I would be willing to bet that Mr. T. did not do the etching of the name and date. More likely done by the gun owner who sent the gun out to be fixed.

Brian Dudley 04-09-2015 08:16 AM

Odd that the splice is done there and not just behind the checkering pattern. if it was done there, it would be completely undetectable.

edgarspencer 04-09-2015 09:51 AM

Open up the back dust cover of your Grandpa's pocket watch and you'll see lots of chicken scratch. It was standard practice for watchmakers to leave their 'mark' when servicing a watch.

Mike Franzen 04-09-2015 11:41 AM

I have my grandfathers pocket watch. He was a railroader with the B&O. Brian I've wondered about that splice too. Any opinions as to why it was done in the first place? I'll bet the previous owner did scratch the name into the plate.

edgarspencer 04-09-2015 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Franzen (Post 164744)
I have my grandfathers pocket watch. He was a railroader with the B&O. Brian I've wondered about that splice too. Any opinions as to why it was done in the first place? I'll bet the previous owner did scratch the name into the plate.

I knew that. That is why I suggested looking inside his watch.

greg conomos 04-09-2015 01:21 PM

Parkers are like women. I know someone else used them before me - that's fine - but I don't need to their name added as a reminder.

Mike Franzen 04-09-2015 05:29 PM

Edgar you are amazing. I should be consulting you about the future.

Daryl Corona 04-09-2015 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greg conomos (Post 164754)
Parkers are like women. I know someone else used them before me - that's fine - but I don't need to their name added as a reminder.

Great comparison Greg. You should use that as your signature on your posts.:)

Jerry Parise 04-09-2015 06:43 PM

Perhaps, a previous owner cut the stock off to use the gun with only a pistol grip for defense purposes. The original back end or a facsimile was put back on at a later date.

Dean Romig 04-09-2015 07:04 PM

I doubt it... generally when that is done to an old double the barrels are shortened too.

Gerald McPherson 04-09-2015 07:47 PM

I once found a hunting permit from 1918 under the butt plate of a 1917 20ga.The permit was for South Carolina. It was very yellow and brittle so I laminated and put it back inside. Sometime latter I sold the gun to a friend. His home was broken into and he lost it..

Erick Dorr 04-10-2015 12:10 AM

Wasn't there a chapter written on Trevallion doing a "butt transplant" some years ago? Was it MacIntosh who wrote it? Maybe why Trevallion's name is under the plate.
It was done to save cost of inletting the head of the stock when the original was intact.
I have the opposite situation on a French ou where the head of the stock was replaced and the balance of the stock was transplanted. Go figure. Maybe I should check under the butt plate on that one.
Erick

Bob Brown 04-10-2015 12:49 AM

Gunner, that was Trevallion and McIntosh that had the chapter on the butt transplant in Shotgun Technicana.

Brett Souder 04-10-2015 07:08 AM

I had an English stocked Winchester model 21 that Travallion left his name on and it helped when I sold the gun to the next owner. Excellent work the only way we knew the stock was replaced was because of his name was etched in the wood under the but pad.

Dennis E. Jones 04-11-2015 10:26 AM

I've only found two things besides dirt under a buttplate, the first was a small bundle of strike anywhere matches in the cleaning rod hole on a krag rifle and a picture of a woman circa 1900 glued to the butt under the buttplate of a drilling. I keep looking, you just never know.

Mike Franzen 04-11-2015 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brett Souder (Post 164797)
I had an English stocked Winchester model 21 that Travallion left his name on and it helped when I sold the gun to the next owner.

I'm not looking to sell the gun but, if I was I can see where it might make a difference.


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