Who got the 34" DHE on GB
 

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/623152129

Going to require some work, but they don't grow on tree's.

Nice find for someone

Never saw that listing

My money's on Dr. John.






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That's a good deal if the description is accurate.

But the description leaves a lot of holes.






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I had a gentleman contact me that was considering the purchases of this gun and he sent me additional photos of the gun that were not in the listing.

The short description makes it sound great. And the 4 photos dont help either. The gun was a damn mess in a LOT of ways. It suffered from a lot of hack smithing. $2,500 was way too much for it.

I'm still trying to figure how come there is an extra screw in the bottom of the frame and what purpose it served.

Here is a list as i recall...

- Non-original wood in American walnut, not circassian.
- Stock very fat all over and checkered incorrectly.
- Straight grip trigger guard that was cut off short for some reason.
- All major screws on the gun are messed up.
- Gun was a splinter gun originally and now wears a crude Btfe.
- The screw holes for the latch on the FE iron are all hogged out for some reason.
- Whoever made the forend found it easier to cut off the points at each end of the forend latch. Instead of inlet it properly.

I am sure i am forgetting a couple things.

I got my brain calculator fired up and figured it would be probably 5 to 6K to make it right and that was if the barrels were in good shape. For someone who can do all the work himself, it might have been worthwhile. Wonder how many 34" DHEs with a straight stock are out there? can't be too many.

Destry's "Swamp Angel" is that configuration, and he does it proud in a duck marsh

32's are about the max length for me. I just picked up a nice DH live bird gun with a flat rib. Someone had a Pachmeyer type pad on it but the stock didn't appear cut. It's getting a new Silvers. I let go of a nice DHE 32 inch gun for this one. Both of these were straight grip also.

I did an appraisal on a collection yesterday that had a 34" DH pigeon gun with a straight grip stock with a 15"LOP over an old Silvers pad and built on a #3 frame.The owner has had the gun for 40 years and does not want to sell it.It balances dead on the hinge pin. When you mount the gun the front bead is a long way out there.

This one was built on a 2 Frame as I recall from the email the fellow sent me. Would have been interesting to see what the weight was when it left the factory.

Yes Tom, a 2-frame.






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That does look like one butchered up gun, but the barrels alone make it worth having if they are in good shape.

The nice thing with those long barrels is once you get them moving it's hard to stop them. I have always been amazed watching Mark Ouellette swing a 36 inch 10ga on the sporting clays course, it just seems like work to me.

It is work Rich - I've shot that gun at Hausmann's at the low crossing grouse station on the way uphill from the pond. Mark does it pretty well but I didn't. I guess marines are just better at that sort of thing.






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They had been redone as I recall. For the right person it can be something special as long as they keep writing the checks.

Destry can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was with his Swamp Angel that I made the best duck shot of my life, while hunting with him on Lk St. Clair. A very fast crossing shot on a duck the size of a small goose and going mach 2. I hit it so centered that there wasn't much on one side to salvage. That's one hell of a gun.

Sometimes it is the arrow and not the Indian.

I did not buy or even know about the gun. I wish I had I am looking for a 34"12 gauge #2 frame DHE.

What I cant figure out is what is the pin that is sticking out of the floor plate?
I can see it in two different photos. At first I thought it was a bugged up screw but after closer examination it appears to be a pin that is sticking out of the floor plate just left of and in front of the single floor plate screw.
Anyone else see this?

Tom T: TPS reports 163 34" DHE's. Straight stock is the most common encountered configuration for 34 " DHE's. Vent Rib 34" ers are the less common encountered. I have had the pleasure of handling two originals.
Obviously TPS has some missing info due to missing books/ etc. But based upon what is available to date they report 163.

In a gun like this one I see nothing but potential, provided the barrels are thick and safe and not in need of some major work.

Hope the new owner enjoys her and puts her to use.

John,
With the shady stuff that was done to that gun, that pin coild be anything.

All I can think of is some sort of remedial device regarding the cocking slide.....?






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There are two holes drilled through the trigger plate near the protruding pin.

Great eyes Jeff. How the heck I did not see that before but once you pointed it out it was totally apparent.

In the email exchange I had with the owner he said those two holes were started, but didn't go all the way through the receiver. What I couldn't figure out was why there was another screw (a 4th screw) added to the bottom of the triggerplate.

Picture worth a thousand words. Look to the left of the trigger guard at the small screw:

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/...IGHTBOTTOM.jpg

I wonder if those two holes are tapped?





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He said the two holes didn't go all the way through, that it looked like someone had started to drill into the bottom plate and then stopped. If you look carefully at the blown up picture you can see part of a pin sticking out. The two holes in question, the small screw and two other small holes under the triggerguard. I'm thinking the plate was rusted inside and perhaps they were drilling the holes in to come up with some way of prying it off. If guns could talk this one would have some sad stories to tell:

http://i1191.photobucket.com/albums/...HTBOTTOM_1.jpg

Call me crazy but had I seen it, a 34" DHE for $2500, I like Dr. John would own it. The barrels obviously would be the only concern on that gun for me. I would rather gamble a little on that than on a slot machine in Vegas.

Brian, yes, as a gun to shoot the heck out of, it is what it is. But for any sort of restoration or repair effort, it is not worth going into.

And I wonder what those two holes or center punch marks next to the trigger might be....?






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Hard to say. If the gun would have been a few hours drive from me I would certainly have gone an taken a look. This is the kind of thing you need to hold in your hands and take barrel measurements etc. If the wood (which certainly seemed like it had good figure) was salvageable and the barrels were good you might have been able to do something without being too deep into the gun. There are guys like Glen Fewless and others who can microweld just about anything. Gournet could have recut the engraving on the floor plate, etc. etc. You might have something for an all in total of 5K. However, if the barrels were trashed and the stock couldn't be made to work and you had to restock it, then your 5K investment heads north of 10K pretty darn fast. Just too much of a risk IMO.

It will turn up at some point I'm sure. Be interesting to see if the ugly neglected Swan with dynamite breeding can be turned into something pretty special.

I hope it does turn back up at some point and I hope they give me a call or PM me when she does turn up.

A PGCA letter may add some interest about this gun. However, I guess we will get no help from our Research Committee, regardless of our promise to "assist with the knowledge of Parker Brothers and the Parker shotgun". Those weren't the exact words, but you get the idea.

Wtf is that about Bill???

If the owner of the gun sends for a letter, i am sure he/she will get one.

I agree with Brian. If I sent info on my parker serial number here for a letter I certainly would not my info, phone, address or anthing else given to anyone on this site or otherwise without my permission.

While I agree with Brian and Harry, that the 'Research Committee" shouldn't be jumping into every thread with historical info, I'm not sure that "Wtf is that about....." is the appropriate way of disagreeing with another poster's comment.

Would you rather me spell it out Edgar?

Well, The way I see it you could have done that through a PM. If you felt that strongly about it. I agree that Chuck shouldn't be expected to put out info on every gun that is discussed here. But those of us that know Bill know that this was Bill's way of doing things.

Bill, as you know, you don't have to own the gun to order a letter. Fill out the form and send me a check. I'll send you the research letter and you can post it on this forum. OPPS, I forgot, you don't know how to do that but you have no problem asking others to post their info for you to see. Nuff said!