At it again - 16 gauge grouse gun restoration
 

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I just purchased this with the idea of restoring it for an upcoming grouse hunt at Pineridge Grouse Camp this fall.

It should arrive this week, and I hope it is worth doing a restoration on.

The purpose of the restoration is to end up with a humble, but well made and lovingly cared for Parker. It is 93 years old, and it deserves a little face-lift, without destroying its soul: it is a plain gun, which should exhibit quality, absent the adornments of a higher grade gun.

I am hoping to make it the ideal north woods grouse gun, not too fancy, because it will take the punishment of the "popples," but a Parker through and through.

Here is what I am thinking about:

• Mechanical checkup/repairs if necessary
• Barrels reblued
• Chokes relieved
• Lengthen and bend stock to specs, if possible, or butt transplant, if necessary
• Blend/refinish as necessary
• Case color, if appropriate
• Discuss the merits and demerits of lengthening forcing cones and/or chambers

I have paid for the gun, but I have the right to reject it upon inspection, so please free to provide caveats and/or suggestions.

There is so much knowledge here, I would be a fool not to solicit opinions.

Cheers,

SCG

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Loooks great as is, of course dont know the LOP, or what you need in length. As for chokes, well I certainly like them open for grouse--cyl/cyl works great for me. What are they currently? Doubtful you could have all that work done and back in your hands by October. Honestly, I hate taking nice guns thru rough territory. My grouse gun is a little beat up VHE20, I have an identical VH 20 that was reblued, recased, wood refinished, but rarely carry that one in the woods. Great find and good luck this fall.

That list looks close to a full out restoration to me. Not the “refreshing it and not destroying soul” That you talk about.

And all that by fall? You sure are running out of time for nearly anyone that may be worth a darn. Maybe next fall.

There is no reason to lengthen chambers or cones and unless it is F/F there is probably no reason to alter the chokes, just shooting spreaders will accomplish about the same thing.

Hunt with it this fall as it is and take it to the Skeet range or SC course and practice with it.
If you need more length you can use a slip-on pad with spacers in it if necessary.

Just out of curiosity and not intending to be insulting or flippant.... why did you buy a gun you knew you wouldn't be happy with?





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Agreed. The timetable is inauspicious, but there it is.

If it won't work, I'll just slap a temporary pad on it, and call it good until next fall.

And I guess you are right, I am talking about a full out restoration. But if done properly, it will make the gun last another hundred years. And that would not be a bad thing.

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I have been where you are many years ago....have it cleaned period..it will last a hundred more years without restoration....it looks like a good honest gun..... don't do it.....I think you'll be sorry if you do....I was.....

Leave it as is, looks like a nice gun from what I see. As others have said what your talking about is a full restoration, why ? As to chokes just use a spreaders ,RST and Polywad makes them. Plus you have no time for that work to be done.

Chokes are M and F. I like the idea of seeing what spreaders look like on paper. Thanks.

I also like the idea of hunting it with it with temporary solutions to accommodate a 13 3/4" LOP.

As far as buying a gun that I knew I wouldn't be happy with, I would have been more than willing to pay more for a gun that suited me better, but I found nothing that fit the bill.

This gun looks to be relatively unmolested, and it wouldn't take that much to make it suit me perfectly, just a little time and money.

A cheap way out would be to bend the stock a bit, install a proper pad, and call it good, which might be exactly what I do for now.

But if the gun is nice and tidy, wouldn't a restoration be worth it? And I don't mean in terms of dollars and cents.

Taken under advisement.

But I have to do something about the stock. I am not 5'2."

You guys are a practical bunch!

Where are the dissenting opinions?

Yeah, 13 3/4"LOP would be a tad short, and I'm 5'11". I would try a slip on pad first--another 1/2" would be great. Shoot it this year with spreaders while hunting. Maybe you will run into a gun that fits you better this year, and would be easier to sell an unmolested gun. It is an O frame I assume.

It's the ones that are abused beaters that warrant a restoration of sorts. Guns like yours are sought after to just put to work and and never have to worry about taking them out in the weather and the thickets. And this earns them a lot of pride and respect because they go wherever, and whenever, you go.

But it's your gun after all...





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If it functions for you as is, enjoy it this season, then decide what it needs and send it to someone then. The members here can recommend several competent gunsmiths

A slip-on pad adds 1/2," which brings it to 14 1/4." Still pretty short. I used one for a while on a two-barreled reproduction DHE, because I didn't want to mess with the skeleton butt plate. I was never happy with the solution.

Mind you, I am not obsessed with gun-fit (any longer :rolleyes:). I shoot a bunch of Berettas straight out of the box, even though modifications might earn me an extra bird here or there. But a gun has to be close enough that it feels like a part of me, in order for it to be a joy to shoot.

I could fill in the spur from the butt plate and add a 1" pad, which would give me about 14 1/2." Add a 1/4 spacer in front of the pad, bend the stock up and over a bit, and I would be happy.

I have already spoken to Kody Kearcher about it. Although he has never done any work for me, his Uncle Keith did some excellent stock work for me a long time ago, and I thought I couldn't go far wrong.
(If anyone has experience to the contrary, please feels free to PM me).

Nice thoughts. That is sort of what I had in mind: a gun to take to the woods without worrying about my "investment."

This is what I am thinking:

I bought the gun for $2,000. I could shoot it for a few years and sell it for that or perhaps a little more. Is a VH ever going to be worth a lot of money? I don't think so.

Realistically, if I spent $1,000-1,500 on a restoration, it might be worth $2,500 -3,000, so I would "lose" $500-1,000 in doing so.

But if it gives me a few years of pleasure in the field, restored to how it might have looked nearly a century ago, it would be well worth it.

Would I be destroying a bit of history by commissioning a faithful restoration, employing gunmaking processes from the last century? I don't think so.

I may love the gun so much that I shoot it "as is," but I also may love it so much after shooting it "as is" this season that I want to bring it back to life.

In either event, it should see honest use in the field for decades to come.

SCG

And that's exactly where my last sentence in my last post plays in. :cheers:




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Great minds think alike.

its your gun fix it to suit your self... it does look to be a gun never fooled with. the guys are right it will shoot another 100 years as it is....charlie

Function is #1. Beauty if in the eye of the beholder/owner. If it makes you happy to make it look better, then go for it. Tinkering is fun too. You probably wouldn't get all your money back after all of that, but if the cost/benefit for you was still a positive then it would be money well spent. Only you can determine that.

The best idea may be to save the money, and put it towards another Parker. :)

I'd add a correct pad to get you the right LOP and perhaps get the barrels rust blued and stop right there for now.

I agree with Dean and Jim, hunt with it as is, just use a slip on butt pad. There are some nice ones out there that are buckle on leather and have multiple removable spacers in them. Gary Fatheree (The Leatherman) from the Carlisle, PA area makes. I have some of his pads for my guns and they work great.

Agreed on the first part. I intend to shoot this nifty little gun exactly as it is.

With respect to the slip on butt pad suggestion, I wish I had know about the Leatherman suggestion, because I came to the same conclusion, and I already ordered the Gamekeeper Slip-On Recoil Pad from Galazan.

Great advice from lots of guys, which I appreciate.

This gun is perfect in its own way, and I have no doubt that it will be hell on grouse and woodcock as it is.

Keep us posted. Post some photos. Hope it works out for you!

No two of my Parkers have the same dimensions and there is pretty wide variation too. I have learned to adjust

You heard good advice from some of our best members.
I can only add GO SLOW !
Use a slip-on of some kind and shoot it at every chance you have. You'll learn a lot about that gun. It really looks in great condition and unmolested, both wood & metal. A Correct Pad, even w/a thin back spacer, should give you the length you may need.
Please keep us posted.

There has been a chorus of good advice, and I ordered a slip-on pad from Galazan last week. I love this little gun. It's way too short, but if I close my eyes and mount the gun, I am looking straight down the rib when I open them.

I am inclined to shoot it "as is" in the grouse woods this fall. It should be just the right size for picking your way through the popple.

Good decision, good luck, and good shooting.
Keep us posted as to your hunting success with it.

Have faith in your gun, it will always, always shoot to the same POI. Consistant Gun mount is our biggest adversary in the grouse woods.





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Be aware that adding significant length will change your mount point on the stock, thus the sightline down the rib will also change.

Steven,

To beat a dead horse I will mention chokes again. I opened the chokes on two Parkers and have woken up in the middle of the night thinking how I wish I hadn't. At 72 I have a greater appreciation for choked guns. One of my go to Parkers is a two barrel set with the short barrels .015 and .025 constriction. Another I decided to shoot because it was a foul day early this past winter was a Trojan 12 with .030 and .040 constriction. I shot a 96 at sporting clays and have beaten a Fabbri shotgun at wobble and doubles trap. I certainly can't explain it. Maybe I'm not as fast as I once was and by the time I pull the trigger the pattern is just starting to develop. I'll admit open chokes give a little more wiggle room at close range, but if you are on the dog will always have work. You did buy a beautiful and honest Parker. I wish you a plentiful bounty.

Harry

Yep, unless it is a parallel comb, which is not the case.

The truth is that if a man can shoot, gun fit just isn't critical. That said, it really is a pleasure to shoot a gun that fits perfectly. :)

Good advice.

The only reason I was interested in opening the chokes wasn't because I was worried about not hitting birds at close range, it was the converse; I just didn't want to make a mess of 15-20 yard birds.

You know, when you are in COVID lock down, it is really easy to overthink things :knowbetter:

I will be up north of Jerry’s for a couple weeks this fall and will stop by to see old friends. I hunted some of the same places that Jerry now hunts when I lived up in Grand Forks .

You know that at Jerry’s you will see folks with Purdeys and a bunch of others but lots of times the experienced hunters are carrying some well worn Parkers. Jerry certainly does. That brush does not keep a gun looking new for long. In a lot of ways there is nothing wrong with carrying a gun that looks like it has had a lot of use. I still carry the same 16 ga PHE there that I did many years ago .

On chokes, if you have a close crossing bird , pull ahead and shoot the head and neck . It is the same size as a clay pigeon . If in dense brush , you need all the shot you can to get through the branches.

Is this the lesser of the two guns you brought up in another post? IMO when considering what to do on a lesser grade gun is first, be certain it can safely be shot by having the bbls and mechanics checked out. Second, fix anything broken. Third, take measures to arrest and prevent any further deterioration to the gun. That being said, I don’t like using ugly guns. Why worry about refinishing it if you don’t like the way it looks? If done properly it’s not going to harm the gun and would probably make it a little easier to sell if you decided to. Although savvy buyers will beat you up because it’s not original. If you leave it like it is they will beat you up because it needs so much work. High grade guns are a different matter.

Nope, this is a nifty little VH 16 gauge at 6 1/2 pounds. It is pretty much in original condition. Very tidy all around, but showing her 93 years (in a good way).

I have run a flat of RST Ultra Lite 3/4 oz 1100 fps cartridges through it in the last ten days or so, and it shoots just fine. And I am very impressed with those loads? I see no reason to shoot anything hotter in the grouse woods.

The only thing I intend to do to this gun is repair the chip in the original dhbp and have an initial engraved on the stock shield.

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It's nothing fancy, but this one is a keeper!

That really is a nice looking gun. The bbls look a little rough from what I can see in the photos. How long are they? A few years I bought a VH 16, 0 frame, 30” bbls for next to nothing when it was all said and done. It was rough but I liked the way it was configured. I sent the bbls off to be blued and the wood, which was a mess, to Brian Dudley. Larry Del Grego got the receiver to clean up and repair the action and he replaced several screws. It has become a go to gun for quail. All that work was necessary to bring the gun up to safe shooting standards. And it looks a whole lot better as well.

I'm agree with Bruce I don't want my hunting guns untouched as to me that is a clear sign they've been safe or closet toys. My hunting guns looked used and if they could I hope they tell their next "caretaker" about all the places we've been and hunted!! Additional I hope I they are really well worn before their next "caretaker" takes possession!
PS: All of my hunting Parker's are "G" grades, Fox's are Sterlingworths and L.C. Smith's are Field Grade.

I am very much inclined to agree with you guys (George and Mike). After 93 years there is no sin in a little restoration. The nice thing about this gun is that it is unmolested. The barrels have lost their color, but there is no sign of pitting, nor of polishing to remove blemishes. The screws are virtually pristine and properly indexed. The stock is too short, but the drop on face is right on. I bought a slip on pad from Galazan, and it shoots where I look.
If I really love it, after this fall's trip to the grouse woods, I will probably have the barrels done, case color the action, and see about a butt transplant.
Would I ever see my money out of that work? Probably not.
In the meantime, I will keep my eyes open for a higher grade 16.

Based upon some of the work I have seen here, it looks like Brian does excellent work. I particularly like the butt transplant he did here.