Restore or Not?
 

I'm sure this has been discussed in the past. I did a search and was unable to find any info. I apologize if these are old questions.

I have heard in the past that the Parker is one gun that you leave alone. Is this true? Since I'm relatively new to Parkers, I need to know.
"Is it better to restore a Parker or leave it in it's found condition?" How much should be done to retain a Parkers best interest?
I'm asking these questions in regards to a small gauge trap gun that I recently acquired. I have posted some photos in the thread about Parker Double Trap but can also post others if needed.

Any suggestions from the group would be greatly appreciated.

Perhaps a period pad for your new Trap gun.
:clap: Good find and acquisition!

Frank, to restore your Parker correctly it would take quite a lot of money and that would first require that you use only one of the few in the country who are qualified to do it flawlessly. Doug Turnbull comes to mind as well as Abe Chaber, David Trevallion (who is primarily a magician with wood but who will send it to the best men in metal that he knows of {if he even has the time to take on the project}). There is also a gentleman on Cape Cod (name escapes me at the moment) who's work is equally flawless. But the point is - it will be very expensive. If you can't or won't commit to that kind of expense my recommendation is to do nothing at all with it... just leave it as is - that way it doesn't receive certain refinishing treatments that might not be able to be undone... the next owner would curse you for that.

It is a wonderful gun that deserves deep consideration in what you decide to do.

I think the question of restoration starts with a question, does the gun still retain collector value or is it a "shooter". If the former leave it alone except for mechanical repairs and mitigating previous damage to collectability like replacing the white line pad with period correct as suggested.

If a gun is a "shooter" to start with, and I "like" it, and I plan to use it for a long time then I might consider a partial or full restoration. I also know there will be no return on investment on what is spent on restoration, more likely a loss if the gun is sold. For some of us bringing a "project" gun back to life can be fun.

I think your gun falls into the category of still having some collector interest and value. My advice is to replace the pad and leave the rest alone.

I agree with Mr. Books

There is a gentleman in the West who can make your two piece stock look like a one piece stock and refinish all wood properly. Marklarsongunart.com. His work will be an excellent starting place for your restoration. You may choose to then gently remove the tarnish from the barrels and end the restoration. That's what most of us would do.

Where's da picture? opps read the whole post dummy.

I agree with Mr. Murphy. I'd be proud to shoot that gun as is, but a good cleaning would do right by it. Who knows what kind of gunk is in the action.

There is a FAQ on this site that addresses that topic, check it out at http://parkerguns.org/pages/faq/When2Restore.htm

All the suggestions and insight is greatly appreciated. I do have another question.

I measured the length of the wood before the extension and it measures at 12 3/4".
If I were to replace the pad, would it be advisable to remove the extension? My feeling is that the stock was not cut but extended at some time in the past. I'm asking this from a collectors point of interest and not from the shooters interest. I'm in no hurry to do anything and want to explore all my options before a decision is made on my part.

Frank, I'not entirely convinced that the extension piece wasn't cut off the original stock.

That being said, I would consider Bill Murphy's recommendation to have it finished by Marklarsongunart and you'll probably not be able to detect it was two pieces of wood.

If the gun belonged to me, I would clean up the metal to the point where I would make a decision on rebluing the barrels and trigger guard. Under no conditions would I ruin the gun by refinishing the receiver and forearm iron. I would decide what length of pull I wanted. If I needed an especially long stock, I would let Mark Larson work his magic and have a skeleton buttplate installed. If I could live with 13 3/4" length of pull, I would install a Silvers recoil pad over the original wood. In my case, I would send the gun to Mark Larson, then to a stockmaker to install a Parker skeleton buttplate to about 14 1/2" from the front trigger.

Frank, let's get the measurement right. What is the measurement between the center of the front trigger and the center of the end of the original wood?

I still haven't been able to link the 51 pictures and I still have not seen a post that mentions the full name of the supposedly original owner on the case. If we could get that name, maybe we could get Frank some information.

Uncontestably Original
 

Frank,
With no factory records to corraborate, by removing the extension and adding a "fresh" period pad, won't your gun then become
"FACTORY ORIGINAL".:clap:

Bill, There is no full name just initials and last name. The measurement was taken from the center of the front trigger. I was thinking that being a smaller gauge trap type gun it might have been previously shot by a women but that is only speculation.

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Folks sometimes say, it's only original once. The more I hear the word "survivor", whether it be cars or guns, the more I like it... There are dozens of stories where people have spent large untold sums in gun restoration costs only to find out it actually decreased the value, and then later sold for the same amount or less than if they had just left it alone. Meanwhile having spent a bucket load of money on something that added absolutely nothing to the end game, that bucket load of cash (now gone like a toot in the wind) could have went towards the purchase of yet another interesting gun...

I met a fella years ago who had found a rather nice late Rem/Parker skeet gun, it had some honest wear, but was still clean and had been very well taken care of... This fella hunted with the skeet gun for about 10 years on close-up early season birds over the dog, and occasionally shooting some skeet at the gun club... People often marveled at the gun's original state with compliments and offers to buy, but the fella just smiled and politely said "no thanks I enjoy it far too much, and where would I ever find another original Parker like this?"... Then one day in a moment of weak mindedness he got it in his head the old skeet gun was so special it should be restored, wood refinished, nicks steamed out of the stock, checkering re-cut, barrels re-blued, and the receiver re-case colored... Out came his bucket of money for the skeet gun project, and........well I think you know the rest of the story... In the end the fella's once unique old Parker with original character was now gone, and what remained was just another refinished gun... The fella told me the skeet gun just sat in the safe after that, and unfortunately he figured out far too late what had made it so special to him all those years was no longer there... A few more years went by and the fella decided the refinished skeet gun had to go, and what he wanted was another original old Parker. When the fella finally found the one that made him smile, the refinished skeet gun was traded off along with a significant amount of cash to once again obtain a clean original Parker with interesting history, character, and 74 years of honest wear....

Barn-finds and original survivors in the collector car market seem to generate a lot of interest these days, many people like the idea of finding something that has not been messed with too much, and I think the same holds true for closet finds when it comes to interesting old double-guns of particular interest... Enjoy them for what they are, give them proper care and needed repairs, then later when the time comes to sell or pass it on to the next generation, your Parker will still have it's earned years of character and the added appeal of being original... JMHO.........

Best, CSL
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Well, Frank, OK, it has only initials. What are the initials? What state do you think the gun came from?

Bill,
I have been doing some searching as to the initials and last name and been coming up empty. I will continue to search and should I be successful, I will post my results.

My search is still in it's infancy. From info I received, I do believe the gun initially went to central or western US. As with most these Vintage Doubles, the original owners and even their first generation offspring are no longer with us. That just leaves us with only stories from distant relatives.

CSL,
Your opinion above is very well taken. Thank you.

Words of wisdom Chris. Well said.

Frank, you want a lot of advice on the gun. I can't understand why you wouldn't want information on the owner. I guess the initials of the owner are some kind of secret. Oh, well.

Bill,
I did ask for advice based on factual information and I thank everyone for all of the opinions. I don't believe that the name is important at the time. The case being original to the gun is only based on speculation. You can say that I'm keeping it secret for the moment. Send me a PM if you really think you knowing the initials can help.

Maybe I missed it, but did Frank provide an overall weight for his unique 16ga V/R Parker trap?...

Best, CSL
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