Delgrego Trojan? on GB
 

Check out this auction.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=256221620

The gun is about an hour from me. I am not really interested, but just looking for some of your opinions on it. Or should I say test the waters on confirming my own.

My initial thoughts are that it is 100% redone (wood and metal). Wood is obvious. Along with case colors and bluing as they are too nice and not correct for the gun.
But, going into it deeper, the colors appear to be Delgrego colors, so it makes me wonder if maybe the stock was done by Delgrego too, for a customer that wanted a beavertail and nice wood. What makes me ask the question is the Parker Illion, NY grip cap. I would think that these might be hard to come by and I know that Delgrego originally purchased all the extra Parker Parts from Remington, so he very well have had a bit of those caps available.

What do you guys think?

Brian, I believe that gun is a complete DelGrego redo. I also believe the gun is rewooded by them also. There are many things pointing that way. Somehow a Trojan with a beavertail just doesn't look right to my eye.

Trojan BTFE
 

Mr DelGrego Sr had a patented method of affixing a BTFE to a Trojan. There are also some BTFE's in circulation that were made elsewhere.
If Mr Dudley is interested it might be worth a visit to Ilion to check.

Best, Austin

I'm not convinced it is a Del Grego job. The cyanide case colore are representative of Del Grego colors but the grade of the wood is higher than he would have put on a Trojan and the checkering doesn't appear to be his style.

Good catch, Dean. I have never seen English Walnut used on lower grade guns by Del Grego. But the colors look like it could have come from the Del Grego shop. Is there a through bolt in the front of the forearm? Del Grego usually insisted on the correct through bolt. This is a great looking restoration, at the right price. I wish the seller wasn't so proud of it.

Dean is right about the checkering style and Del Grego would inlet the trigger guard a bit better. I love this gun, regardless of its shortcomings, but the seller just doesn't have a clue about its value. It is a wonderful $1300 Trojan. However, the wood may make it sell for two grand.

You guys may be right about the grade of wood but the fluting on the nose of the comb sure looks to be Larry's work.

I agree Dave but a lot of stockmakers are doing the same treatment to the nose fluting these days.

And if Delgrego did the wood work, who knows if it was the customer that asked for the fancy wood and BTFE. I mostly found that Ilion Grip cap to be odd on a Meriden Gun.

A grip cap on a Trojan is yet another reason to doubt the "Del Grego" connection.

The BTF looks a bit odd with it's wide uneven shape near the end. I would think "Del Grego" work would be a little more streamlined and closer to original... Perhaps the wood was done by someone else at a later date?

Best, CSL
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Chris, I think you nailed it.

While it may have begun life as a Parker Trojan, at some stage in the hands of it's latest smith, it seems to me that it becomes more the smith, and less the Parker. When a guy takes a small block Chevy V8, and puts it in his '32 Ford pickup, the truck doesn't become a Chevy. Kinda reminds me of the guy who claims to have his grandfathers axe, even though it's had 5 new handles and 4 new heads.

Someone buy this thing so we can show it to the Del Gregos. Babe will deny that he has ever seen it, even though the metal may have been done in his shop. I would bid a reasonable amount for the gun but for the fact that the inletting needs about a thousand dollars worth of work to get right. Check out the trigger guard and the inside of the forend. Maybe it's a trick of the camera, but I don't think so.

I see that Vintage Gun grips, at least, does make reproductions of the Illion, NY grip caps. Hard to tell if the one on this Trojan is original Remington or a reproduction.

The seller clearly does not know anything about these, that is evident by him stating that the recoil pad may be original. I did drop him a line giving him a bit of information on the gun so that he could at least advertise it more accurately if he wanted.

BTFE Trojan
 

There was a "secure room" behind the shop, at the original Del Grego shop in Ilion. Three BTFE Trojans hung there which were the familie's own hunting guns. There was a story about them being damaged in an auto accident.
Del Grego had a branded pad at the time these guns were made, and a patent on the fore end attachement.

A person from Maine called himself "The Fox Shop" and had a triple table of gun parts at New England shows for years. He had DHBP's , Ilion, and Meriden grip caps through the 1990's,

Ther were three BTFE Trojans for sale at a VT show around 1995. None of these were made by Del Grego.

I think this gun should be looked at as what it is; a very high quality custom gun that is made with some Parker Trojan parts.

Best, Austin

It always bothers me to call these guns "restored", because that means to me that they were returned to original condition. This is an interesting gun using a Trojan barrel and action, but it is restored no more than one of the many custom rifle makers , including Griffin & Howe, Beisen and Garrett, "restores" a Springfield '03 or Mod 70 with their custom work.

With that wood and stockwork, imperfect though the inletting may be, that custom stock had to be costly, and far more costly than the Trojan action and barrels.

A DelGrego Trojan, BTFE and Miller trigger, is pictured on the third plate following p. 175 of EDM's "Old Reliable". It was made for Larry III by his grandfather for his tenth birthday. I have seen the gun and it is really nice, a family heirloom.

Austin, I still have "stuff" I bought from The Fox Shop. I recently sold a complete 3200 Remington shotgun receiver and forend iron that obviously came from the Remington factory. He probably got his buttplates from Remington also. I also bought some great custom rifle stuff from him, like horn buttplates and European swivels. That wasn't Captain Higgins, was it?

FOX Shop
 

It has been 10 plus years since he has been in my area; I can't remember his name, Bill

Best, Austin

In fact, I happen to own the very same hatchet that young George Washington used to chop down his father's cherry tree with... it is as good as new with about the same scenario... :cool:

Then I'm gonna get after the guy that sold me mine, as I was assured it was George's. Oh, wait, it says LL Bean on it.

Bill that was Larry Higgins, yes? He used to hang around with Pete Harvey years ago.

The gun obviously has its flaws, but it looks sleek and its apparent dimensions would seem to make it a real shooter.
Price is crazy high, but at the right price, this would be a terrific Pheasant/Sharptail gun.

What a mess. Nothing seems right on this gun. I have a Trojan that was refurbished to original Parker specs and it looks twice as nice. Personally I wouldn't want the gun at any price. I wonder how it's choked?

Mark, You wouldn't want that gun "at any price".

I love the way he goes to great trouble to hide the last 3 digits of the serial number, but misses them completely on the back of the barrel lug. 196113. Oh well.

Not at any price. The gun is an insult to every original Parker out there.
JMHO

Yeah, I hate that gun! Hmmm. I wonder how it's choked?
:rotf:

Take the gun for what it is: a shooter. I would not be embarassed at all to have that in a duck blind, or shooting clays.

Maybe if it was free and choked right, Mark would take it.

Sorry Mark, just kidding at your expense.

Here is the current GB listing on this gun.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=267580628

The seller was at the Rochester, Ny Gun show this weekend and he had the gun with him. I had the chance to look it over. It is a very nice custom Trojan. Cyanide colors are great, bluing is perfect. Wood fit is great too. The stock dimentions are pretty good too. I would guess about 2-1/4 or 2-3/8 Drop at heel with about 14" LOP. It was a tad high for me and I usually shoot 2.5" Drop.

I see he has lowered his Buy it now on GB to $2,350 which is also what he had on it at the show. So if anyone was maybe thinking about it, I thought I would give my personal assessment after looking at it.

Still about $2000 too high!!

Bill

I too agree that it is high. Just wanted to say that I was able to see it with my own eyes.

very nice upgraded and redone trojan. looks like other del grego redone guns i have seen. too bad seller does not have receipt. the lack of provenance does adversely affect resale value.