Neat old tymey stock repair
 

Here is a neat PH that I picked up a month or so ago. It is a 12g. on a No. 2 frame. The gun has honest wear with a nice patina. But I really liked the amount of barrel finish that remained as well as the great condition of the bores and tight lockup.
The neat thing was the old wrist repair with two pieces of brass. The wrist must have been broke through at some time and the owner "fixed" it this way. I think it is cool how it meets the tangs on top and bottom and how all of the screws are finished flush with the brass plates.

Not the first one of these that any of us have seen, I am sure, but it is interesting to look at what people do to keep good guns going.

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neatly done, you will often see repairs done in that manner on the thin wrists of Pennsylvania Rifles.

Done by a true craftsman, noting how all the screws are timed.

Too bad he was in the wrong craft.

These are known as Selous plates for the White Hunter, Frederick Selous, whose guns were made that way at the factory. I believe a true Selous sideplate was made flush with the wood. The PH is a wonderful piece of work.

So I guess being screwed up is no always bad? Maybe we may say screwed good or screwed many times over or screwed well?:bigbye::rotf:Just Kidding.

Either way, there are a lot of screws in it for sure.

I will most likely hunt with it a bit and maybe think about restocking. One thing is for sure, it never really hurts to have a few beaters around.

I love these folky old repairs too, there were guys back then who really knew how to make the best out of a bad situation.

I've got an old English hammer gun that's got a similar kind of repair. I've squirrel hunted with it a few times, it's a classic beater.

DLH

i think the stock fix is great if i had one fixed like that it would be a keeper...i truly like it... charlie

Great find and it is almost a piece of folk art. I think it looks very appealing the way it is and would not restock. Good luck with it!

Saw an 1885 Winchester that had similar plates that were inlet flush and partly checkered in a neat design at the Rochester gun show many years ago.

I will most likely leave the gun as it is, at least for a while. Don't have any foreseeable time to do any work to this one. It does need a cleaning though before I do anything with it. The safety is pretty sticky on it. It does not look like the gun has been into much.

This is not a gun to be restocked. In my readings about Frederick Selous, I see that his Gibbs rifle had all screws indexed on the sideplates.

Hi Brian. I think the gun is cool. If the repair is solid I would leave it as is and hunt with it. At least you won't have to worry about scracthing it every time you go to the woods.

I took this one apart tonight to clean it out. Boy was it dirty. A lot of green buildup from the brass along those edges. Especially under the guard tang. And the whole inside of the action was full of gunk and waht looked like small bugs.

Anyway, what is very interesting about the wrist is that with the stock off, there is no evidence of any damage or cracking. Which makes me wonder if this "repair" was doe as more of preventative maintenance. Odd. The only real way of knowing would be to take the plates off. But I don't feel like knowing all that bad.

I believe it was put on as "Selous" plates originally and likely spent a lot of time in Africa

prior to ww1, guns taken on safari had pins or plates added to the wrist, in order to prevent breakage in transit or hard use... once had a vh that belonged to lowell thomas of radio and lawrence of arabia fame...his gun was pinned twice at the wrist, with no evidence of cracks in the wood... the receiver was silver plated as well.

I didn't know Lowell had a Parker. I knew him in the early 70's and his son Lowell Jr had a flying service for tourists and such around Mt McKinley for many years. Met him on a glacier once when he flew in with his son to ski around a bit. The book "With Lawrence in Arabia" is quite a read. No way would I restock a gun like that Brian. It's too cool... and strong... the way it is.

Advice well taken. I will leave it as is and just hunt with it for the time being. Unless someone wants it more. Then it is down the road...

I am glad I asked. This was very informative.

There was a nice Belgian Cape gun that I was looking at about 6 months ago that had a brass plate on one side of the wrist. But if I remember correctly, that one was due to a crack.

Charlie, you should toss in a bid on the PGCA Silent Auction 8 Ga. Parker. It has a similar wrist repair plus other innovative contraptions to hold it together. It is really quite a piece of 'folk art' and a wonderful conversation piece.

how would i go about this silent auction bid on the 8 ga DEAN... charlie