Suponski's Trap Gun Day One Grand American 1926
 

Bart R. Saxbe, day one, 1926 Grand American Handicap, 199X200, first seven rounds straight. Second day, 194X200. Bart Saxbe was high shooter at Springfield, Ohio with 97X100 besting the great C.A. "Sparrow" Young, who broke 94. This is the first neat evidence of great performance of Dave Suponski's great VHE Trap. Bart is the father of Richard Nixon's Attorney General, William Saxbe. I bought the gun from William Saxbe's estate and "gave" it to Dave Suponski, who loves it and shoots it well. Some day, he may sell it back to me.

Bill, Thank you so much for this added info. I will print this and add it the letter you sent me with the gun. Yes..you did just about give it to me and I appreciate that....:bowdown: I love shooting this big gun and in fact I think I will shoot it tomorrow....:)

As far as selling it back.....ummmm..:whistle:

Bill, I found these....so now you guy's can visit whenever you want...

Wow! That is one scary gun. What a history it has. I didn't realize what a shot the senior Saxbe was. 199X200 is not a bad performance, even today.

I have a great collection of early competition results, but didn't have much on Saxbe until today. A friend gave me a bunch of old trapshooting magazines and in them I found these great results. Bart Saxbe was a great shooter and his son, the politician, also shot, as well as making a career as a great conservative legislator. Congratulations, Dave, on your great Parker find.

Is that a solid raised rib?

Is that a vent rib or a raised solid rib? It is obviously one of the two, judging by the ramp.

Oh, Hi Ed!

Back at you Dean. Your Saturday night is as exciting as mine.

Well, if the Pollock from Ct shoots the VHE as well as he shot my SC in South Carolina, he may have better scores than the long departed Mr. Saxbe!:corn:

We'll see.... :whistle:

Thank You Bill...But I think you did all the finding. Just wonderful news.

Guy's..The gun is a VHE 32" Vent Rib Single Trigger Trap Gun. Built on a 1 1/2 frame. This gun has radar...One of the most sweetest swinging guns I have ever owned. Station 5 hard left to right trap targets are destroyed by this gun. In fact I used it on the 5 stand at the spring Southern. I used home grown spreaders to open the gun to Mod/Mod and shot my best scores ever. She just seems to do anything I ask of her.

Could'nt see the forearm very well but is it a splinter and not a beavertail? Nice gun and history to go along with it.

Are those older DelGrego case colors I see on the 32" vent/rib Saxbe, Murphy, Suponski, Trap Gun???...

Best, CSL
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Yes,Chris. Bill had the gun restored by DelGrego awhile back I have the original wood for the gun here.

Ok Dave, enough teasin! Get out a YELLOW towel and give us some nice closeups, we wana see more! Sweet gun!:bowdown::rotf::rotf:

The gun had been a competition gun for much of its life and had had the metal restored by William B. Saxbe at Del Grego's probably. The wood was past its prime, poorly finished with a cracked forearm as I recall. A few years ago, Kevin McCormack and I were visiting our friends Babe and Lawrence Del Grego and I spotted a finished stock and splinter forearm on the bench. I asked about it and was told that they had built the stock for a customer's VHE and the customer wanted to exchange it for a fancier piece of wood. Kevin, Babe and I were headed out to lunch when I asked Lawrence whether there was a chance that the stock might fit on the tired old trap gun. He gave me the standard answer that "such things just don't happen". When the three musketeers returned from lunch, you can guess what we found. The new stock and forend were fully installed and fitted on the Attorney General's trap gun. I shot the gun a little, but my favorite trap and pigeon gun is my old PHE crossover two barrel set, and I didn't need two. I picked Dave as the PGCA friend that most needed a big gun. The VHE doubled a bit and I told Dave about it. To complete the story, the gun has never doubled in Dave's hands. To end this story, Dave, tell us when the gun was made so we can put it in the elder Mr. Saxbe's hands at the time of the big scores in 1926 and 1927. For those who asked, the original gun was a full house VHE trap with beavertail. They are rare birds in V Grade. I was in error when I said I bought the gun from WBS's estate. Mr. Saxbe was alive when I purchased the big Parker. He passed away in 2010.

now thats a gun with a storey we can all relate too.. i guess if all these old parkers could talk wed be reading for a long while..at least this gun got to tell its storey.... charlie

Bill, I don't think we have anything on 221256. The Serialization Book dates the gun to 1927. I have always called this gun "The Murderers Row" gun after the 1927 Yankees. But if this date is correct 1927 would be a bit late. I have no doubt that this is a Saxby gun as you bought it from the estate.The gun may have been finished in 1926 and waited on the rack to be sold.

The 1926 scores at the Grand American could have been shot with another gun. Sparrow Young won the Grand American Handicap that year. The Springfield, Ohio shoot where Saxbe beat Sparrow Young was reported in the July 16, 1927 Sportsman's Review, so he could have been shooting the Parker at that shoot. If you look at the Stock Book records, book 76, which began in April of 1926, ended with serial #219,857. The Saxbe gun could have been in existence in the last part of 1926, possibly by the date of the Grand American, August 23 to 28. Saxbe was a high volume, high average shooter in those times and later reports probably carry his name. Bart's 199 in the preliminary A Class shoot won him third place. I don't know how he placed in the Grand American Handicap, but Bill Moore's report says Bart broke 98X100 in the second hundred of the second day of preliminaries.

Dave or Bill would you please post the stock dimensions for that gun? What does the Parker letter give as the stock dimensions were when it left the factory?

Thanks!

Miie

Never bothered to letter the gun Mike as I didn't think there would be info. I could give you the stock dimensions on the gun as it sit's if that would help.

Dave please, when you get a chance.

Thanks,

Mike

....(now this is a great thread! Thanks Bill and Dave!!)....

The gun is posted in stock book 77, which is missing, so no stock dimensions available. I think the old stock which Dave has, is probably the original stock. PGCA has no information on this gun. It is quite comforting to be able to have some information on some guns that are not in the existing PGCA records.

Evreyone should have a special Parker, either interesting and unusual provenance or how it handles and shoots for us. It's lucky man to have both in the same gun. Congrats Dave.

Thanks Pete. This gun been up to the Majors Shoot more than once. So you guys have seen the gun.

Mike,The stock on the gun now. The one Bill had fitted measures 14 3/4"LOP 1 5/8"DAC 2 1/2" DAH

The original stock is basically the same DAC and DAH but a 14 1/2" LOP. Interesting thing about the original stock is that there is a 3/4" wood stock extension to a pad. I wonder if elder Mr.Saxby was a man of smaller stature and this gun was given to William his son who required a longer LOP. The stock shield is engraved "William Saxby"

Thank you Dave. And the ventilated rib is a factory rib? I promise, that is my last question, dumb or not. I have two two-frame VH12s that I was going to start using for my trap guns. The adjustment (learning curve) has been more difficult than I anticipated. Of course I am 57 and may not learn so fast either. I am curious what they were doing "back in the day".

Thanks again,

Mike

Factory vent rib, full house trap with all options.

I have had he same experience with my VH 1 1/2 frame at trap. Altho I am now shooting a SBT SC my best score has been with the VH. It has very modern dimensions and is a joy to shoot. The only issue is the safety and I use it as part of a mental checklist. I am afraid to try the left barrel as it is even tighter than the right- maybe for handicaps.

Mike, As Bill states.Factory vent rib,single trigger,non automatic safety. One very cool thing though.The gun has a knurled(checkered) trigger.

I sold a Parker trap gun with a checkered trigger?? I must have been running for a board position.

:rolleyes: :rotf:

Dave, Eventhough the Saxbe gun was made in CT, don't you think it belongs in Ohio?

As I understand it, there is already a trap gun in Ohio.

Sorry Fred, I think she's pretty happy here at home....:)

Thank you Dave and Bill.

I didn't care what the stock dimensions were, if Lawrence could somehow fit it to the gun. The original stock was a throwaway as was the forend. The new stock and splinter forend were of field, not trap dimensions. My trap Parker's are too high in the comb for me. I think Dave must have refinished the wood because it doesn't look like Del Grego finish any more. This is a great gun

Bill, The wood on the gun is as you sent it to me. All I have done is repaired a broken ejector. In fact last year I broke 3 ejectors on different Parkers....:banghead: This past season none...:)

Where did you find three ejectors?

Bill, Trust me it wasn't easy and two of them were 16 ga....:eek: