VH 172371 restock
 

Acquired a VH 20 ga. w/26" barrels full and fuller, s/n 172371 in 2013. The stock had a dowel repair done near the wrist at the time I acquired the gun. The wood had a repaired crack in that area, but the wood seemed sound. This gun was purchased as a field hunter and has seen a lot of birds, several fell from the sky many more were given futile salvos in the direction of said fleeing birds.

I am a shooter with extremely short length of pull requirements (12 3/4"). A "store bought" gun with 14” or 14+" LOP is very difficult for me to shoot and usually hard for me to shoot accurately. So, it has always been my intent to modify the stock.

The fall of '21 found me once again, chasing birds in Oklahoma. Brian Hornacek and I were looking at the gun and discussing the possibilities for its' future. He was inspecting the repaired crack and commented that it appeared to be reopening. I didn't think, at least hoped, that that wasn't the case. A side note, we were also looking at a nice PH with laminated barrels that had folk art carved into the stock and needed a restock. The thought of losing both guns for a year or more was more than I felt I was willing to do. Another time we can discuss this PH. (The barrels are nice.)

We talked about the many alternatives that are available for a project gun. The VH, I felt, just needed a look see by an expert.

90 days fast forward. A stock repair expert takes the action apart and the wrist comes away in two pieces. Yikes! OK, let's go look at walnut blanks and prepare for a new stock.

The stock maker is Ebbie Jones. His company Tsavo Custom Firearms is a central Missouri throwback to the craftsman who have their own shop on a "piece of ground" and works less than 100 feet from the house. His shop has all the modern tools you would expect in a shop where serious wood is formed into works of significant beauty for those of us who enjoy such things.

Fast forward to early summer 2023 and a call from Ebbie says the gun is ready. I work summers in the Ozark hills, so it is a short 20 minute jaunt over to see the results. I am pleased. This gun should serve me well for as many years as I have left to walk the fields behind a discerning dog seeking feathered quarry. Photos courtesy of Tsavo Custom Firearms

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Russ, very nice work there! Enjoy that VH for many years to come. Looks terrific!

Sweet!

That’s a really nice piece of wood and a quaity restocking job but you may find it has too much pitch and might shoot low.





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Very nice restocking. Enjoy

Dean, I have not found that to be the case. My measurements were done professionally with several hours of patterning board before we concluded a decent set of specs for future stocks.

It is a very attractive and grade appropriate piece of wood that was used. There are some things that are not correct for a Parker stock, but if you are happy and it shoots well for you, that is all that matters.

Looks good Russ, I hope you shoot it well.

Russ is one of our bird hunting gang. The stockist did a quality job of reproducing a Parker stock. It’s shorter than factory but I have seen factory custom ordered short stocks dimensioned for the owner. The only issue is that the wood is more figured than most Parker V grade wood but every almost every restock I have seen is that way and I would too if I were to restock a gun.

On to Oklahoma in a few weeks. I have a 9 month old Elhew pup that is doing well. At 8 months he was running a pattern, finding , pointing, staunch, tail high and nose out, tracking wounded, retrieving, and starting to follow hand signals. He will get lots of time in the field.

My best to you all .

Nice gun Russ! I'm a big fan of the V grades so you did rather well choosing to bring this one back to life. Kudos to Tsavo too!! :clap: