John let us know approximately where you live and maybe one of our members could “loan” you some shells. It makes me happy to read these kind of stories

Thank you all!

Mills, I have joined today. I figure that I need to get the research letter on her.

Stan, I hope it does get Bill some business, although he is not sitting idle for business. He has several racks of guns awaiting or in process of work. He advised that it might take 2 years to get mine done because of his backlog. Fortunately it was less than that. I told him that I was going to post some pictures. He probably won’t see it because he doesn’t do computers, but he sure does the old fashioned gunsmithing skills well. He is a quality guy. It cost more, but he had the vision to put on wood that is quite above the original grade, and I think that it paid off. I had asked if I needed to get stock measurements, he felt that he could make it good without that. I wondered. But in practice dry fire with snap caps, the thing really seems to really snap to a cheek weld that puts me looking as flat down the rib as I could with careful placement. Even with a straight English stock.

Richard, your comments really made me feel good about taking the chance. Maybe the example will salvage some other old soldiers. They may not get top dollar in an auction since they are not “original”, but there is some value to having them back to their original glory, while some “originals”, while more collectible, have faded somewhat. There is merit in having been well preserved and cared for, and there is merit in resurrection.

Thank you all again. I don’t get to spend a lot of time on forums, but I am so glad that I found this forum.

Is it a 12 gauge or 10 gauge? Looks like a 10 gauge, in which case, shells are going to be tough to find. 12 gauge is much easier. You might be able to find some 10 to 12 chamber inserts and go that way

Mills, it is hard to have perspective in those pictures but it is a 12, and a light 12. It has 2 1/2” chambers and is on a 1 frame. I almost feel like it handles lighter more like my Ruger Red Label 20 than my Red Label 12. It will be interesting to see how the recoil feels with low pressure shells.

I am not familiar with the gauge inserts.

Edit: I am not sure what that scowl emoji is doing at the top of the post. I didn’t put it there intentionally.

Mike, I live about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, and that is a very generous thought. However, I would not want to impose on someone in times of such supply chain issues. Not sure when I would be able to repay the “loan” in kind. Money is not much of a substitute.

Watch the RST website for 12 gauge.

Mills, the low pressure world is new to me. I have looked at their website, as well as others such as Poiywad, and it seems like there is a systematic supply chain problem, like so much else these days, or is this the way it usually is? It almost sounds like they are shut down by supply issues. How often do they usually put new inventory up on the site in normal times? Even then, their limit of 5 boxes a month would not go far in season. I am going into the third season of training my yellow lab and will probably go to a preserve several times a month for live bird training. If I start shooting the Parker for that, and practice, that would be tight. (The trainer that I work with there shoots a Parker, and when I sent him pictures, he said he’d bet it would become my go to quail gun, as his was. Although, his is a 20th century vintage that can shoot modern shells. In fact, it was a conversation with him and a hunter with an L C Smith after a training session that turned me on to the possibility of restoring mine.) I thought about reloading, but it looks like nobody has components for these 2 1/2 inch low pressure shells either, at least for now. It is almost like the gun will be forced to be a wall hanger for some time. I will try to monitor their site, but the question is how often will they post new inventory in these times? And it sounds like it will be sold out almost overnight.

Someone needs to get a few boxes of shells to John. We need a followup report on this gun, to include pics of it in the field taking birds!!

Wow, that's quite a restoration! I think I'd have to name that gun Lazareth.

A few more pictures in better lighting
 

Thanks for all your comments and complements. It may be overkill, but FWIW I thought that these photos taken in the sun show richer images worth seeing:
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