Parker stock reinforcing rod.
 

Howdy,
I am still a newbie to these forums, and while I don't own a Parker yet, I do get to handle quite a few of them. I read here once about a hickory rod that Parker installed in their butt stocks to reinforce them through the grip. Evidently, this rod went from the end of the butt all the way up through the grip to the back of the action. No pictures were provided, and the discussion was minimal.
I was doing some conservation work on a Parker GH with Damascus barrels that had this feature, and thought I'd pass a couple of pics along showing what I could see. Although I didn't measure the diameter of the rod, it was about 5/8" or 3/4" in diameter, and as you can see was stamped twice with "Pat. SEP. 10, 1895".
Does anyone here know if this was done to all Parkers after this patent date, or only ones of certain grades, etc.? I am interested, because this is only the second one like this I have seen. Thank you for your insight....Clint.

I believe these are the first examples of the 1895 pat'd hickory reinforcing rod we have been shown on the PGCA forums to date of guns other than those with skeleton buttplates where the rod end and sometimes the wood-capped boring closer to the heel to adjust weight of the buttstock is visible without necessitating the removal of the buttplate. Certainly the first example I have ever seen with the patent stamp under the buttplate.
Thanks for the pictures Clint and Chuck.



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Parker stock reinforcing rod.
 

Gentlemen,
Chuck, yours was the first one I had ever seen. This second one, above, is serial # 8709X, made in 1897 according to the charts. It did not have the patent date stamped on the belly of the stock, as shown in your second pic. I would have noticed , as it is shown very prominently on your gun. This GH got a pretty thorough going over. I have attached a few more before and after pics of it. Someone had really butchereded up the forearm checkering. Dean, thanks for your pic of the reinforced rod visible through skeleton butt plate. I really appreciate your input, guys! Best regards.........Clint.

Dean, how did you identify your pictured butt as a hickory rod? Does it have the patent stamp behind the grip? How many hickory rods do we think exist behind the buttplates of guns that have no stamp behind the grip?

Reinforcing Rod? (Dowel)
 

I am quite surprised to see the grain of the dowel in the same plane as that of the stock. I had always thought the purpose of the dowel was to strengthen the wrist of a stock with complex grain structure near the wrist. This would best be done by aligning the dowel grain at a right angle to that of the stock.

Best, Austin

Bill, I determined that the one that can be seen in the picture of my DH (1898) as being a reinforcing rod/dowell because it is in the correct position for alignment right through the wrist to the stock head while the larger plug closer to the heel of the butt which can't be seen in this picture is for the purpose of altering the weight of the buttstock. If it ever had the patent stamp behind the grip cap it must have been sanded off when the buttstock had been poorly refinished long before it became mine.

My PH was cracked from behind the top tang and down through both sides of the pistol grip and had been there for as long as I can remember it being in posession of my grandfather. You could spread the cracks apart but I guess the rod kept it from splitting in two. I remember Robert Fulton at Stock Fixers calling me and asking what that rod was for since he had never seen one on a Parker stock before. I'm sure he has seen his share of broken Parker stocks in his line of work. He told me he had to drill out the rod at the head of the stock in order to repair the cracks.

I agree that the grain of that rod should be turned 90 degrees for maximum effectiveness. Maybe that's why it's not seen on many stocks, the modification didn't work as well as planned.

Nice restoration of that GH Clint. Pretty wood. What type of finish did you use?

I have a DH with two bored holes in the stock like Deans gun.No patent date.I am still not convinced that these guns had the hickory rod or Parker needed two holes to add/remove weight for balance.

I will guarantee the larger plug closer to the heel is not for a reinforcing rod and on my DH, at least, and probably on yours too Dave, the "plug" closer to the toe is of the appripriate size and in the correct position for the reinforcing rod.