Which 20ga to get?
 

Need some opinions. I have been looking for my My son (10 yr old) his first Parker. I have found a 20ga VH in pretty good shape with 0 frame, 2-3/4 chambers 28in barrels, and a 20ga reproduction DHE 26" barrels straight stock with hard case within a couple of hundred bucks of each other. Which would you choose? The old original or the newer higher grade reproduction?

It would depend on stock dimensions and fit for him. Although at 10 years old, hard to predict.
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Does he like a straight stock?

He honestly doesn't care about the stock configuration. The original VH does have a shorter stock (13-5/8) which would fit him better now, but he's growing fast!

I’d buy them both and which ever one works best for him for fit, recoil, etc. I’d keep and sell the other one. (Or keep it) If I had to choose 1 for a youngster I’d probably go with the repro for less concern about the bumps and bruises it might get and concerns re:maintenance/repairs. I don’t think there is a wrong answer.

I wish I could afford both but unfortunately cannot.

My gut says original, but when you think about durability and able to shoot a bigger variety of ammo as he gets older, the repro makes more sense.

the repros are very nice durible guns. Stocks can be altered, for now and future. And it is fancier than a VH. But fit is important for ypung folks starting out.

David Trevallion, one of the most respected names in the doublegun business of our time, opined this: "Parker Reproduction guns were in every respect equal - if not superior - to the originals." Show your boy good pictures of both guns and let him make his own decision.

But the VH will digest about anything you can feed it and all you need to do is lengthen the chambers 1/8 inch… or lengthen the forcing cones and leave the chambers where they are.





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Personally, I would pick the VH for being an original Parker