My latest arrival
 

I've been waiting awhile for my latest Parker purchase to finally arrive. There is a Canada Post strike going on so no packages or mail has been moving through them for the past few weeks. CP is the only way to ship a firearm to an individual here, though UPS will ship to a firearms business. I found a business about an hour away willing to take it and picked it up on Monday.
She's a VH 16 with a capped pistol grip stock and 26" barrels. Sounds like a nice nimble little grouse gun so far. I'm not a big fan of 26" barrels. Too fast and whippy. That's not a problem with this one. The wee beast is 8 lbs, five oz. I did a few quick measurements and there are a few things that make me wonder. It is a 3 frame. She was made in 1904 and the serial number appears to have order book and stock book info so I'm hoping the letter sheds more light on it's purpose.

Be interesting to measure the chokes. A tightly choked 26" would seem odd, but an 8-1/4 # 16 gauge upland gun would seem even more so.

Did you buy through an auction or a sales listing? Any info there?

Well I stand corrected on a few counts with this one. Chuck Bishop was on the site when I made my first post and emailed an electronic copy of the letter. Good thing, with the CP strike the hard copy probably won't get here till well into the new year. 123192 is actually a 2 1/2 frame, not a 3. I didn't even know that was a thing. The firing pins are still 1 3/16" apart by my measurement. I just went through the frames section in The Parker Story volume 2 to learn more about the 2 1/2 frame and it doesn't even mention it. Has anybody seen one? The letter doesn't mention the chambers. I'll have to take a more careful measurement. It looks to me to be at least 2 3/4, maybe 2 7/8" long. My first impression is there is very little of a drop in diameter from the end of the chambers to the bores. I thought maybe made for brass cases. The weight in the letter is 8 lbs 1 oz. It has a rubber recoil pad now that probably accounts for the difference. The chokes are cylinder left. and right at most a light full.
I bought this out of a region of thick bush, salmon rivers, prospectors, and brown bears. At first I thought it was ordered to make a slug gun that could handle heavy slugs at good velocities in case of a charge from a bear, or knock over a rabbit or bird for the pot while still light enough to carry. I don't think there were any brown bears in Massachusetts, even in 1903. I've attached the letter and will get some photos up soon. All comments on the original owner and the gun are welcome.

I bet that is a typo? At that weight it sure is a beefy one though!

Not a typo!!! I've seen mention of 2 1/2 frames every once and a while. Good measurements of the frame by Bob will help determine if it's a simple 3 frame or a combination of a 2 or 3 frame.

Now I recall discussion that the 2 1/2" is the measurement across the breech balls of a 3 frame gun. But I don't know a lot about nothing.

Not saying you or anyone else is incorrect , but I’d like to see one with 2 1/2 stamped on the barrel lug .

"2 1/2" is an internal term used in the Parker factory for a #3 frame. The lug marking will be 3. My #3 frame 16 is similar to yours except heavier. I will look up the serial number of another #3 frame 16 that I located when researching my gun. It may be your gun. Stay tuned.

Wow what an interesting gun! Picture would be appreciated.

Does anyone know why? Seems weird they wouldn’t just call it a 3.