Restock of my GH straight grip
 

I am soon going to be starting a restock of my Parker GH 12g #2 frame with straight grip. So I figured I would document the work in this thread.
This guns buttstock has seen much better days and unfourtunately fell into the hands of someone who did not know what was what by way of this work. There is a very large and poor repair on the left side of the action. They could have at least matched the direction of the grain.
And the stock and forend is sanded way too much so that all traces of checkering are gone and all of the metal is proud. The finish is nice though.
Here are some current pictures.

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Are you doing the work yourself Brian?

I don't know how it's done, but I have seen guns that were "proud" and now they're not. It must have something to do with matching epoxy but it has to be easier than restocking and maintains originality somewhat.

Yes, I will be going the work myself. Will be an ongoing project inbetween all the other things I have to do.

Bill,
I recall a post by Jeff Mulliken a few years ago where he actually soaked the head of the stock to swell the grain and it apparently would dry that way allowing for some increased thickness around the frame. I never tried it just repeating what I read.

Soaking or steaming will raise the level of the wood to an extent and can help with ding or dents, and maybe if the wood has been sanded to low to some extent. But believe me, with this original stock of mine, I don't think there is any helping it. I have a blank of walnut that is pretty darn close in both color and figure that I plan to use. I will be posting pics of it soon.

Here are a few pictures of the blank that I plan to use on my GH. It is from my stock of walnut. Air dried for 20+ years. All the trees were 200+ years old easy.
This piece has a bit more curl in it than my original stock, but it is close to consistent with some of the G grades I have seen. Just a bit nicer. Color once finished could be pretty darn close as well. I did another stock out of the same slab of wood and the color is right where I would want it for this project.

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Brian, that is a great piece of walnut for your GH project. I don't think it is over the top and in fact is a tad less dramatic, for lack of a better adjective, than the stock of a 1903 GH I once had with original wood. It should be a nice looking Parker when you're done.

To keep the value of your restocked Parker up where it should be, pay extremely close attention to every detail of the checkering of grade 2 hammerless Parkers of the very same vintage as yours and copy the style exactly. We see so many restocked and recheckered Parkers that exibit very poor adherence to the original checkering style and, in my opinion, this greatly detracts from the gun's value.... greatly.

I agree on the stock blank. A bit fancier than my original but not as nice as a few other G's that I have seen. I originally had another one set aside that had some more curl in it and with a bit of crotch figure in the one side, but I decided it was a bit too much for it to be "Correct".

Thanks for your advice on the checkering. That is something that I WILL pay close attention to when it comes time. I have found a few photos of GH straight grip guns for reference. They are not too common to come accross. It does not help that my checkering is completely gone.

I still have to confirm things like lines per inch and pointed or flat topped diamonds, but I have time.

Got the stock duplication done. I just used the pattern for my #2 frame trojan. I checked the inletting and fit against the original G stock and it was pretty darn close. So I figured that since the dimensions of the Trojan pattern were perfect for me, I would just use that one and save myself the time of setting up the original G stock on the duplicator. Plus the original stock was a bit short for my liking.

After it was done, I just removed the little bit on the bottom form the pistol grip and I was all set. The pictures show it after most of the machine lines were rasped out of the butt area. I put some alcohol on it to better show the color.

And since the my pattern had the proper curve to the back of it, all I will have to do is inlet for the spur at the top of the buttplate.

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