I love a good "detective op"-- I have Jimmie Robinson's ATA record book with fotos and names-- first off- just because the foto was found in a NJ flea market does NOT mean 100% the gent in the picture with the Parker SBT was from NJ, or even shot there.
The query about the first year for the (UGH) Morgan adjustable pad gizmo would help- my "WAG" here tells me maybe pre-WW11 times, but that's a guess of course.
I think many of us who have been in the gunning world for years have looked back and kicked ourselves for the mistake(s) we have made, or the chances over-looked in our quest for the "Holy Grail" of scattergundom.
I was given a Parker SBT with 34" barrel- a neighbor who had no children, I used to mow their lawn, shovel the sidewalks in Winter-he had the barrel rechoked by the late Herb Orre, and a Morgan pad installed, God knows why. Later, before it came to me, he also had a release trigger installed. He was a machinst, like my family male members, and never threw anything out, so he had kept the original Parker trigger and the red recoil pad. He was a tall gentleman with a long reach, I believe he removed the factory pad and set the Morgan gizmo on the butt without cutting off any of the wood- So, except for the rechoking, it could have been "returned to normal" somewhat, but I was in my 30's, didn't know any of that, and much preferred shooting barn pigeons on area dairy farms with Model 12's--
Soooo- I took it up to Vandalia in August, met Bill Jaqua, ended up with a Model 12 Trap old milled rib made in 1948- unaltered, and some cash and Bill had the Parker-and yes, the original pad and trigger were included in the deal.
I am NOT a clays man, but somehow I have sensed that many serious Trapshooters are prone to "tinker" with their clays shotguns in the hopes of gaining a higher average score. Gene Hill used to write about this a great deal.
