Thanks Greg. We all have seen the cyclical whims of whats the current trend, if we've been dealing with this affliction for very long. I've been actively collecting and hunting with Parkers, as well as other double guns, for over 50 years. My dad was my greatest mentor, also having the 'affliction'.
There was a time when he thought shorter barreled guns were the be all and end all. He had rows of 26" doubles, and rarely paid attention to the 30" guns, despite having a few nice ones.
He wasn't alone in his thinking and the prices of long barreled guns, back in his hay day of collecting, reflected this obsession with fast, short guns. The Churhill XXV was king in the moderately priced English market. Coincidentally, this point in the up and down cycle of barrel lengths coincided with virtually the entire manufacturing life of the Parker Reproduction. For this reason, I can easily understand why this fluke of timing resulted in so few long barreled guns.
I find there's a use, and a place for all the popular lengths, hence my trio of 20ga. DHEs. The 24" gun was all I used last year in the grouse woods, and yet I was beside myself with excitements to recently find my straight gripped 30" gun. Here's a situation a diehard Reroduction collector could benefit from a walk thru some of the better shops, as there is an ample supply of the long guns no one wanted 30 years ago.
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