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.
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