The D and B grade Repro guns were machine engraved and then "hand chased" or touched up by hand after the machines made the outlines. The A grade guns were engraved by hand. The case colors on Repros have been discussed a lot on this BBS. They were done chemically rather than by the traditional bone charcoal cooking method that Parker Bros. used. Fortunately they do not sport the "tiger stripes" that scream cyanide chemical redo like we see on many refurbished originals. Some of the repro colors seem to "flake off" in an unpleasing fashion. However, my extensively used 20ga Repro has worn much like a traditional color job might and now has a rather pleasing 50%-remaining-color patina which looks quite nice in my opinion... no flakage and no stripes. I've owned quite a few of these guns and sold most of them but my original 20ga, purchased about 20 years ago, remains my favorite gun.
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