New Member from Colorado
Who is this idiot? A fish out of water, when it comes to the Parker Gun world.
Oh, I have owned a couple: a Parker Reproduction DHE 12 bore 2-barrel set and a Turnbull restored DHE with a bad wrist break which precipitated a restock job. But count me among the unwashed, when it comes to an appreciation of these old treasures.
After booking a northwoods grouse hunt for October, I bought a 16 gauge VH to enrich the experience I have been dreaming about for nearly fifty years.
Searching for a suitable gun through the lens someone who has been accustomed to bespoke Spanish sidelocks and custom-stocked sporters, was a frustrating experience: the stocks are almost all too short and have too much drop at heel.
As a result I have stumbled around this site for the past week or so, trying to get my feet under me. Please excuse my ignorance and inconsideration.
I just did not understand.
It was a fool's errand to try to "perfect" an anachronism. To do so would be to destroy the very essence that I wanted to bring to the northwoods grouse hunting experience. Duh!
But the epiphany did not come, until yesterday, when I finally put the gun in my hands. It is a beautiful little thing! A six and a half pound package that can best be described by a word as archaic as the gun itself: nifty.
It is just such a nifty little thing!
When I assume the position, close my eyes, bring the gun up to my face, and open my eyes again, I am looking more of less straight down the barrels.
Any gunfitter worth his salt would say that the gun is too short.
But there was something in the experience of handling that nifty little gun that took me back fifty years to a different era. And it finally occurred to me: I shot much shorter stocks way back when, before I "knew better." And I could shoot just fine.
Remember the days when the rule of thumb for stock length was to grip the gun and measure to the crook of the elbow? I had forgotten that I had done precisely that with my first shotgun. I took that Remington 1100 straight from Best Products to a gunsmith and him cut the stock and install a recoil pad. If memory serves, the LOP was 13 3/4," precisely the same LOP as this little Parker!
A stubborn paradigm can be a dangerous thing. But a paradigm shift can be serendipity.
I am still ignorant. I don't know much about these old guns. But I am beginning to understand why so many treasure them and want to preserve that which makes them special.
I plan to do more lurking and less posting, to learn more and develop a fuller appreciation of Parker guns.
Cheers to all,
SCG
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08-10-2020, 02:58 PM
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