Grade 7 Pigeon Gun

[Ray Masciarella]

The collective advice you get here is invaluable. It's why I joined PGCA and you should too. There is no other place you could go to get better advice. All of these fellas are extremely helpful. And it's free, except for the $40 it cost to join.
I'm fairly new having only been a member for a couple of years so I dont have the experience others have so the advice I can give you is limited. The best advice you have rec'd here is go slow and only do a correct factory new restoration. The bad news is it's going to cost a lot more then you think but you'll get your money out of it if done correctly.
I have the same concerns as Dean, ie whether anyone will still be around who is qualified when you get around to doing it. The biggest challenge for you seems to be the engraving and barrels. They will probably be the biggest expense too. To insure they are done by someone qualified, maybe you should consider doing it in sections. For example, scrape up the funds to do the barrels. That will take some time to do and give you a chance to save up for the next part of the project. It may take years but so what? You'll have a lifetime to enjoy it along with the satisfaction.
There will always be someone who can, for example, refinish a the stock. But you'll need folks with years of experience to get the engraving and barrels right. That's why you might want to think about getting started.

Good luck! Ray

[Ray Masciarella]

Good luck! Ray

[Richard Flanders]

Holy cow! I'd sure like to have that gun tell it's story on just where it's been! You're a lucky fellow Stephan. I hope you are able to enjoy decades of shooting that beauty. In the end you will never regret spending the money to get it properly restored. A better investment you'll never make....

[Stephen Lyons]

Ill be sure too update on the history of the gun. Ill have to ask some other family members who know about about it. And hopefully that and the research letter, however long that may take, and you'll have the history. It seems like you all appreciate both the history and the guns.

[BRDHNTR]

If this was my gun, I would have Brad Bachelder of Grand Rapids work all wood and have Dan Cullity of Sandwhich, Mass work all metal surfaces. Cullity is a world renown Master Engraver and restorer/builder of fine weapons.
However, I'd have Brad Bachelder do any case coloring as Cullity's colors are not consistent with Parker factory colors (Ryan Cullity, Dan's son acknowledged this to me yesterday) Brad's colors IMHO come as close to original Parkers.

[Dean Romig]

Dan Cullity definitely for the engraving and barrel work but Chris Dawe would by my first choice for the wood work.





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[Harold Pickens]

I had Dan Cullity do a partial restoration probably 20 years ago, or as he called it a hunters special on an old beat up Fox A 16 many years ago. Reblued the barrels, recut checkering, refinished wood, and added nice recoil pad. We left the nicely patinaed receiver alone. I really enjoy shooting this gun now.

[Bill Murphy]

I sure would like to see a scan of the letter he sent for. According to my records, this gun had a pistol grip stock when it was first sent out in early 1898. Supposedly, it was also sent out with no safety. Did our original poster ever get his PGCA letter? And what makes us think that this gun came from the factory with a skeleton buttplate? Sawing enough wood off the stock to install a skeleton plate will make it too short to appear or shoot like original. This gun was probably originally sent out with a Silver pad.

[B. Dudley]

Bill, what records do you have that would suggest no safety? It is not listed in the serialization book with any options. Not that safety delete is an option in the book anyway.

I agree on the pad. By the look of the screws used, it looks like factory work.

[Bill Murphy]

The original order specified "no safety". On November 14, 1907, Shoverling, Daly, and Gales returned the gun for installation of a safety, and to tighten the gun for a charge of $3.50. The gun was restocked more than once and a "soft rubber butt" was installed at one of those restocks.