Rescue Gun

[Garth Gustafson]

I was at a gun show in Northern Illinois one Sunday morning a while back. I really wasn't serious about buying another Parker that day but to tell you the truth, the fever was high and I would have liked to add to my Parker collection of 1 (a VH 16ga -Delgrego restoration). There were a few side by sides there that day but as I was about ready to leave one sxs sitting alone all by itself on a table caught my eye and I wandered over to take a closer look. What grabbed my attention was the stock. Stock and fore end had been crudely painted with what looked like plastic paint using a paintbrush. It might as well have been a toothbrush. It reminded me of some of my own paint jobs when I was 10, thick and uneven, streaks and paint running onto the frame. Ugh! A rushed job for sure. It looked a lot like a plastic BB gun stock. And the stock was short, real short - even with that Red Head recoil pad it was too short. I had to force myself to look at the frame... but lo and behold it had a recessed hinge pin! I looked closer and it was a GH with Damascus barrels! OMG!

The gun now had my full attention and I started thinking about a checklist of all the things I learned from everyone on this board...barrels were uncut, some dents but not too bad. Some light hammer marks from an old bulge repair. Bores looked ok with only some minor pitting. Damascus pattern quite visible with good level of finish remaining. Barrels rang clear as a bell. Barrels on face, action tight. Serial numbers matched, screws appeared un-turned except the roll pin was chewed up. No buffing, engraving was crud-filled but it all looked ok. A little case color still remained on the floorplate and sides. And it was a 16 ga, 28" barrels, O frame.
An interesting detail was even though this GH was made in 1897 it had the old raised panel checkered grip cap from earlier days. Everything worked. The more I saw the more I liked it. The gun was telling me to take a chance on it. The barrels worried me a little. I didn't have a wall thickness gauge, neither did the dealer. And it definitely needed a new stock. We agreed on a realistic price and I sent it off to Brian Dudley for a barrel evaluation and pending that, a new stock.

Well, the gun passed barrel inspection with MWT .029" and I got it back this week with a new stock. I'm really thrilled with the transformation and the work Brian did was outstanding. Fit, finish and checkering are excellent. The fore end was salvaged and refinished. Went with GH grade appropriate Circassian walnut butstock with some figure, new DHBP, ultrasonic cleaning, dent removal and hinge pin screw. Reinstalled existing grip cap and shield. And with the new stock dimensions, the gun fits me like a glove. I'm going to get out to the range next week and pattern it. What a great gun!