When my dad died, he had over 50 side by sides, and more than half were Parkers. The rest were English. If you held one of his H&H 20s in one hand and his Purdey 20 in the other, my description of "warmth" would be more easily understood.
He had a virtually new DHE 20 with 26" barrels and one day brought home a reproduction 20, in all repects, the same gun. To look at either, you felt you were holding a great gun, but to hold the two at the same time, the warmth factor popped right out. He gave that 20 to one off my Nephews, and I'm still trying to figure out how to get it back. The repro went in short order.
I think what I find I like the least of the Repros is the stock and fore end. I also don't like their cyanide case colors, but a little borax and linseed oil cures that fast. I prefer guns with dark wood, and oil finishes. Maybe 'warmth' comes with age, because I have a friend who has a repro 16 with more miles on it than most originals, and it 'feels' good.
My dad's CHE 28 became my daughter's Master's degree, and that's an itch I am still scratching. I know I could get a repro 28 tomorrow, but will wait till the right real one comes along that I can afford. I know it won't be a CHE, but a VH would be just fine. I look at gauge and configuration before grade anyway.
We'll have to agree to disagree on the likability of repros. They may, and probably are good guns, but I have enough variety in my guns, and there's no void that only a repro can fill
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