What did I just buy?

[Landy67]

Hi Gang,

I was looking for an old double gun to play 5 stand with. I picked this one up at a gun show. There wasn't anything about how the chokes were set, so I used the dime trick. It looked like it was IC/M, but when I patterned it, I think it's F/F.

Before I patterned it I tried skeet, and 5 stand, and got frustrated, but then I was shooting 23's and 24's in trap.

I found this website, and looked up the serial number. It's a 1910 VH, 30" Vulcan barrel, with double trigger. The but-plate has a crack in it, and the drop is too much for a target gun so I added the Cabela's Triple K leather comb raiser.

The gun isn't what I was looking for, but now that I'm hitting the targets in trap, I'm having trouble letting go.

How do you judge the value of one of these? I've seen similar guns sell on gun broker for $450 to $1800. What makes the price so much different?

Here's the gun... The wood is in good shape, no cracks or repairs. The toe of the stock is chipped, and the plate is cracked. The checkering is so worn that I thought it was rolled instead of cut. There are a couple of scratches on the metal, and the bluing is worn off on the right barrel right where you would hold it while carrying it.
New(ish) Parker

[Fishtail]

You don't say what condition the bores are in...

The receiver looks super shiny, like maybe someone polished it up.


In any case, it's probably a sub-$1000 gun. But probably more than $500.

[OH Osthaus]

Originally Posted by Dan Hatton

How do you judge the value of one of these? I've seen similar guns sell on gun broker for $450 to $1800. What makes the price so much different?

the wide range of prices is affected by the wide range of condition and in the upper range- often a dose of wishful thinking

and there are some VH's out there that command much more than others - say a high condition 3 frame 32 or 34 inch-
that would be no comparison to a well worn 1 frame with 28 inch barrels


but to paraphrase the Realtor- "condition condition condition"

[Setter Man]

One big question is the condition of the wood under that leather comb.

[Landy67]

The bores are bright and shiny, there are no pits or dings anwhere. The chambers had lots of surface rust. I cleaned them with a new brush and BLU rust inhibitor. The rust came back the first time I used the gun.

Under the leather pad the the wood is good. The finish is all there, no cracks and only a couple of small dents in the wood. I think it's in amazing shape considering the amount of use this thing must have had over the years.

Was F/F a common choke combo?

[Bill Murphy]

Yes.

[Landy67]

Why is there so much drop on the comb? It seems to be much more than my other field guns.

Is it possible to swap out an english stock? Are there replacements available?

I'm going to try shooting some doubles trap with it this weekend. I'm using 7/8 oz loads and still hitting 23's and 24's. This my be my new trap gun.

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Dan Hatton

Was F/F a common choke combo?

I have a #1 frame VHE and a #2 frame VH both 12 gauge and both 30" and amazingly enough both F&F !

[BRDHNTR]

I handled this double today while shooting five stand at the Old Colony Club in Pembroke, Mass. The gun is as Dan has presented it. Number 2 frame. Barrels are un cut, all numbers match and wood is very nice considering it's just a VH. Frame has been polished but border engraving remains very sharp. A nice shooter that all Dan needs to do is have someone repair the small chip out of the butt stock toe (very small) and repair or replace the butt plate that has a vertical crack (I would glue it up and screw it back on, it's not a crack that runs the full length of the plate). Great find, and great price Dan paid for this estate double. Congrats to Dan.

[George Lander]

I believe that Parker shipped many of their lower grade guns with full & full chokes so that the chokes could be opened to the customer's wishes. JMHO.....George