Research letter on 36"Parker V Grade

[Dakota Jeff]

I found this gun last fall at a local gun show and just had to have it with the long barrels being unique.It isn't a very pretty gun as the receiver and trigger guard are dark and pitted,as are the last several inches of the barrels.The bores look good and the action is not super tight but is very shootable.The forend iron is from a different gun and is engraved and has ejectors.It also has a beaver tail which I doubt is factory.I believe the stock to be a replacement as there is no serial number stamped under the trigger guard.It has also been cut,added back into with a plastic spacer and a Hawkins pad added for a length of 14 1/4 inchs.Like I said,not pretty but it will kill ducks as I got a double with it last fall on a pair of green heads while pass shooting.According to the Parker Serialization and Identification book this gun was built in 1915,and I have heard that only possibly 3 were built with 36 inch barrels.Im confused with the letter stating it was returned to a Theo. Wallace of Canton S.D.which is only 10 miles from where I live and grew up.As the letter states Mr.Wallace sent in a set of barrels to be framed and stocked for another gun.Would that have been beside purchasing this gun or was this gun fitted with the other set of barrels also?I have done a little research and found a Wallace family that came from England and settled near Canton S.D. sometime after 1865.There were 5 sons in this family,of which none were named Theo.The search continues.This gun has 2 7/8 or 3 inch chambers depending how you measure it.With a galazan chamber gauge it comes to 3 inches flush with the end of the barrels at the chamber. The forcing cone is 3/4 of an inch long,and then opens a few more thousands gradually for about 7 inches to the bore of .7365.The gun is choked at .043 in right and .044 in left.Sorry for the extremely long post but I think this is quite a unique gun and wanted to share it with the experts on this site.Im hoping this Virus gets under control as I've made some new friends here and hope to get together for some shooting and hunting this year.Thank you,Jeff Sweeter.