1930 Parker VHE

[John Farrell, Charter Member #33]

The ultimate mystery is - if the gun had been used, and cleaned, there would be some residue of gun oil or cleaning solvent somewhere in the stock (or forend), either at the head of the stock, in the area of the trigger assembly, near the safety etc. I never saw anyone standing guns on the muzzles until sometime in the 80's when I first started collecting Parker guns. So sometime in its life the gun must have been stood in the corner after cleaning and Hoppe's or other solvent or oil would seep into the wood. The sharpness of the engraving around the periphery of the sides of the receiver also indicates little use. The forend is also without evidence of oil or solvents.

I don't know the answer to this question. If the gun was re-case colored or reblued sometime in the past, would the iron parts of the forend be disassembled and case colored or reblued? Hmmmm !!

Finally - the cost of renovating the gun to its present condition brings up the question of who would spend that kind of money for a VHE gun? According to the PGCA research letter, in 1935 the cost of a VHE was $100.40. The initial research into the name of the original owner comes back with the info that he was a banker. Would the banker simply purchase another gun instead of sending the gun back to Parker for a new stock? And stick the broken gun in the closet, as reported?

As conspiracy theorists say, there are many unanswered questions. JF