If anyone reads the doublegunshop forum, there was recently a post about a Parker coming up for auction Sept 23rd in Pa. The description was a VH 12ga, 2 barrel set, possibly a 1/2 frame gun. The wife and I took a drive up there yesterday. I was lucky to purchase the gun.
It is indeed a combination Parker/Remington VH 12ga, 1/2 frame, 2 barrel set manufactured in 1937. The IBM card only states that it is a VH 12ga with one 28" barrel.
Did I mention that the gun also has the original hang tags
I also bought the 1937 price list that came with the gun but bought separately.
The receiver has the word Parker on the underside of the receiver. There is no case colors left on the receiver except for the water table and there is slight pitting on the receiver but nothing that I would do to correct that. All the screws are in good shape, not buggered up. The measurements on the receiver correspond to 1/2 frame measurements.
The first set of barrels are 28" and have the proper Meriden rib inscriptions with the blank at the end of the rib. The RH barrel is choked .020 and the LH .039 with a bore of .734, just like the hang tag says.
The second set of 28" barrels are Remington barrels, also with a blank at the end of the rib and the serial number is on the barrel flats. They are choked RH cylinder and LH improved cylinder. I don't know if the chokes are original but it would make sense to have one set tight and the other open. Both barrels have the same Remington code on them for repair in May 1938. I'm thinking that that is when the 2nd set of barrels were added. The bluing on the Rem barrels has some blueing loss but the original barrels are very good with just a few pin size rust pits. Both barrel sets have mirror bores.
The gun came with a White Line recoil pad that was hard as a brick. I thought it was possibly original but when I took it off, there was 3rd screw hole in the wood so I want to measure the spacing of a DHBP to see if they match. I'm going to put on a Kickezz pad for shooting purposes, then in the future fit a period correct pad for show.
Both forends need refinishing. The original one has a modified oil finish like True Oil, the other forend has minimal finish on it as you can see from the picture. The butt stock has the original finish but a few bare spots in the wood. Only minor scratches that can be steamed out. I'll refinish everything to the original shellac.
I've put pictures in the Album. Days like yesterday don't happen often enough
09-24-2012, 05:11 PM
"Double guns are a sport and a pastime built into a beautiful package to which I attach myself when entering the great theater of autumn, those days now grow more precious because we are given so few".. Robin Lacy
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