First bird with father's Parker Repro

[Michael Lansing]

Hi everyone. Thanks for such a great forum. I've learned a lot from browsing through your posts. It's time to add one of my own.

For all the years I was growing up, my side-by-side crazy father always insisted that I use one of the many double guns he owned through the years. At age 35 (almost five years ago), I finally took him up on his generosity and began using a lovely B-SS that he set up for me (years before) for clays and for upland hunting. It was stocked not unlike my 1100 Special Field, and for as little as I shot, it worked quite well.

But recently, I took the next step. My father's all-time favorite gun from the mid-1990s until he had to stop shooting (for health reasons) a few years ago was this Parker Reproduction 12 gauge (26" IC-M, one of a two-barreled set). Last week, he suddenly insisted that I take it into the field. I was nervous about taking such a nice gun out into late-season weather, but he prevailed.

I had the pleasure of using this incredible "hand-me-down" for the first time on pheasants earlier today. First shot, first bird down. It handled like a dream. I'm hooked on this beautiful gun. Now I understand what all the fuss is all about. And, of course, it's quite obvious that I am lucky to have a fantastic father with even better taste.

Cheers!

[OH Osthaus]

welcome the the club

nice story and nice gun - is that a melanistic phase pheasant? looks quite dark.

[Walt Kowalski]

I've been out with my 20 ga Reproduction and it is a joy to carry and admire...haven't shot a bird yet but I reeked havoc on a leftover pumpkin...

Thx for the pic...

[esetter - Gerry Addison]

Give your father a hug. He sounds like a great guy and just wait till you shoot a 28 Repro.

[Michael Lansing]

Thanks, gentlemen.

That is a melanistic mutant pheasant--a so-called "black pheasant." Maybe someday I can graduate to a 28-gauge. I'll have to become a much better shot. But because this one was my dad's favorite, it will always be special. And yes, I'm not ashamed to say that I hug him all the time. I'm a lucky son in multiple ways.

All best!

[ch]

Good going.

[Jeff Christie]

My father shot his last rooster with a Repro 28 at the age of 88 in 2004. It was the first and last shot he ever fired out of the gun. The gun piled the bird up nicely. I still have the empty case. It was a 1 oz Super X No. 6. An ounce of 6's will roll any rooster under 25 yds- especially when pointed.

[Dean Romig]

Michael, yours is a great testament to the Parker Reproduction. Many of us really like the Repros and appreciate that they aren't just a cheap 'knock-off' of a fine old American side-by-side but are so well made they are the closest thing to the real deal of anything made to replicate the old American side-by-sides.
Your Dad passed it down the line to you, knowing how much you would appreciate it, and that's exactly the way it was done - father to son - with the original Parkers.

The beat goes on!!

[C.O.B.]

Welcome to the club. Enjoy the legacy your father has passed down to you. There is no better gun for the money than a Parker Reproduction IMHO. I assume your hunting in a preserve setting and the Pheasant looks like a Seshwann (I question my spelling) not a mutant. Mich did some released Pheasants years ago and this was a different strain of Pheasant from the Chinese Ringneck we are used to seeing.

[Richard Skeuse]

Hi Michael, Welcome, I know a George Lansing in Minneapolis. Is he any relation?