CH Opportunity

[paul stafford jr]

my son has offered as much as 3500.00 for a set of good bernards with no takers

[D.P. Warden]

I just returned home from visiting it's current owner. The serial number is 82331 and he has received the detailed letter on the CH from our very own organization. The barrels on the gun are titanic steel and the serial numbers match. There is a 2 stamped on them, he tells me that it represents the fact that they are a second Parker set produced for this gun. The original barrels the letter says are Bernard.
It has a skeleton butt plate, it sold for 150.00, sent to the New York Exposition in 1896 where it took first place, it was returned the NY Exposition in 1897 where it again took top honors. The CH was offered for sale in 1900 and sold to baseball great C.H. Mathewson of the New York Giants. Mathewson went on to be one of the 1st 5 players inducted into Cooperstown.
The gun can be found in Book 29
Built in 1895
30" barrels
English straight stock.
The left side of the receiver has a pointer and a lot of scroll.
The right side has a setter and a lot of fine scroll.
The bottom has 6 quail, trees, bushes and more scroll.
I left him with a substantial down payment and will return to get it in two weeks, Ed and Charlie, I certainly hope you are right.
I am the proud owner of a DT-10 Trident which i use regularly to give my fellow trap shooting opponents ulcers. Never did I think I would ever spend that much on another shotgun. Maybe by the time I pick it up I'll feel better, but right now I'm more than a little anxious....

[Chris T.]

The guilt will pass! Do we have to wait the two weeks too, or did you take some photos? I'm anxious to see it, sounds great.

[Autumn Daze]

Congratulations Mr.Warden Pictures please as Chris say's.

[D.P. Warden]

At this time I have no photos, didn't take a camera, was worried I'd look too ready to purchase. Photos will be taken and uploaded very soon, any do's or dont's once it's in my collection?
If I shoot it, should I use tubes? Should I put out an "all points bulletin" for the Bernard barrels serial number 82331? Would it be crazy to use to hunt quail, even if it's plantation hunting?

[Bruce Day]

Just shoot and enjoy the gun. No tubes. Regular shells.

South Dakota wild birds. Store bought Federal shells.

The first one is an 1896 A 12 that went back for Titanic barrels from the original damascus.

The second one is a 1904 C 16 that went back in 1939 for Rem barrels from the original damascus. Has knurled triggers, sort of unusual.

The President Harrison A grade has its damascus barrels replaced by Titanics.

That is not to say to not look for original barrels. Maybe something will come along, maybe not.

[paul stafford jr]

congrats another fine gun coming home

[Bill Mullins]

As I recall Christy Mathewson was a member and frequent guest of an old hunting club called Camp Bryan in coastal North Carolina. Other baseball notables such as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig also visited the camp. Ted Williams was a guest in the early 1950's.
If old guns "could only talk"---and if we only look and listen closely I am not too sure that they really do!!

[Dean Romig]

Being commissioned specifically for the New York Exposition in 1896 I'm sure it must have lovely engraving!

[Fishtail]

So you have a CH with factory Titanic barrels. I wouldn't get too bent out of shape over finding the Bernard barrels. It's not like the gun is a piece of junk without them.

Here's my opinion - there were plenty of guns which were sent back to Parker for new barrels which usually were fluid steel. The old barrels were most likely placed in an old keg that stood in a corner and every so often was emptied out by the scrap man.

It's fun to think every gun that received a second set of barrels wound up as a two barrel set but I'd guess a lot of times the second set was bought because the first set had been blown up, run over, etc. and no one spent a lot of time worrying about them.