The subject Parker arrived 2nd Day Air, and was delivered to Thornton, Co. late Friday. However, it was too late in the day for me to travel and secure it. Today I was on the road at 8:00am to finish the deal. It was still company sealed in a hard case when they presented me the shotgun in the Library. My first hands on inspection revealed no negative surprises. Whew! The positive items of note were that there is much more case color present than I had anticipated and the extremely well fitted recoil pad is marked "Frey Mershon Inc." at the top and "Pat. Ped." & "L.A. CAL." at the bottom, a period correct pad. The furniture is well preserved with minimal marks of note, while the blueing is also very nice, deep and consistent. The bores are immaculate. The grip cap reads "Parker Bros Meridan, Conn."
Somehow one of the ejection hammers was sprung and I recocked it when I got home. The forend fits vey tight when it snaps in.
Once home I measured the bores at the muzzle with a mic and determined the Right Bore measured .650 for a constriction of .012 (Between Skeet II & Mod.) and the Left Bore measured .635 for constriction of .027 (Full Choke). Probably not the correct way to measure but I am curious by nature.
The length of pull is right at 14" while the drop at the heel was 2.25", measured from the top of the barrel, not the top of the ventilated rib. Here again not terribly scientific but when I shoulder it my eye lines up perfectly down the rib to the front bead. There is a tiny ivory mid bead but I can't really even see it.
I have to wonder when the shotgun was ordered with all of the splendid special order features just what was the intended purpose? With the 30" barrels and a ventilated rib perhaps a mild recoiling trap gun is what he/she had in mind. A 1938 gun with production details on IBM cards no doubt won't reveal much but I intend to order one anyway.
So, it was a fine day and I appreciate the feedback from the experienced folks on the forum.
Last edited by Bruce P Bruner; 02-20-2021 at 05:45 PM..
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