Unique G Grade Engravings

[Brush Buster]

Originally Posted by ed good

well, now we are startin to get some where...any body got any known runge pitchers that they would care to share? did runge sign his work? if so, where?

Hello Ed ,This gun is not a G Grade but a CHE and is believed to be a Runge Engraved Gun ,Serial # 240983 ,not too far off the Gun pictured ! Quail also on the bottom of this gun ,I don't know if this is a good comparison but have no G Grade guns at the moment in that serial # area ,hope this might help ! By the way that is a nice G Grade you have pictured ! Russ

[Brush Buster]

As Dean Mentioned ,the Upgraded Parkers by DelGrego and Runge are Signed / Stamped , Ed ,here is a picture of a VHE 410 Upgraded to a BHE and signed by Runge ! This is Runge for sure ! Russ

[ed good]

very interesting that runge and del grego "upgraded parkers"...

the examples shown here are mag na fik!

[ed good]

did a google search for bob runge engraver and came up with this:

http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10150

and this:

http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=936

[ed good]

and then there is this:

http://www.vintagefirearmsinc.com/in...&product_id=82

gotta go take a cold shower now...

[charlie cleveland]

wow...charlie

[C.O.B.]

I bet you have never seen a GHE like this one. Ordered through Kerr's of Beverly Hills, CA. Its a 0ne frame 16 with two sets of barrels with vent ribs and BTF per the factory.

[Brush Buster]

Hey Rich ,Beautiful ! I have an excellent condition ,Kerrs of Beverly Hills Pad should you be able to use it Rich ,You are welcome to it !

[Kevin McCormack]

Once again, lots of erroneous information and conclusions in this thread regarding Runge engraving and Parker gun manufacture and assembly re: Meriden and Ilion production. (We had a similar rondele' about a year or so ago on all of this; it would be most useful to revisit that thread to debunk the rumors, innuendo, and outright BS).).

Women having been used as "secret" engravers during the Meriden-Ilion transition is pure hogwash, as is the concept of frames being hardened and colored in Ilion and sent back to Meriden as Brian pointed out. The bone charcoal case coloring process was abandoned by Remington after they recognized that uniformity in the process vs. preparation time and costs could not be reconciled in the end pricing of the guns. The cyanide coloring process was adopted by Remington after repeated attempts by the Storm brothers to instruct Remington craftsmen in the art of bone charcoal coloring had been abandoned. Coincidentally enough, Parker Bros. themselves had begun investigating the cyanide coloring process before the Remington buyout for the very same reasons during the middle years of the depression.

The progression of events leading to the demise of the Parker Gun and to the practice of upgrading guns, especially smallbores, is well known and documented in The Parker Story. The "early" Runge-Del Grego upgrades, begun over 30 years ago now, are most highly sought after. To my knowledge, all of the legitimate R-DG upgrades are signed prominently on the water tables.

Parker Bros. usually prohibited engravers from signing their work, but of course some of the old masters (Gough, etc.) sneaked their signatures in obscure places (e.g., trigger guard bow screw wells, brushy backdrops in game scenes, etc.). Remington pursued this practice of not signing engraving on Parker Guns during production at ilion, but of course allowed it without reservation on their centerfire rifles and shotguns coming our of the Custom Shop.

After his retirement from Remington, Bob Runge engraved hundreds of pistols for private individuals. Like his other signed works, they are very highly sought after today.

[Harry Reed]

Was not trying to suggest the story of women engraving Parkers is true. Just trying to illustrate some of the tall tales about Parkers I have heard over the years. Thanks Kevin for saying it better then I could.