I Saw the Light

[John Davis]

I wonder if it's the same gun Gilbert broke 589 straight with in 1919.

[Mills]

Here's the letter. Gun is supposed to be on the way and will post photos when it is in hand.

Gilbert owned the gun in 1919 but returned it for some reason.

[Dean Romig]

Probably because he didn’t break 590.





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[Mills]

Ha! Funny thought but also a possibility

[John Davis]

We need to figure out the date of Gilbert's world record straight run. There's a decent chance that this was the gun.

[John Davis]

From the 1920 catalogue

[Mills]

That would be really cool! Unless he ordered or had another SBT during that time, it would have to be. The fact that he returned it for credit suggests against it though

[John Davis]

I don't think so. He was a professional shooter and was getting lots of guns from Parker on consignment. He wasn't wed to them. It's not beyond reason to surmise he would have set the record with this gun and then sent it back. And after all, it was on consignment/loan and had to go back at some point.

I believe if we can determine Gilbert had this gun when the record was set, then that's a pretty good argument for it being the one. Of course we will never know for sure unless someone identifies it by serial number in a report or account of the shoot. And that's a long shot.

Regardless, having a Parker that was once in Fred Gilbert's hands is very cool.

[J. Scott Hanes]

Originally Posted by John Davis

I don't think so. He was a professional shooter and was getting lots of guns from Parker on consignment. He wasn't wed to them. It's not beyond reason to surmise he would have set the record with this gun and then sent it back. And after all, it was on consignment/loan and had to go back at some point.

I believe if we can determine Gilbert had this gun when the record was set, then that's a pretty good argument for it being the one. Of course we will never know for sure unless someone identifies it by serial number in a report or account of the shoot. And that's a long shot.

Regardless, having a Parker that was once in Fred Gilbert's hands is very cool.

Not to throw cold water on the possibility that this Parker was the one Gilbert made the long run with, however, I KNOW trapshooters and if Gilbert did use the SBT in question in the long run, it would not have been returned! He would have purchased it before ever sending it back. For a top professional in that era, a consignment really had no time limit.

Scott Hanes

[Mills]

Lots of good news today, of which this was a big one. The bad news is the seller was not able to get it shipped, so we wait another day