VHE Parker - 20 gauge Pigeon gun....?

[Jerry VanHorn]

I have a 32" VHE 16 that had the slot filled in with just a fitted piece of plain metal..No engraving..

[mobirdhunter]

I recall that Aldo Leopold ordered his Fox without a safety. His gun was just for hunting. Some people just don’t want the safety.

[Dean Romig]

True. When the breech is open the gun is safe.





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[Wes Stueber]

Very true, Dean! I'm sure you've seen pictures of hunters in the past w/ their external hammers cocked, chambers loaded and the gun broken open..?

I'm sure those guys were quick enough to close the breech while bringing the gun up to fire w/ NO hammers to worry about cocking!

This subject of 'no safety' would make a great article for our "Parker Pages" magazine.

Thanks for all the comments, esp. the one from Garry about Aldo Leopold & his Fox. I think it's a fascinating subject, but one I'm not comfortable with, YET..!

Wes

[Researcher]

All of the long barrel small-bores that Edwin Hedderly, Editor of Western Field, got from Parker Bros. were ordered without safeties, and he was duck hunting with them. From the cover of a 1966 Guns & Ammo --

Edwin Hedderly 16-gauge A1 Special, 159146.jpeg

The order --

Edwin Hedderly 16-gauge order.jpeg

Likewise, Nash Buckingham's XHE Ansley H. Fox, nicknamed BoWhoop, is a no-safety duck gun --

31088 11.jpg

[Wes Stueber]

Thanks for the photos and info, Dave - much appreciated here!!

I just CANNOT understand the reasoning behind NOT having a safety lever on a shotgun, or any gun, for that matter?

Can you, or any of our other knowledgeable Parker members, enlighten me as to WHY or WHAT they thought back then..? To me, it is very dangerous.

Maybe I should have bid on the VHE 20 gauge w/ 30" bbls. - w/o the safety..? It sold for $3,100. and was made in 1920. Oh well, I'm learning.

Good shooting & thanks again!

Wes

[Mike of the Mountain]

Originally Posted by CraigThompson

Well Ida lost money as Ida bet on you

+1 here !!

[Mike of the Mountain]

Originally Posted by Wes Stueber

Thanks for the photos and info, Dave - much appreciated here!!

I just CANNOT understand the reasoning behind NOT having a safety lever on a shotgun, or any gun, for that matter?

Can you, or any of our other knowledgeable Parker members, enlighten me as to WHY or WHAT they thought back then..? To me, it is very dangerous.

Maybe I should have bid on the VHE 20 gauge w/ 30" bbls. - w/o the safety..? It sold for $3,100. and was made in 1920. Oh well, I'm learning.

Good shooting & thanks again!

Wes

If you are shooting live birds or a clay target game, the gun isn't loaded until ready to shoot. Top shooters preferred that feature. I prefer it too. On my clays guns I'll dismantle the auto-safety. Remove the rod on a Parker, lock the safety off on a Lefever.

Hunting guns are a different animal, there I don't lock the safety off. I never trust that an auto-safety actually engages the safety, I'll always check to make sure the safety is actually engaged. That said, I do use some of my clays guns for hunting, unless they are a live bird configuration.

BTW, I've never seen a SBT with a safety.

[mobirdhunter]

Remember the guns with safeties but not intercepting sears could discharge if dropped. A safety can give a false sense of security and is no substitute for what our fathers told us: treat all guns as if they were loaded, and never point a gun at anything you don’t want to shoot. I want automatic safeties on all my guns, but I cannot ever recall, in over 60 years of using a firearm, where a safety prevented an accident.

[Researcher]

Short barrel open bored guns without safeties are often considered "plantation quail guns" where the shooters road horseback. Gun carried unloaded in your scabbard and only loaded when you dismount and walk in for the flush.