Delgrego Restock?

[Steve Hodges]

Looked at a nice 16 gauge GH the other day. Looks like restored case colors and wood. Letter says it originally had a pistol grip stock but now has a straight grip. In 2008 the owner sent pictures to Larry and inquired if he did the restoration work. Larry answered that it looked like his work but could not say for certain. I asked the seller if he could check under the tang to see if a serial number was present in the wood. He got back to me with a picture and there is the serial number in the wood with "LDG" stamped above it. Question. Does this mean that Delgrego restocked the gun? If so, why when asked about the work in 2008 why did Larry not suggest checking under the tang? Or was it restocked by Parker and Larry added his initials when he refinished the gun?
I have attempted to upload the picture but the site is being finicky again and not allowing it. I will try again later to post the picture.

[edgarspencer]

I would say yes, he re-stocked it. The nose of his combs was very much like Remington made guns. Is his stamp also on the barrel flats, LDG inside a circle?

[Steve Hodges]

Edgar, I do not see his stamp on the barrel flats

[edgarspencer]

Steve, I'm not sure any conclusions can be drawn from either the presence or absence of the circled LDG stamp. It IS present on a Runge / DelGrego upgraded gun I have but few have ever seen it and have guns from his shop. It may simply be a stamp he had made, used randomly, and then just stopped using it.

[Joe D.]

I have a VH which has the LDG in a circle on the barrel flats. I called Mr. Del Grego about a year ago and asked if it is their mark. He said that his father marked the barrels that he bought from Remington with that stamp. He said that my gun was restored with this barrel from their stock.
It may be that he also marked stocks the same way to identify those which he purchased from Remington.

[edgarspencer]

Joe, That's interesting that Larry told you that. My gun was made well before Remington owned the Parker name. It was originally a VHE 28 gauge, with 30" barrels. It was upgraded by them, and engraved by Robert 'Bob' Runge to a CHE, so I seriously doubt they were barrels they bought from Remington (they have the stamped legend as would be correct for a Meriden gun). The gun was originally straight stocked, but the present straight stock is of DelGrego origin, and is stamped in the tang channel, LDG '60 (the year may not be correct, I'm going from memory, from what Brian Dudley told me).

[Steve Hodges]

Today I was able to post a picture of the stock markings and the barrel flats.

[Joe D.]

Was trying to upload pictures of my gun. Don't see them, though. OK, now I do......