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by Tom Keer w i n t e rw h e n I h a da f r e m e m b e tr h e p a r l i c u l a r l yl a r g e p i l e o l o a k t h a t I I needed lo besplit.Insteadofgrabbing the sledge,some wedges,and an axe I foundmyselfperusinga numberof internetsites that listed classicAmerican shotgunsfor sale.My cabinetwasn'tfull but,there weren'[ too many gapseither. Still,I hadn'tfounda perfectuplandgun, the one that I reachedfor every time I grabbedthe setters and headedout,the door.I didn't really have the loot for a superniceshotgun,but I felt compelled to look nonetheless.Maybe it, was iust thatI didn'tmuchfeel like splittingwood. Oneday,a shotguncaught,my eye.lt wasownedby a man in Californiaand I couldn'tunderstandwhy he'd wan[ [o sell it. lt was a Parker VH two-barrel set.The20 gaugebarrelswere26 inches longandwerechokedmodifiedandfull. The 28 gauge barrels were 28 inches lone and were choked the same.The
price was so staggeringlycheap that evenI could afford it,. Thegun was burieddeepin the listing sheetwhich meant,that it had been posted for a while. I was baffled;why wasn'tthis littlesliceof Heavensnapped up on the first day it,was listed?This rvouldbe classicAmericanside-by-sidc perfectfor grouscandwoodcockhunting, and it'd be idealfor quail huntingloo. I couldn'thave contriveda better configuration,and so I reachedout to the ownerand requestedmore pictures. I didn'tneedto blorvup the images to be horrified.Three drpail screws heldthe stocktogether,and lwo of them wererustyandonewas missingits head. The stock had been pinnedin an ugly fashion, and the toe of the trutt was chipped.I'hat,meant,the dog'sheadbutt plate was shatteredtoo. The receivcr screwswere chewedup, they were ou[ of traditionalParkeralignment,and both
setsof barrclsweresilver.Nocasecolors remainedon the receiver.Thissun was beyond'roughbook'. But somethingabout,it mademe call [,heorvner.He respondedthat therewere no dingsin the barrelsand no pil,tingin the bores.He describedthe hingepin to be tight rvilh no wiggle in a side-to-side test. Oddlyenough,the top leversat in the appropriate,slightlyoff-center,position. I imaginedthat at,least,one former owner confusedthe VH with a hammer, a monkcywrench,and screwdriver. The seller askedif I neededto see more pictufes,for he could send over somemorein the evening.He saidhe'd sendthem after breakfast,which meant I couldreviewthem over lunch. "That'snol necessary,"I said.Seeing more imagesrvouldbe like revisitinga crime scene."Do you acceptcredit,cards for the three-dayinspection?"I asked. Therewas silenceon the other end.
Thelittle Parkergetsthe game.
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Tom Keer'swife, one to grab
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"You're in thisgun?" reallyinterested 'Why?" he asked. "Well,the gaugesand barrelsare goodformygrouse, woodcock, andquail "Plus hunting."I said. I was born in Meriden,and havean affinity for ConnecticutRivenValleyfirearms." The guysfrom my local gun shop calledmea fewdalslaterandannounced the gun'sarrival.I arrivedat the gun shopafterwork andfoundthat a crowd hadgathered.Evidentlytheywantedto seewhatjerk wouldbuy a gun in this condition? Therewereseveralsmirks. maybea fewsniggers,but I quietlyfilled out the paperworkand packedup the gun.I overheard oneguymumble"He'll ship it back when he comesto his period Thethrce-day inspection senses." endedunceremoniously. BirdEvansoncesaidthat "the George manwho goesout with a gun without traditionis asimpoverished astheman whogoesout withouta dog,"and so I set aboutrestoringthe silvermess.I wanteda straightEnglishstock,barrel brownon bothsets,andnewcasecoloringonthereceiver. I neededthechokes openedon the 20 gaugeto .000for the
rightbarreland.004for theleft.I'd leave the 28 gaugechokesalone. And so I mademy way downthe Massachusetts Tlrrnpikewhich then and becamethe NewYorkThroughway ultimatelyarrivedin llion, NewYork. I hadscheduled a visitwith LarryDel GregoIII to discussmy work, and to see someoptionsfor my stock.After into the back a whilehe disappeared room and emergedwith one of the prettiestand highlyfiguredpiecesof blackwalnutthatI hadeverseen.When I thoughtaboutthegun'spresentconditionandimagined howit wouldlook upon completionI hopedthat time wouldpassquickly. It didn't.But then one daythe UPS driverpulledup in frontof myhome.He heldthetell-talecardboard shipping box delivery; thatsignifiedonlyonepossible my Parker.I left the boxon my deskfor abouta halfhour.Partof mewantedto rip it openwith the vigor of a child at Christmaswhile the other part of me lookedat it with trepidation.Aftera half hour or so I slit the packingtapewith my old Marbleknifeandlookedinside. A phoenixhadrisenftomthe ashes.
A gun that nice doesn'tdeserveto sit in a cabinet,methinks.It demands to beused.Andso,I do.I beginmybird huntingseasonin the alderruns that pockmarkthe NewBrunswick,Canada river bottoms.It accompaniesme throughoutthe hillsidegmusecoverts and throughareasthat wereclear cul a decadeor so ago.I'll hunt my way backthroughcentralMaineuntilI arrive in NewHampshire. Oncetheremywife and kids join me andwe'll followour settersthroughareasthat I imagine werehuniedby all of the greatgrouse andwoodcockwriterswho huntedin thestate;Spiller,Thpply, Woolner, Crcss, Putnam,and, of course,Ford.Many times I'll followthe flightsdowninto Massachusetts andinto pantsof Connecticut,andwhenthe snowflies I'll pause.Latefall andthroughthewinter is when we visit my wife's family in North Carolina,so my Parkertrades the grouseandwoodcockcovertsfor the Johnsonand switchgrassfields pockmarked bypearlmilletandrimmed with pinesandoaks. Nowadays the casecolorsarestartingt0 fade,andthesweatftnmmyhands has worn throughsomeof the brown. Onedaythe barrelswill be silverfrom wear,but therewill be fondmemories carried in the stock.Thoseof Rebel pointinghis first woodcockor Albert point his first grouse.Or of anhonored of OcracokeandRowdyon a coveyof quail.Therewill bea bit NorthCarolina of rust fromthetimewe huntedall day in the downpourbecauselhe flights wereon, and a dingin the stockhom crossingthe stonewall at the endof a long day.I'm just a temporaryowner, onewho has addeda few morepoints and a coupleof birdsto the Parker's history.Andcometo thinkof it, thenext owner,andI hopeit is manyyears from now,will probablywant to spruceit up a bit, too. (CtrSl Note:.A versionof this story appeared in SportingClassicsDailywhereitwon a Best Writingof 2014award. First NorthAmericanSerialRights Coplright2014 byTomKeer The Parkeris equallyat home in the New Englandgrouse and woodcockcoversas it is in the Southernquailfields.
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