Navets Volants.....I like that. I'm going with flying parsnips.
I'm lucky enough to have handled this gun. Gil is right, the engraving is very attractive, although I think he is downplaying it a bit. Better yet, what engraving is there looks like it was cut yesterday....pretty good for a gun made in the mid 1930s.
Another thing of note about it. As Gil mentioned, he intends to replace the pad. I'm not sure with what yet but I can tell you that it is a 14" LOP to the uncut end of the stock right now. Always nice to find under a pad like that.
And when the wood gets a refinish, it is really going to pop.
The more I handle Manufance Ideals, the more I am comfortable with the idea that, like most of the big American concerns, while they had clearly defined grade levels, the company was in the business of making what the customer wanted. This gun of Gil's has better wood than a 302 should have and more extensive engraving, especially on the fences. To me it looks like they did a normal 302 then pimped it up with game scenes, the fences and a extra nice stick.
Good buy Gil! Ya dun good!
