doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The New Parker Gun

There's no doubt the guns are finely made, American made, and I'd be glad to won one. I just draw the line at calling them 'originals', both because I think it is inaccurate and a slam on the people who did make the originals. If you read TPS you come to understand the people of Meriden, and later Ilion, had tremendous pride in their work and I believe that if they were alive today they'd look at the CSMC guns with a very long eye.

I guess 'to each his own'!

I think if the Meriden workers were alive today.
They would look at the CSMC guns in wonder and amazement, and be totally in awe at the way technology has evolved over the years.
They'd be lining up at the plant to take the tour and learn about how things are done now. :-)

I have to say that although I seldom agree with your comments your paragraph about Parker soul here is pretty damn poetic.

Does a gun or any material thing have a soul or "soul"? To some, a double-barrel shotgun is a dreadful thing. To others a thing of beauty. Isn't the discernment we bring to the object what makes it what it is? GregSY's aesthetic and imaginative sense makes the "soul" for him. The gun is just a gun.

Some of the guys that are working on double guns today would cause the original gunmakers to get down on their knees and bow in respect. They would then go out for a beer to discuss their trades (as well as other pertinent subjects). Today's craftsmen represent the same cross section of U.S. born and European born craftsmen that populated the gun factories of the late 1800s and early 1900s. The customers of Parker Brothers and A.H.Fox never had any contact with the gunsmiths who built their guns. Today, if I have Tony or any other guy build me a gun at a high price, I will have the opportunity to meet the gunsmith, the stockmaker, and engraver, you name it. That puts soul into a gun from day one. Any experiences that I have for the next whatever many years I use the gun will add to that "soul".

Hear here! King. And there are other descriptive definitions of the artifactual reprise besides repro--recreation, replica, copy, revival--or the frequently seen version "repo" which would certainly be more aptly applied to the "reup bonus" Corvette than to a "homage" doublegun. I doubt if a "revival" of a doublegun design has to be or usually is a precisely-detailed working replica made with slavish conformity to either engineering detail or period methods of production (the much abused "handmade") of its original. I also doubt if anyone is being cheated by the new "Parker Bros." target over/under. Pricepoint taken into the equation, it is difficult to see how the Jap Parker repro cheated anyone of their portion of "soul". If you can pony up for any Galazan creation, what is the problem? Many of us can't even consider it. Maybe we need a new watchword: Buy the gun not the will-o-the-wisp of provenance.

jack

To paraphrase Gomer Pyle....shame, shame, shame!

If today's gunmakers are so great why are they copying what someone else did 100 years ago?

Because we're all living in the past.

I believe they are re-creating the past because you can not re-invent the wheel. Over the years it has been perfected, as the Bolt action has. Yes you will see small changes come and go, however the foundation has and will stand the test of time. There are company's out there that choose to follow evalution and they make semi-autos that have made large advancements. We that love the double gun all choose to stay in the past. Sometimes things only better with age. Wine, Double guns, muscle cars, ect....

As for a double gun having soul it is your right to believe what you would like. I believe these have souls and stories. Though they can not speak to us and tell their stories. They are there and I think if we could hear them we would be amazed by them. The soul is from the person that built it, the person that sold it, down to the first person that bought it and all the hands it may or may not have passed onto. The hunts it has been on, the trap and skeet ranges, or sporting clays clubs its been to. The amazing bird dogs it has hunted over. The wonderful game it has taken. The mouths it has feed. Call it what you may, I call it soul. Now I realize some may not be able to call it soul do to their religious beliefs. There is nothing wrong with that. For all of you we can call it charactor.

The guns build in the past were made by a different breed of people. People that knew hard work would bring them what they wanted. People that knew what it was like not to have Freedom. People that came here legally and choose to learn the language and become a productive part of society. Some even illegaly but they learned the language and became a productive part of their communities. Sure there were and always will be those who don't fall under this. However the majority of the people back then fell into this catagory.

Times change and people evolve for the good and the bad. Today we have machines that can cut out many man hours thus reducing the price. We have some better materials out there that are lighter, stronger, and easier to work with. We have many different things that both make the products we buy better and cheaper. However the cost of man hours is always rising. If you want to own a fine made and American made gun it will cost you. If you feel it should be cheaper I suggest you go fillout a job application with Mr. Galazan and inform him you are willing to work in Connecticut (which has one of the highest cost of living in the states, and also very high taxes.) for $5.50 a hour. I am sure he will get you right out there on the floor provided you have the skills. If not I am sure he will gladly hand you a broom and turn you to the task at hand.

Some of them aren't. If you want state of the art go buy a Benelli Montefeltro or a Cosmi or a Beretta 686 series or a Browning Citori. Of course there is also the high dollar state of the art - Beretta SOs, Fabbri, Famars, Galazan O/U etc...

Best,

Mike