That serial number stamped in the wood under the trigger guard tang is NOT something you can use to ascertain originality.
I have a VH 20 gauge that has been restocked by DelGrego in the late 70's and the gun's serial number is stamped into the wood in that location, as I suspect so many others are that have been restocked. That little "trick" of determining originality has been out of the bag for decades so it doesn't really mean a lot these days.
The wood on the subject gun is, in my opinion, not original to the gun just as the Vulcan Steel barrels are replacements. If the research letter shows the barrels were replaced at the Parker factory consider yourself fortunate to at least have that going for the gun.
I have never seen an original Parker stock with that style of fluting at the "nose of the comb", that angle of the top of the flute simply isn't 'right' except on Parkers ordered with the "Trap Comb." not to say they never did but in the many, many hundreds of Parkers I have seen and examined this one just doesn't conform. That and the fact that the checkering pattern and the fleur-de-lis was not used on a Grade 4 unless it was a special order and such a special order would certainly be noted in the research letter.
The gun is beautiful otherwise.
Last edited by DAM16SXS; 08/08/21 11:44 PM.
