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The Project: Parker Reproduction, A-1 Special

by Gregory Tejfert

From the pages of the Double Gun Journal. Index & Reader Volume 3 - 2006 to 2022

The advertisement read “Parker Reproductions, Limited Special Edition A-1 Special, Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Company.” A week or so later my friend, Bill Shipman, called me and said, “Greg, I have an appointment to meet with Tony Galazan to look at Parkers. Do you want to go with me?”

I was born at York Hospital in 1947, grew up in Kittery, Maine, and learned to hunt and fish with my two grandfathers, Samuel Hopkins and George Shannon. Grandpa George taught me about fly fishing and once said to me, “Greg, this is a Leonard Tournament fly rod I purchased following the Depression, and it cost me dearly. Be careful not to break the tip when casting close to trees off the riverbank of the Pine River.”

My grandpa Sam (who insisted I call him Sam) taught me gun safety and the cleaning and care of firearms. When I was around ten he told me I was ready to shoot a firearm, and so we drove to Sea Point Beach where he taught me to fire his 16-gauge Parker shotgun with the cut-down stock and sawed-off barrel. Sam said this gun must have been trimmed back to fit a woman. “I got it for you so you can learn to shoot and hunt.” Wayne Pruett, my best friend through both grade school and high school and to this day, had a similar baptism with his dad teaching him to hunt and fish. Wayne would join me with Sam regularly for hunting trips, primarily around York County, Maine. Wayne and I were inseparable during hunting seasons. Many a time we were late for football practice on Saturdays because we were hunting with Sam, who was like a father to both of us.

Wayne is a regular at Willie’s Gun Shop in Ellsworth, Maine, trying to corner the market on Winchester Model 12s. You know, the shotguns with one barrel!

Occasionally Wayne and I still hook up for a few days of bird hunting in Milo, Maine, and talk about the great times we had hunting with Sam. I did not appreciate my little Parker and I soon outgrew it. It was pitted, cut down, and in pitiful shape. Although “modified for a woman,” it was my first experience with a side by side in the field. I believe Sam must have sold it when I went away to college.

“Ok Bill, let’s go—I’m not interested in getting anything at CSM, but I’ll help you look!” So off to New Britain we went to visit with Tony so I could drool over the specimens in the “Gun Room.”

The last time Bill said let’s look at Parker Reproductions was in 1995 when we became aware of a CSM advertisement that said “Closeout Sale on Parker Reproductions. We are liquidating these fine collectable firearms at an unbelievable price!” At that time, Bill ordered three 28-gauge and three 10-gauge Parker Reproductions while I also purchased one, a DHE with a single trigger and 28-inch barrels. I had the chokes opened for grouse and woodcock and had the double firing fixed, which is not uncommon with some single selective triggers. When I look at guns with Bill, I generally get in trouble and should have known (probably knew) not to participate in this adventure.

Tony was most generous with his time, and after going through about twenty-five 20-gauge A-1 Specials I came up with three that I thought had exceptional wood. Bill said, “If I get two, do you think I can get a better deal?” “If we get three,” I responded, “I’ll see if Tony will give us an even better break on the price.”

Again, Tony was unselfish with his time. We endured his carrying on about how exceptional these guns were and how much he had to pay for this acquisition. He explained, “I can tell you, because I build high-grade guns, that these Parkers are exceptional values, all handmade, great polish with select exhibition walnut, etc. Mr. Skeuse meant for these to be custom engraved by the best artisan to meet each of his customer’s satisfaction and be very special.” He went on that he had negotiated hard to purchase these guns, “the last of the best inventory of Parker Reproductions.” Tony said he tried to find fault with them for the purpose of negotiating a better price, but there was no defect or detail lacking that could leverage a better deal than he had made.

We squared up with CSM after Tony gave us a good value on three cases and wished us luck. As we drove home, discussions flowed about how to finish an A-1 Special. Tony indicated that he had sold over half of his initial inventory and, by the way, wished us good luck trying to find an engraver because he thought his sales would keep the engraving guild busy for a while.

Here is a word about Mr. Tom Skeuse who was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, in 1918. According to The Parker Story by Günter, Mullins, Parker, Price, and Côté, Mr. Skeuse was an avid hunter and collector of Parker shotguns. He reasoned that if priced within reach of the average hunter, there might be a market for Parker Reproductions, even in the higher grades. It’s safe to say that he did see his dream come true relative to championing the Winchester Parker Reproduction and he lived to see them manufactured in Japan.

It’s an interesting story but Mr. Skeuse was ahead of the market for the times and the company was eventually forced into liquidation in 1995. With the resurgent interest in double guns today, Parker Reproductions have gone up in value, and as these A-1 Specials are sold off, the market for them is bound to increase. God bless Mr. Skeuse and his dreams because he has truly left us with a gift, the Parker Reproduction, and I feel fortunate to have taken advantage of this offering.

Tony said we could shoot these “in the white” guns as is, but they should be embellished to befit the grade. Who can engrave this dream, what do I want engraved on it, who will blue the barrels and is that all you need to do to complete this gun? When I got home with my new “project,” I remembered an engraver I had met at the previous year’s Vintage Cup at Sandanona, the Orvis shooting grounds in Millbrook, New York, but who was he? Going through some of the flyers I collected from that event, I saw the calling card “Geoffroy Gournet, Master Engraver.” There on the front of the card was an A-1 Special he had engraved. In reviewing the Parker book, I discovered that he had performed all the custom engraving on A-1 Specials for Mr. Tom Skeuse, approximately three hundred over a fifteen-year period.

I remembered Geoffroy was working on a sidelock gun for Stephan Cobb and the bulino-engraved bird scene had jumped out at me. I told him, “Hey, I have seen grouse going away just like this.” It was beautiful. In speaking with Geoffroy, there was a certain presence about him. A display of his works and renderings suggested this guy had mastered his trade.

I contacted him and scheduled a time to meet at the upcoming September 2004 Vintage Cup, again at Sandanona. In the meantime, I would research Parker A-1 Special engraving, which included buying the Parker Story (until that time I had borrowed a copy from Bill Shipman). Oh yes, there were other purchases of books on engraving.

Did I mention I was not really happy with the stock finish? Even though the figure looked great, and it was a truly beautiful piece of quartersawn walnut, the somewhat dull finish didn’t allow the natural woodgrain figure to jump out at me as I thought it should and could. It reminded me of the time I ordered a 28/20-gauge Arrieta with a select upgrade in wood from Jim Austin, formerly of New England Arms, Kittery Point, Maine. I was not happy with the wood finish from Arrieta. My friend and current hunting partner, Paul Chase, had purchased a F’lli Rizzini—another Jim Austin purchase—and the stock was breathtaking, with its fifty to sixty coats of hand-rubbed CCL finish. Maybe I didn’t require quite that finish on my stock, but if you have a great piece of wood, why not get the best finish possible?

I contacted Stephan Hutton, Britannia Arms, formerly of Churchill, who had refinished the Arrieta wood and reshaped the grip a bit. The wood came out beautifully. In discussing my concern with the stock finish on the A-1 Special he said, “You know Greg, you have a great wood-to-metal finish, that is to say the wood is not proud to the metal, but I should look at your gunstock before you send it to your engraver.” Why is that I asked? “Because refinishing may take the wood down below the metal, and you will not be happy. If I refinish it and it goes below the metal, I can bring the metal down for proper wood-to-metal fit.” This made sense to me, and so I delivered the gun to Stephan to strip and prep the wood. He would file off a few thousandths of an inch of metal and repolish before sending the gun to Geoffroy for engraving.

The timing on this portion of the work was good. Stephan met me at Sandanona and we both joined Geoffroy to discuss the project. I detailed my research and engraving preferences with Geoffroy, and the two craftsmen discussed shipping the works back to New Hampshire after the engraving was completed.

Please understand that I listened to the views of Paul Chase and Bill Shipman, printed all the Parker work Geoffroy has on his website, made copies of original A-1 Specials for consideration, and settled on Marguerite Kirmse’s English setter-head portrait from Dogs in the Field, to be done in bulino. I hoped Geoffroy could execute the engraving according to my wishes. After discussing the detail of my research with him for over an hour, he agreed to do the work. He had been listening and taking notes on the photocopies that I left with him. He showed me more of his work and offered constructive suggestions where appropriate. We discussed price and the estimated eight- to ten-month completion date. After tendering my deposit, we shook hands and departed. Not for long, however, as I was back in an hour just to check some of the details again. After all, I had spent many hours on deciding what was appropriate and desirable, and I needed to make sure we both understood each other.

About a month later I received a call from Geoffroy letting me know that there was an opening in his schedule that would allow him to start earlier than expected. The work might be done in six months. We also discussed metal finish, particularly as to color case-hardening or French gray. I wanted closure on this decision. Geoffroy indicated that French gray would best show his engraving. I decided to defer to his opinion instead of opting for the traditional case-hardened finish.

Geoffroy then asked if I had anyone in mind to do the barrel bluing. He suggested Andrew McFarland. He said it was his considered opinion that Andrew did the best rust bluing, and he was very particular about the polish, finish, and color of his work. Geoffroy is an artist with an artist’s temperament to make things just so. Convinced that Andrew would make the steel look right, I contacted him and made arrangements for the rust bluing.

Well, it turned out that Andrew was very difficult to get in touch with as a result of being in the process of relocating out West. Also his wife was about to have a baby. His equipment was to follow him at some point. In short, there would be delays. The engraving complete, the action and barrels were shipped to Stephan Hutton as per prior arrangement. By this time, Stephan had contracted other work and could not start on my project. I assured him that I was very patient, and that it was more important that his work be done right. As it turned out, I had much less tolerance for waiting than I expressed to Stephan, especially since Geoffroy’s original time estimate of eight to ten months turned out to be right on. Finally, with Stephan’s work completed, I called and made arrangements to pick up the gun. Incidentally, the images of the engraving that Geoffroy forwarded to me did not do justice compared to the actual gun in hand.

As I was in Kittery visiting my parents after having just retrieved my finished Parker from Stephan across the river in Portsmouth, I stopped to visit Jim Austin to show him my project. He examined the gun, noted its great wood and commented favorably regarding the bulino-engraved English setter, the French gray, double rib beads, and bluing. He said the bluing was done right and the gun looked great. He told me of a couple of A-1 Specials he had owned over the years. He liked the raised gold name, Parker Brothers, on this piece and pretty much agreed, as Tony had said, “Geoffroy was the man” to engrave these A-1 Specials.

At the end of the day we are fortunate to have choices. Obviously, the professionals I chose are not the only experts with skills to give their respective customers what they want. Simply, this is the team I researched and contacted to perform the work. I could not be more pleased with the choices I made. And clearly the bulino engraving and French gray finish were not original to Parkers. Again, Mr. Skeuse had a dream. He used the best materials available to him and the best skilled labor to assemble Parker Reproductions.

Others may debate the English or Italian engravers, but there is an expected level of finish and style for a Parker. Having researched the great engraving works of both English and Italian guns, it seemed inappropriate to adorn my gun with these designs and motifs. We are very fortunate that there is an engravers’ guild in this country that is reviving this art form. One needs to look no further than the United States to be satisfied.

In closing, custom guns can take a couple of years to complete. Although this project took just under a year, if you want to personalize and embellish your custom gun, do your homework and be patient. I am very pleased with this Parker and will keep the experience in a special place as I remember my first shooting experience at Sea Point Beach with Sam, to whom I dedicate this writing.

The Double-Gun Journal

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Greg Tejfert drove to New Britain to help a friend shop. He came home with a case of his own. Tony Galazan wished them luck and told them the hard part was still ahead, because these A-1 Specials were in the white. Bare steel. No engraving on them at all. Half the inventory was already gone and the guild was about to be busy for a year.

He learned to shoot on a Parker too. A 16-gauge with the stock cut down and the barrel sawed off, handed to a ten-year-old on Sea Point Beach by his grandfather Sam. It was pitted and in pitiful shape and he did not appreciate it. He dedicates this article to Sam.

Tomorrow morning, the gun comes out of the white.

“The Project: Parker Reproduction, A-1 Special,” by Gregory Tejfert. From The Double Gun Journal · Third Index & Reader.

If you’re already a member: tomorrow’s edition arrives at sunrise. Pour the coffee.

If you’re reading this for free: this is the kind of story the journal exists to keep. A calling card pulled out of a stack of old show flyers. The engraver who had already cut three hundred A-1 Specials for Tom Skeuse himself. An English setter’s head after Marguerite Kirmse, in bulino. A stockmaker who filed thousandths off the steel so the wood would sit right against it. Preserved and waiting for you.

Thirty-seven years of doubles, makers, and the people who loved them. One click away.

Until tomorrow,
The Double Gun Journal Revival

contact@dgjrevival.com

‪(980) 428-9647‬

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Fabbri

by John F. Milius

From the pages of the Double Gun Journal. Volume 9, Issue 2 - Summer 1998

When Arnold Schwarzenegger was a younger man, before he was a movie star, he was already a household word. He had been the greatest bodybuilder of all time. He had won every possible honor in his field—Mr. Olympia seven times—no one else had won it more than twice. He had taken his sport from the back of comic books and made it a required part of the lives of yuppies and CEOs. Once, while surrounded by envious fellow physical culturalists, he was told such things as, “You’re at the top now but we’re gonna’ get you.” “You won’t last long.” “Yeah, it’s lonely up there and you can’t watch your back.” “How’s it feel to know we’re gonna’ claw you down?” Arnold turned to them, “You know the wolf at the top of the hill, when he is hungry—the food is always there.”

Tullio Fabbri and I were walking through the Safari Show in Las Vegas. Everywhere the great gunmakers had booths—Purdey’s was double size, Holland & Holland triple. There were booths for Westley Richards, McKay Brown, Hartmann and Weiss, even the revived Watson name had a booth with splendid guns. A rich man could go crazy deciding how to indulge himself. Throughout all this, as we wandered around, people kept coming up to Tullio and asking if they could order a gun, maybe a pair. How long will it take? Cost is no object. Tullio didn’t have a booth, a catalogue, a business card. He didn’t even have a name tag. The food is always there.

I first encountered Fabbris back in 1972. I was interested in buying a gun from Frank Pachmayr, possibly a Winchester Model 21 or one of the new Perazzis. Frank was mean as a snake, but took a liking to me because he found it unusual that a young Turk in the entertainment industry would be interested in guns. He invited me to his Christmas party where he gave out bonuses to his employees and then told them they were being overpaid and that he should charge them for the liquor they were drinking. Frank was always a hard man. I was allowed to root around in his office and drool on the Merkels, Parkers, Purdeys, etc. I became quite smitten with a Holland & Holland over-under, a rare piece, cased in oak and leather—$5,500, a fortune. I said to old Frank, “This must be the finest workmanship in the world.” He waved it aside. He took me to another case. “This is the best damn gun in the world. I know—these other idiots don’t know crap. They don’t know what they’re talking about. I know, I build these damn things. I can’t build one like this.” He handed me a new case-colored Fabbri over-under, $2,500 new! If I’d had children then, they’d have gone without. I bought the Fabbri; I still have it. It’s as tight and smooth today as it was then. Old Frank was mean but he was fair. He knew his stuff.

In the subsequent years I’ve indulged my addiction for fine shotguns, often to excess. I’ve owned almost every kind of gun that was in that great office of Frank’s. I’ve enjoyed them all, some better than others. Almost all those guns got traded off or sold during divorces, guilt, or the need for action, but not the Fabbri. I never sell a Fabbri. I might trade one for another but life offers only so many opportunities to own Fabbris—you seize the day.

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Some gunmakers take a triple-sized booth at the show. Tullio Fabbri walked the Las Vegas Safari Show with no booth, no catalogue, not even a name tag, and the orders came to him anyway—cost no object, however long the wait. When the wolf at the top of the hill is hungry, the food is always there.

John Milius wrote Apocalypse Now and directed Conan the Barbarian. Nearly every fine gun he ever owned got traded off or sold along the way, but he never sells a Fabbri: his favorites are set aside for the burning Viking ship off Malibu.

Tomorrow morning, we meet the wolf.

“Fabbri,” by John F. Milius. From The Double Gun Journal · Volume Nine, Issue 2 · Summer 1998.

If you’re already a member: tomorrow’s edition arrives at sunrise. Pour the coffee.

If you’re reading this for free: this is the kind of story the journal exists to keep. A barrel steel formulated to last three thousand years, flawless blocks of it rejected because the maker didn’t like the way they cut, and the day in 1972 when Frank Pachmayr handed a young filmmaker the best gun in the world and admitted he couldn’t build one like it—preserved and waiting for you.

Thirty-seven years of doubles, makers, and the people who loved them—one click away.

Until tomorrow,

The Double Gun Journal Revival

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Jim Corbett’s Gun Cabinet:

A Life in Steel

From our sister publication, Rose & Scroll Fine Gun Journal

Ask anyone to name Jim Corbett's rifle and you'll hear about the Rigby. That's the .275 he was given after his first man-eater at Champawat, the "faithful old friend" that went back to Kaladhungi in 2016 and, after more than sixty years away, still fit its old rack exactly.

By the documented tally, though, the rifle that accounted for more of Corbett's man-eaters than any other was a double: a W.J. Jeffery .450/400 3-inch Nitro Express built around 1909. Its scalloped boxlock points past the London name on the barrels to its probable builder, a small Birmingham shop that specialized in double rifles. That gun took the Bachelor of Powalgarh and the man-eaters of Mohan, Kanda, Chuka and Thak, and it stayed in Corbett's hands across decades of hill country until a single line in a letter retired them both, rifle and owner.

Our friends at Rose & Scroll have just published A Life in Steel, a feature-length study of the whole cabinet, written with Ian Douglas, author of Undiscovered Corbett. Douglas has spent decades in the records, from Rigby's ledgers and the surviving W.J. Jeffery day books to the private hunting journals of the Nawab of Barh, and the piece follows every gun Corbett carried. It starts with a broken muzzle-loader given to a boy of eight. The gun had begun life as a double before the right barrel split, and somebody had bound the damage up with copper wire. He loved it anyway.

The whole piece is free. Watch the film above or read the full feature below.

WATCH THE FULL FEATURE

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The Hobo And Me

by Randy Lawrence

From the pages of the Double Gun Journal. Volume 1, Issue 4 - Autumn 1990

The first two corkscrewed out of an overgrown apple orchard and disappeared along the edge of my father’s beanfield. Octobers were different then. The dog was a brassy Norwegian Elkhound, and there was no double gun. I wouldn’t have even known they were woodcock had it not been for the mount in Uncle Will’s living room.

I set foot in Uncle’s house but twice while he lived and I never saw the woodcock. My grandfather’s younger brother loved guns, but did not hunt. He lived lonely and long in eccentric bachelor squalor; empty plastic cider jugs were piled halfway up his basement steps, and he kept the blankets anchored at the foot of his bed with a stout-barreled muzzleloader. My mother found the dusty, bug-eyed relic behind a decade’s stack of National Geographic in the living room after Will died.

A handful of years and six hundreds miles from my Uncle’s house, young Jesse bumped another woodcock holding tight on an Upper Peninsula hillside. I knew better than to shoot a bird the dog didn’t handle, but knowing better and doing better, as my brother says, are two very different things. I thought I saw the woodcock drop at the frantic stab of a heavy Italian over/under.

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Some gamebirds hold their ground and take their chances. The woodcock rides the night winds—here today, flown tomorrow, drawn south by an ache a hunter may know but can seldom follow.

Randy Lawrence built his Octobers around that bird: an eye-patched setter named Arran, and a 16-bore Fox that carries two woodcock engraved on its frame.

Tomorrow morning, we join the journey.

“The Hobo And Me,” by Randy Lawrence. From The Double Gun Journal · Volume One, Issue 4 · Autumn 1990.

If you’re already a member: tomorrow’s edition arrives at sunrise. Pour the coffee.

If you’re reading this for free: this is the kind of story the journal exists to keep. A bird written off as “mudbat” and “siphon-snipe,” the quiet, secret places he keeps, and a hunter who answers every insult with a lifetime of devotion—preserved and waiting for you.

Thirty-seven years of doubles, makers, and the people who loved them—one click away.

Until tomorrow,

The Double Gun Journal Revival

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The Superposed Browning

by Col. W. R. (Reid) Betz

From the pages of the Double Gun Journal. Volume 1, Issue 1 - Winter 1989.

Col. W. R. (Reid) Betz retired from the United States Air Force in 1976 after 48 years of military service in the Nebraska National Guard and the Army of the United States as well as the Air Force. He has written hunting and fishing stories, as well as a number of articles on Browning guns for magazines in Switzerland and the U.S. He is presently Executive Director of the Browning Collectors Association.

Today the Browning name is associated with fine guns the world over. Browning rifles, pistols, shotguns, machine guns and machine cannon have served the Armed Forces of the U.S. well from the Boxer Rebellion in China to the rice paddies of Vietnam, and some are still in the military inventory.

John M. Browning, the world’s greatest firearms inventor, was born in Ogden, Utah in 1855. His father, Jonathan, was a gunmaker who came to Utah with the Mormon emigration in 1852. A one time blacksmith, he had helped arm the Mormons for their trek across the hostile plains from Illinois. His revolving rifles, similar to, but not copies of Sam Colt’s, and his “harmonica” repeaters were rugged, well designed, and accurate, characteristics still built into Browning guns.

John M’s first invention, the single shot rifle was made in 1878. Its success on the western scene came to the attention of Oliver Winchester’s salesmen, and the patent rights were sold to Winchester, who produced it as their Model 1885. This was the beginning of 17 years of close relations between inventor and producer, but Browning’s name never appeared on the lever action rifles made by Winchester from 1886 until this day nor on the Model 1887, 1893 or 1897 repeating shotguns invented by Browning. Winchester bought 13 shotguns from Browning, but produced only three of them. The rest were purchased as insurance against their purchase by a competitor.

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Some guns begin as improvements. Others begin with the belief that nearly everything before them has overlooked something obvious.

John M. Browning saw an empty place in the American gun rack—and gathered his friends around a drafting table to explain how he intended to fill it.

Tomorrow morning, we tell the story of the Superposed.

“The Superposed Browning,” by Col. W. R. (Reid) Betz. From The Double Gun Journal · Volume One, Issue 1 · Winter 1989.

If you’re already a member: tomorrow’s edition arrives at sunrise. Pour the coffee.

If you’re reading this for free: this is the kind of story the journal exists to keep. The invention that became John Browning’s final masterpiece, the son who carried it forward, and the extraordinary guns that followed—preserved and waiting for you.

Thirty-seven years of doubles, makers, and the people who loved them—one click away.

Until tomorrow,

The Double Gun Journal Revival

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The Double Gun Journal Revival

And the story so far…

Yes, since Christmas Day 2025 the “DGJ” has resumed publication and is back to life in a brand-new way!

If you were a past Double Gun Journal subscriber, you will recall that, beginning at Christmastime in 1989 and continuing on a quarterly basis for more than 32 years, a unique carton arrived in your mail; in it you found the most inclusive and comprehensive compendium of editorial and photography ever published about the finest guns in the world.

Then, after 32 years and 129 timely and collectable issues, those coveted cartons and journals stopped coming.

Most of you reading this were fortunate to be able to hold and peruse those issues — to know the quality and absorb the art and edifying editorial of every issue. So for all of you, and for the newer generations who have just now found the Journal after its rebirth this past Christmas Day, here is the film that announced our “second coming.”

Last Christmas morning, The Double Gun Journal was reborn. Daniel Philip Côté, who founded and published it for more than 32 years beginning in 1989, has partnered with fine gun photographer John Andrew Yerger, founder of the Rose & Scroll Fine Gun Journal, to bring it back in a new and exciting medium. Each week, a classic from the DGJ archive returns with full audio narration and film — stories some of you first read decades ago are given new life and color using the technology of the day.

If this letter is your first from us, it’s most likely because you were once a much-appreciated subscriber to the original printed Journal, and in appreciation we are welcoming you to a free membership. Nothing is required of you, other than that you receive and enjoy the previews and open features, which will simply find their way to your inbox the way the Journal once found its way to your door.

The Double Gun Journal archive is the foundation, but the Journal now speaks and is animated. Every feature arrives with full audio narration and video, so the DGJ can now go wherever you go — whether it be a “listen” on your daily commute, a quiet night at home in your gun room, or even to camp on your next pack-in hunt.

If you are already a paid member, we welcome you back to the world of The Double Gun Journal. And we thank you for helping us return the Journal in this new and exciting way!

If you are not yet a member, we hope you will enjoy the weekly previews of our features — and want to subscribe to enjoy the complete archive as it grows week by week. All for just $9 a month or $90 a year. It is what makes the DGJ Revival possible.

How it all works. Features arrive in your inbox each week. The full archive lives on our Substack at dgjrevival.com — worth bookmarking or adding to your home screen. Follow along between features on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Here’s a good place to start:

Questions? Write or call me directly — I’m John, and I’m always happy to speak with our readers and subscribers. And if you’d like to place your business before the most devoted fine-gun readership there is, you can reach me at contact@dgjrevival.com. If the Journal earned a place in your heart once, we would be honored to return again!

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The L. C. Smith

Written and Photographed by Brad Piearson

From the pages of the Double Gun Journal. Volume 1, Issue 1 - Winter 1989.

Professor Baskette would be proud of me. He was my teacher in a fourth year journalism class at the University of Colorado thirty years ago. At last, an opportunity to expose my journalistic skills to the world, however limited they may be.

I graduated with a degree in Conservation Education, a course consisting of liberal doses of English composition, journalism, biology, botany, geography and geology, with a sprinkling of certain required subjects intended to broaden one’s general knowledge. As I recall, it took two trips through Psychology 101 before I retained enough understanding of the workings of the human mind to get on with the rest of my life.

I grew up in a small town, Bridgewater, South Dakota, which is less than thirty miles from where I now live. In spite of its lack of size, Bridgewater has its claim to fame by way of being the birthplace of George “Sparky” Anderson, the major league manager who has the enviable honor of being the only person to have won World Series in both leagues. I’m famous also because “Sparky” and I learned to ride the bicycle together.

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Some guns you find after years of looking. A few you stumble onto by luck. And one or two you nearly lose without ever knowing how close you came.

Tomorrow morning, we tell the story of one of them.

“The L. C. Smith,” by Brad Piearson. From the Double Gun Journal · Volume One, Issue 1 · Winter 1989.

If you’re already a member: tomorrow’s edition arrives at sunrise. Pour the coffee.

If you’re reading this for free: this is the kind of story the journal exists to keep. Thirty-seven years of doubles, makers, and the people who loved them — one click away.

Until tomorrow,
The Double Gun Journal Revival

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‪(980) 428-9647‬

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Purdey’s “New Best”

by Stephen T. Bolton

From the pages of the Double Gun Journal. Volume One, Issue 2 - Spring 1990.

James Purdey & Sons, Ltd., builds only “best” guns and over the one hundred and sixty odd years that the firm has been in existence, its name has become synonymous with the finest in shotgun design and craftsmanship. The firm boasts an enviable reputation for producing graceful, beautiful, and expensive shotguns for a rather exclusive clientele. Certainly, Purdeys are expensive, as the current price of the test gun (estimated to be more than $35,000 — exclusive of customs duty and shipping costs) bears witness. Certainly they are hard to come by, due in part to the firm’s limited output and the long delivery time. But Purdey guns are well made, graceful, and beautiful and to own or even shoot a gun made by this firm is a goal most shooters would aspire to if they had the means or opportunity.

To own a gun comparable to the one described in this article, one must either look for years on the used market or order a new gun from the factory. To aid those who wish to place an order, a short description of the process by which the test gun was obtained by its owner may be useful.

The “client,” as James Purdey & Sons, Ltd., calls its customers, first made known his desire to order a gun in the fall of 1967 when he visited London, England, on business. As Purdey builds guns completely to its clients’ specifications, (within the bounds of reason and good taste) he placed his formal order on April 22, 1968, at the business offices of James Purdey & Sons, Ltd., at Audley House, South Audley Street, London, England, where he was fitted for dimensions, weight, balance, and all of the other variables by factory experts that same day. The client’s specifications were confirmed at Purdeys’ London shooting grounds with a try gun.

At the time of order, the gun was described as a New Best 12-gauge Hammerless Ejector Over-and-Under Single Trigger gun. As options, it carried a flat-matted rib, later changed to a ventilated rib, large scroll engraving (otherwise described as “Extra Finishing”), non-selective, gold-plated single trigger, a pistol-grip stock, gold initials, fullish forepart (beavertail forend), and a rubber recoil pad. The top barrel was to be choked Skeet 1 and the bottom barrel Skeet 2. The client later specified that the interior parts be gilded; i.e., gold-plated, at extra charge. The full price at time of order was £1,278. In addition, a leather case with accessories was ordered separately at a price of £23. At the time of order, delivery was promised in January 1971, approximately two and one-half years later.

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Some guns are bought in an afternoon. A few are ordered, and waited for. And one or two are waited for so long that the waiting becomes part of the gun.

Tomorrow morning, we tell the story of one of them.

Purdey’s “New Best,” by Stephen T. Bolton. From the Double Gun Journal · Volume One, Issue 2 · Spring 1990.

If you’re already a member: tomorrow’s edition arrives at sunrise. Pour the coffee.

If you’re reading this for free: this is the kind of story the journal exists to keep. Thirty-seven years of doubles, makers, and the people who loved them — one click away.

Until tomorrow,

The Double Gun Journal Revival

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A Family Memory of A Man, A Woman and A Gun

Written and Photographed Anonymously

From the pages of the Double Gun Journal. Volume One, Issue 2 - Spring 1990.

The eighty-some year old matriarch gazed out of one of the many windows that surrounded her chair on the remodeled porch. Her aristocratic profile was all that remained of the striking beauty that had been admired on two continents. Her eyes fell first on the mallard family that fed regularly from the cracked corn scattered near a half filled water bowl that had once belonged to a dog; then wandered out over the cove to the sparkling whitecaps of the broad river hurrying to join the Bay.

One of her grandchildren was about to ask her some question or other to try to bring her attention back to her family who weren’t able to visit her as often as they would have liked.

“Life sure takes some strange twists,” she said, her voice almost dreamy. “It wasn’t so very long ago that I would have thrown on my canvas coveralls and jacket and my boots and grabbed that gun of mine and your grandfather and I would have been out in our blind shooting some ducks for supper. Now I go to the feed store in town and carry home supper for them.” Her blue eyes seemed to become brighter as she refocused on the grandchildren and great-grandchildren who had arrived to disturb her peace on this crisp afternoon in early winter. “Did I ever tell you how I came to own that gun?”

Of course, everyone except the babies had heard the story through the years, but no one wanted to confess to it. They always enjoyed hearing her reminisce about the grandfather whom they had never met. My sister and I had heard it so often that we felt that we could almost remember how our mother had become the owner of a handmade Uncle Dan Lefever 12 gauge shotgun.

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Some guns are fired for a season, a few for a lifetime. And one or two are never fired again — because they’ve quietly become something more than guns.

Tomorrow morning, we tell the story of one of them.

An old woman at a window, once a duck hunter, now telling her grandchildren about a man they never met — and the gun she still keeps: a handmade Uncle Dan Lefever, gold-inlaid, that fit her as though it had been made for her. A fifty-dollar bargain, and a husband’s fury over it. A duck blind in the sleet, and both barrels at once.

It came to us anonymously — words and photographs both — from a family who wished it remembered.

So we will.

A Family Memory of A Man, A Woman and A Gun From the Double Gun Journal · Volume One, Issue 2 · Spring 1990. Written and photographed anonymously.

If you’re already a member: tomorrow’s edition arrives at sunrise. Pour the coffee.

If you’re reading this for free: this is the kind of story the journal exists to keep. Thirty-seven years of doubles, makers, and the people who loved them — one click away.

Until tomorrow,

The Double Gun Journal Revival

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It was the winter of 1989.

A new journal arrived in mailboxes across the country — quiet, unhurried, and built for readers who already understood that a fine double gun is something more than a tool. It is a keeper of stories. A witness to the lives that carried it, and the lives that will carry it next.

The first issue began with a poem.

A meditation on the lives our guns have lived before us, and the lives they will live after we are gone. A piece written by the founder himself, Daniel Philip Côté.

Tomorrow morning, we revisit where it all began.

If Doubles Could Talk By Daniel Philip Côté From the premiere issue of the Double Gun Journal · Volume One, Issue 1 · Winter 1989

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Until tomorrow,

The Double Gun Journal Revival

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Evolution of the Fox Small Bores

by Tom Kidd

From the pages of the Double Gun Journal. Volume One, Issue 2 - Spring 1990.

The early 1900s found Ansley in Philadelphia busily involved with matters of double gun manufacture. This was after a stint as a professional clays shooter promoting Winchester shotgun and ammunition lines. In 1903 he formed the Philadelphia Arms Company and was president until his resignation in late 1904.

Next we find him on the corner of Wayne Avenue and Bristol Street, only a few blocks from his old company, hurriedly outfitting the A.H. Fox Gun Company. The new company started building mechanically superior guns under new, simpler patents, applied for on February 9 and August 12, 1905. These patents cover the engineering design features found on fox Shotguns which make them one of the most reliable sporting doubles afield. Ansley spent most of 1905 getting tooling in place and production started. By the end of 1906, the state-of-the-art Fox factory produced over 10,000 guns, but had only managed to sell roughly half of them. The remaining inventories led to lasting financial and cash flow problems for Ansley and Company as the U.S. entered an economic slow down.

The United States went through a “Financial Panic” during 1907 resulting in inflation and increased unemployment. Production fell to about 2000 guns per year during 1907, 1908 and 1909 even though Fox started furnishing an automatic ejector during 1907. This ejector was designed and patent applied for on 24 July 1907 by George A. Horne and Ansley H. Fox.

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A writer named Crossman picked up the sample in early 1912.

A 20 bore. Twenty-six inch barrels. Small enough that a child could have carried it, light enough that a grown man wondered if he was holding anything at all. He broke the action open. He closed it. He broke it open again.

Then he wrote something no American gunwriter had ever written before.

The weight of the barrels alone, he said, was enough to cock the tumblers.

He had read about such guns. Everyone had. In the English journals, in the Purdey advertisements, in the loving descriptions of London best work that drifted across the Atlantic and made American shooters feel they had been born on the wrong continent. But he had never, in his life, seen an American gun that would do it.

Until this one.

Weeks later, the man who built it was bankrupt.

Tomorrow morning, we publish:

Evolution of the Fox Small Bores The Story of America’s First True 20 Bore Written by Tom Kidd From the pages of the Double Gun Journal · Volume One, Issue 2 · Spring 1990

The gun Crossman held that day has a serial number. It still surfaces, occasionally, in collectors' hands. A trade-press account most have never read. A serial number that rewrites the timeline. And the question that has hung over Fox small bores for nearly a century: who really built the first one — and what did it cost him?

The full account is reserved for members of The Double Gun Journal Revival.

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Until tomorrow,

The Double Gun Journal Revival