7# vs 6#? Parker VHE vs. British Boxlock 16 ga Shotgun Comparison

I recently came across a surprising 16 ga British (B Halliday and Co) boxlock from the Sheriff’s annual disposition of accumulated firearms to a local pawn shop.  It had been through a fire and though intact was covered in soot and stained.  Short story I cleaned it up some, everything worked mechanically but the barrel solder was mostly gone and needed bluing.  It came home recently from Bill Schwarz Firearm Restorations cleaned and restored, looking at 6# as a lighter iteration of the #1 frame VHE 16 ga Parker at 7# I’d had for years.  Same barrel length, stock and forend style, brothers from other mothers.

Curious to see where the Parker’s weight was, I broke the gun down into 3 components, stock and action, barrels, and forend.  Weights over the British gun were 15.4 oz, 1.6 oz, and 1.6 oz respectively, clearly pointing to the Parker’s bigger steel action as the main difference (a #0 frame Parker would have been a fairer comparison but none was handy).

So adding a leather sling at 4.6 oz and a couple of shells at 2.7, each gun blows up to 6#7.3 oz and 7#7.3 oz.  The British gun is looking the more shootable for grouse and quail for a 70 yr old hunter, the Parker hitting the same weight as my 12 ga Beretta O/U with 30″ barrels and a couple of shells.

American Camp Chair

The following post covers a camp chair product friends Mike and Aaron and I developed around 2010 as a revival of the Fenby or Trippolina Chair from the 1850’s, often seen in old safari camp photos from Hemingway and TR. They used to be a standard item at Abercrombie & Fitch.  They were shown at the Overland Expo through the ‘teens but like a lot of US products they were more and more expensive to build.  First spruce, then Port Orford Cedar with SS rivets and hardware with covers of ballistic cloth, canvas and leather.

We sold the company to a friend with great woodworking skills who’s laying low for now but steadily employed. We hope he gets back to the project again soon.

WingWorks Vinyl Stickers

Wingworks Vinyl Stickers! We have a 2 sticker package from a choice of 2 colors, Blaze or White. Dimensions are 4″ x 9″. Send an email request to info@wingworks.biz with your choice of colors and how many, and we’ll PayPal email invoice you for $10 per 2 sticker package, to be sent First Class Mail. Invoices can be paid by CC through the invoice directly. Mail requests can be sent to Wingworks Stickers, PO Box 367, Hailey, ID 83333. Idaho residents will pay a little sales tax!