A rich Tory, heavy construction man who argued fiercely with me (as a reporter and liberal) whenever I visited him confided to his wife to give me the pick of his rack of great shotguns and rifles when he died. I chose the least expensive shotgun, an 1889 Parker 16ga hammer 0 grade. None of my American classics were produced after 1938 (a 12ga LC Specialty) and none of my European good ones after l914 but when it comes to magic handling it's the Parker 16. I showed it to Destry when he was here tub-shooting a few years ago.
