doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Delgreco restorations?

An easy and fast way to get a look at some Parker Guns that were restored by Babe or Larry is by doing an internet search. As others have posted, correct spelling of their name is a plus, even though a number of vendors who advertise their restored guns fail to do so as well. A couple of examples to try:

DelGrego restored Parker.

Del Grego restored Parker.

Keep in mind earlier restorations will have a cyanide-type color casing. More recent guns done by Larry were color cased by Turnbull Restorations.

Hope this helps.

I had a conversation with Larry bout 15 years ago during a shop visit. I asked him about restorations and repairs they have done.
Larry said that they kept track of any gun that came through and he said he lost count of how many parkers he had seen on the market over the years advertised as "original condition" that in fact he/ thier shop had refinished/restocked/re case colored etc. He said they could look up a gun in their repair records and tell if if it was their work and not original.

Keith asked: "I've read that Babe, the elder DelGrego, worked for Parker Gun Co. in the 1940's, hence the mystique. Anyone know if that is factual?"

Not a mystique, just a part of the Parker Gun and Remington Parker history.

If I am correct:

Babe never worked for the Parker Gun Company; his father Larry did. While Babe was born in Meridan he would have been too young. His father made the move to Remington, worked there and then started his own shop repairing Parkers and Remington Model 32 shotguns. Babe told me during a visit that when his father went on his own, Remington sold him all of the Parker equipment, parts, wood, etc. for the price of scrap.

Babe joins his father after he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force.

The grandson Larry (Babe's son) later joins the business. He passed away in 2024. Babe died in 2022.

Kevin McCormack and I were visiting with Babe and Lawrence a few years ago and the subject of upgrades came up. Babe opened up his "book" and showed us a raft of invoices for A-1 Special upgrades. The invoices were for guns advertised as original by a dealer whose name everyone would recognize. Not all fakes came out of Pennsylvania. Before the opening of the records, all bets were off.

OldMaineWoodsman, thank you for taking the time to answer my question and clarify things.

Does anyone know if a working smith ended up with the parts inventory, specifically Remington 32's?