26" barrels rare?

[bill grill]

Are 26" barrels on Parker shotguns rare? Someone on trapshooters thinks so. I say nay. :)

[KCordell]

I think 24 may be but not 26.

[Dean Romig]

26" barrels on hammerless Parkers are quite common - not so much so on hammerguns.

[Harold Lee Pickens]

i've got a VH 20 and DHE 16 w/ 26' barrels

[Mark Ouellette]

I have a set of hammerless 20 gauge Damascus barrels that are in original length, 26".

[Bruce Day]

xxxx

[John Farrell]

Rarity is in the eye of the owner. I communicated with the seller on Trapshooters.com and he sent me photos of the barrels. Indeed, they do look uncut with the blank in front of the bead. He states that Babe Del Grego pronounced the barrels original.

The gun SN is not listed in the serialization book which suggests (and this is only my theory) perhaps the gun was sent to another side of the shop for the 26" barrels whence it was completed, and the info was never given to the scribe of the records. Since the 26" barrels are a "one off" they are rare in the fact that many other guns with SN on both sides of the 26" gun are either 28" or 30". :corn:

[Bill Murphy]

There are thousands of guns that are not in the Serialization Books, only because the corresponding stock books are missing.

[CL Scott]

Blue Book says 12ga in 26" is worth more.......

[Rich Anderson]

They are most definately NOT rare. I have 4 or 5 26 inch guns and the vast majority of skeet guns had 26 inch bbls.

[CL Scott]

What gauge are they?

[Rich Anderson]

Mine are 28,20 &16. I recently sold a GHE 12ga skeet gun also with 26 inch bbls.

[CL Scott]

I also have 26" guns but..I had a friend w/ a PhD that when told only 25% of Americans have a college degree said that was way low and impossible because everyone he knew had a college degree...Many of the books are missing but if one adds up what is in the Parker Story one gets 14,912 26" barrels out of 242,487 guns made. I know the 20ga Damascus 26" barrels # in the Parker Story is wrong (says 2 were made) and Chuck Bishop feels there are at least 260 but still 15,000 out of 242,487 or 6% is not common...

[Brian Dudley]

They are not that rare, or else TPS would have included a table showing 26" guns. But the "short barrel" list is 24" or less.
26" barrels would not have been considered standard. They would have been specifically ordered that way by the customer. I would say that 26" barrels were more popular in those days than they are today. That may be why finding them pop up from time to time today is not all that uncommon.

[Dave Suponski]

I don't know about that Trojans came standard with 26",28" and 30" barrels. 26" barrels were not a special order.

[Rich Anderson]

I have a GHE damascuss 20 w26 inch bbls and have my eye on a CHE damascuss 20 also with 26 inch bbs so TPS figure is definately wrong there.

Does anybody have an idea of how many 20ga 30 inch damascuss bbl guns were produced?

[Dean Romig]

Twenty-six inch barrels were offered as a stock length on all gauges from .410 through 12 gauge. 10 gauge Parkers with original 26" barrels should be considered rare... in the case of the 8 gauge, 'unique'... and that one could even be a misprint.

[Bill Murphy]

A good copy of the "errata" from TPS may correct the 20 gauge Damascus error. I don't have the final copy of "errata". Maybe Bill Mullins or Charlie Price will comment on the availability of this document.

[Bill Murphy]

C.L. Scott says 6% missing numbers in the SB would be "uncommon". Uncommon or not, the approximate number of guns in missing books is a matter of record, not a matter of guesswork. We know which stock books are available for research, and we know which ones are missing. We also know approximately how many guns are listed in the missing books. The authors made their best attempt to extrapolate the missing guns when computing their totals. In my opinion, that may have been an error in judgement, but they did what they did. If it were left to the uninformed reader, the result would not have been as accurate. Not every reader of TPS is an experienced Parker collector or student.

[CL Scott]

What a great discussion! But one quick correction of what I was saying with the 6% number. I wasn't saying that 6% of the records are missing (I am not sure what that number is but I expect it is addressed somewhere in TPS). What I was saying is that of the records known, 15,000 26" barrels out of 242,487 gun produced is 6%. And that 6% out of 100% represents something that is not common. The question is with 5-7 barrel lengths possible, is 6% unusual (do other lengths represent 6% or 20% or 40% or 60%, etc.) On the Errata notes (I have the insert and page 1043-1044 in Vol 2) where is the 20ga Damascus reference -- I have the 20ga GH Damascus "restored" PGCA 2008 auction gun and my research prior to getting it showed that the Newsletter saying there were only 2 was incorrect.

[Bill Murphy]

Well the newsletter was wrong. Most entries in the newsletter are under a byline. That byline may give you more information. You wouldn't have to have much experience in the Parker world before you realized that "2" is incorrect. Your first trip to gunbroker.com would provide you with a clue.

[CL Scott]

Yup and it did...as well as conversations with Chuck Bishop

[Jim Bennett]

And I have a lettered GH Damascus 26 inch M/F with twin Ivories.

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

I would say 26" are not that rare, but in the larger gauges they may be, I have an interesting gun, Two barrel set that letters, gun is a 10 ga hammer gun with 26" Damascus, and 30" Laminated barrels, I have not shot it yet but will this spring when I get back home Gary

[Bruce Day]

CH #2 frame with 10ga Damascus 26" barrels.

2012 South Dakota wild pheasant.

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

How about a VH 20 Ga. With 26 inch barrels on a O Frame and single trigger. The ser. No is 220380. I would think not to many of those were built. Thomas

[Rich Anderson]

Thomas I have a VHE 20ga with sst and 26 inch bbls. This is a factory skeet gun and I believe the vast majority of skeet guns were VHE grade and 26 inch bbls in all guages.

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

Rich: is that on a O frame also. Thomas

[Rich Anderson]

Yes it is. I also have a GHE, DHE, & CHE 20's all 0 frame and all with 26 inch barrels. They are not uncommon at all.