Parker Gun Works

[John Farrell]

I was looking at a Parker gun that I think was rebarreled by Remington in 1940

Looking at the barrel flats, near the chambers on both barrels was the stamp

Overload
Parker Gun Works
Proved

The Overload and Proved were in a semi circle above and below the middle words which were centered. The rib has no ID such as is found on the Parker Bros. rib indicating the barrel steel and place of manufacture.

Was this the Remington Parker Division method of stamping barrels? It looks like the original Parker Bros. metal, including the ejector mechanics, was unsoldered from the old barrels and the new barrels were resoldered onto the original flats.

Some thoughts from the multitude????

[Dean Romig]

Yes John, that is the way Remington marked their barrels. Even under Remington the Parker shotgun operation was referred to as the Parker Gun Works (note the very obvious omission of the word "Brothers" as Remington did not buy the rights to "Parker Brothers" but only to the name "Parker"). After Remington ran low on existing ribs that were part of the purchase, they made their own but I suspect it would have been too expensive to make all new roll dies for the rib inscription so it was probably decided to do away with the rib inscription.
Regarding disassembling the lug section from the barrels in order to rebarrel the gun... I don't know if there are any records to support this having been done, but never say never.

[Rick Losey]

shouldn't there also be a set of Remington date codes on the barrel?

[John Farrell]

Indeed, there are Remington codes on the barrel flats. Two of them, to be exact. I determined that the gun was there in May and July 1940.

After posting my inquiry I looked at a 20 gauge VH 236XXX SN gun which, oddly, has the Parker name on the underside of the receiver. Its barrel flats has the Parker Bros stamp.

The workmanship on the rebarreled gun is poor by comparison to the 1932-1933 VH gun. That is what made me think the lugs and ejector parts were reused.

Thanks for your thoughts. JF

[Bill Murphy]

Pictures?

[John Farrell]

Two reasons I can't post photos of the Parker Gun Works here.

First, the stamping is not deep and is done with find lines which is not readable except under really good light and with a keen eye.

Second, I tried a couple of photos with my micro closeup lens and just get a blurry image.

The subject stamping pattern compared to the Parker Bros. stamping on the barrel flats is identical but for the word change. And, the S in Works is not readable at all. Like the die was not level on the barrel flat on either side or the hammer was not struck level.

[George M. Purtill]

John I agree about the stamps.
On a number of Remington Parkers I have seen, the barrel flat stamping is kind of hap-hazard. The general workmanship on the gun is very good but the stampings are kind of lax. I dont know why.

[John Farrell]

My guess is, because of the fact that in 1932-1933 the country was in a more severe "great recession" than we are now - when the hammer that was purchased some time in the distant past suffered a broken handle - the Remington management decreed the hammer handle would not be replaced and that the workman, who was lucky to have a job doing anything, had to hit the stamp die by holding the hammer head in his hand. And being that the hammer was a ball peen to begin with, and the workman got his revenge by hitting the die with the ball end of the hammer, the result is the lightly indented lettering of the otherwise quality die stamp. And the history of poor management decisions follows the firm to this very day.

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

John, You might be right about the hammer handle, but that would have been Parker Bros that would not replace it, Remington took over control of the Parker Gun Works on June 15, 1934. I have often wondered about this time period, at Parker Bros, they were only making a few hundred guns per year at the end, and surely with a reduced work force. I wonder if they might have taken a little more time and added a few more embellishments here and there, any one seen any evidence of this Gary

[John Farrell]

Gary - the gun in question is a rebarrel by Remington's Parker Gun Works. The previous owner had the gun in to Remington in May and July 1940, for I assume barrels and stock work. On my Parker Bros guns the die stamped Parker Bros. is clear and complete. I should have noted that the period of the work done by Remington was while the country was at the end of , but still in the grip of, the Great Depression and prior to WW2. JF

[Bill Zachow]

Some years ago, I owned a flat new in the box 28 gauge VHE, serial 242103. The gun had its tag and letter from Remington addressed to the buyer, detailing the gun and its shipment in April of 1941. That gun, also, had the proof mark as Parker Gun Work. The marking was very clear and looked like the die was made that way. Another gun I wish I had never sold.

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

I bet you kick yourself every day about that one!, Do not believe I have ever seen anew in the box VHE 28g a my condolences to you! gary

[Bill Zachow]

Gary, what also hurt was shortly after I sold it, the new owner took it to the Texas gun show in Dallas and won a major display award with it. O, by the way, the gun also had the railroad express shipping over box addresses to the buyer in Idaho. With the gun never being used and made in 1941, I always thought the original owner must have been killed in the war effort--either military or civilian. Did you know that in the early days of the war, the US lost more men and women to industrial accidents than to fighting?

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

Yes I would not doubt it,in Wilmington N.C. they ere building Liberty ships, at the peak to the tune of one a day. But again there was no OSHA looking over you. A lot of asbestos went in to those ships back in the day! Gary

[Bill Murphy]

I remember the gun well. Bill, was there a name associated with the Idaho address on the REA label?

[Bill Zachow]

Yep, Bill. The same name and address as on the factory letter from Carpenter, sales manager (if I remember correctly) of the Parker Gun Work(s).