How Many?
 

I have often wondered how many Parker shotguns have come to light, by this I mean all known guns of all types made by Charles Parker shot guns only! I know this is crazy but do you guys think maybe half? Opinions please, Gary

Somebody should have been recording the serial numbers as these guns came to light.

I know I haven't. It would be interesting to know for certain but I don't think we ever will.

It would be interesting to know how many different guns letters have been written for.
David

David,

There are 4380 letters in our archive. There are some that had multiple letters on the same gun due to change of ownership. There were probably letters done prior to the the letters being saved in the archive.

That's a pretty tiny percentage. I've wondered how many old guns were melted after being turned in during the war drive. People gave their old pots, pans, tools, and anything else made of metal they were no longer using. Any gun with a broken stock would have been a good candidate for reclamation by the metal yards.

Or those dangerous Damascus or Twist barrels. :eek:

They still make good canteens. Ha. (I wood use a smiley face but I haven't figured out how they work).

are we talking about the really early guns made for charles parker by another company..charlie

Maybe not knowing is better. One of the best things about these old guns are the surprises that seem to always turn up. Like that sidelock Bruce posted or some of the guns Gary has found or Charlie's 8 gauge that shouldn't have been here. One things for sure, every year the number of Parker's gets smaller.

I was talking with Daryl Middlebrook last evening at dinner about this, he seems to think a lot less than half, Will is right about the war drive, heck Parkers span two world wars. I am probably wrong with half, maybe only ten percent? only 4,000 some odd letters and then some duplicates, I imagine they are still some setting in grandpa,s closet, just waiting to be found! I have a feeling that there is a 16 gauge AA hammer gun hiding somewhere. I guess like Dean says we will never know, but it sure makes for good day dreams! Gary