Found an Unusual Reproduction
 

Just today found what I believe to be a very unusual Parker Reproduction, certainly one I've never seen before. To begin with it is a Steel Shot Special which doesn't in itself make is so rare as I've owned several of them. Next it is a two barrel set, both barrels correctly marked and numbered to the gun. The one set is 28" and choked IC and Mod as all steel shot specials are. The other set and here is the rare part, they are 30" in length :eek:. One set of barrels has a splinter forend, the other has a beavertail. Gun is straight grip, single trigger. Cased in correct case. The previous owner said he bought the gun from Bill Jaqua "years ago" and he was told there were only two sets like this produced. I have no idea if this is true, but I know I've never seen a set like this. Gun is in used condition and at some point the 30" barrels were sent to Briley and thin wall chokes were installed. What a great gun to take duck hunting and then take to the sporting clays field! Has anyone seen another set like this one? Again, both barrels have all the correct markings and are numbered to the gun. This is not a set that was added on at some point. Really a neat set!

Nice find Gerry! I wish I could shoot Parker repros. They're all stocked too high for me. I keep looking though!!

Nice find - pretty cool it’s in a case, too. Do the forends interchange between barrels and are both irons serialized properly? In another thread John Allen said he is aware of three 30” barrels (including his). I wonder if this is one of the three?? I’m curious, what is the choke marking on the flats?

Both forends do interchange. The 30" barrels which have the Briley thin walls are marked Mod and Full. All other markings on this barrel are exactly like every other Repro I've owned. The funny thing is, the splinter forend is case colored on the inside with the serial number. The beavertail has engine turned non-case colored with the serial number.

I’m fairly certain that's typical across all Repro’s. (i.e., splinter = CC / BT = engine turned) It appears to me 30” barrels are synonymous with Steel Shot Special’s..interesting. How about some pics?

You sure come across some nice guns!

I am a head-erect instinctual shooter and had problems with the Repro's, at first. (shooting high) Once I learned to pull the stock in tight, the issue pretty much went away.

There were only 25 30" repro barrels built.They made a prototype run just before the Japanese pulled the rug out from under Parker Repro.I have a set on my serial number 26 gun.I also had Briley tubes installed.They are so rare that this set you have is only the 3rd set I have heard of.I think a set of 30" barrels should sell for at least $3000.I priced my set at $3500 and had 2 offers at $3000 and chickened out and kept them.You have found what is probably the hardest to find combo of all.

Thanks John. Mr Skeuse was unsure of the number produced but he said it was a "handful" no more. I feel very fortunate to have it.

A question that is a bit perplexing is why would the factory pair a set of 30" barrels choked M/F to the Steel Shot Special?

One answer perhaps might be "Why not?"

Were they exclusively for the SSS?
The catalog on our home page says the 30 inch barrels were IC/M or M/F.

I just aquired a nicely used original Parker serial # 134097 built in 1905 with 30 inch barrels in 12ga. Vulcan f/m is it rare?

Hi Jack. This is a Parker Reproduction thread and Forum. Repost your question under General Parker Discussions and it will get more attention. Have a nice day.

And Jack it's not rare

To my knowledge the 30" barrel option only appeared in just one brochure and that was an early brochure that, I believe, pre-dated the Steel Shot Specials. I find it somewhat ironic that the factory would pair a 30" M/F set of barrels to the SSS given the fact that the factory cautioned against shooting steel through a Full choke.

That’s the point I was ineptly trying to make. The 30 inch barrels were offered as stand alone guns, not just added to SSS guns. The catalog says they were 3 inch chambers.
But very few have been seen.

The 30" barrels were not offered as a gun.There was one run of 25 barrel sets that were shipped just before the Japanese closed the plant.Those barrels were shipped without serial numbers.The serial number was added when the barrels were fitted to an existing gun to match the number of the gun.The barrels could be added to any 12ga repro or any 11/2 frame 12ga.gun for that matter.Parker repro planned to add the 30" gun to the line,but were cut off by the plant closing.

Here’s an A1 special with a similar combination.. 28” IC/MOD, 30” M/F.

https://stevebarnettfineguns.com/par...ved-30-barrels

Very tastefully done. But the reason I covet 30 inch barrels is to take afield- I am not seeing that gun on the salt marshes of Cape Cod.

My knowledge of the history of the repros is very limited. Why did the Japanese cease production? What caused production to cease? Not sufficiently profitable?

They could make more money making car parts in that facility.

It was reported in TPS that in late 1988 Winchester lost its arrangement with the Japanese factory. Jack Skeuse told the authors of TPS that he received the news by a telephone call on Christmas Eve of 1988. Apparently, the factory owners decided it would profit them more to tear the facility down and construct a golf driving range on the land.

Who today owns the rights to the Reproductions? Jack Skeuse?