Mike Franzen referred us to this old thread about early singles. My latest find is a high condition SC #176,128. The earliest in the Serialization Book is #176,127. I haven't checked to see what order books or stock books are missing around that period that could contain lower numbers. Strange that our members haven't reported more than a couple early numbers. #176,128 looks like it was rarely fired, is in very high condition. Bob Beach tells me it was sold on consignment in 1937 at Abercrombie and Fitch to a known shooter named Keithley. I have not found him in ATA average books, so he was probably not a competitive shooter. PGCA letter says it was originally shipped to Abercrombie and Fitch April 24, 1917. It was on an order of 25 single traps, all but one cancelled. #176,127, the earliest single known, was ordered by Orren R. Dickey on January 30, 1917. Orren Dickey and Abercrombie and Fitch were the highest volume dealers in graded Parker guns at the time. These two guns were in two different order books, #95 and #97. The serialization book does not include serial numbers from order books, so a close look at these two order books may uncover many more single barrels. Order books were used "two at a time", so #95 and #97 were probably in use during the 1917 period. Research continues.
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