Wikipedia
I posted a couple years ago that it was strange that there is no mention of the Parker gun on Wikipedia. Especially when today you can find a page on most subspecies of shrews, even.
There is a page for Parker Bros manufacturing but it only mentions games and other non-gun products. Ultimately the gun page would need to be linked to the main Parker Bros page...but it still should have its own page in my opinion.
I started a draft page for Parkers...as you all know there is a lot that can be said about our favorite gun.
I'm really not wanting to take ownership of this effort....I've got a limited amount of brain cells and most days it's all I can do to tie my own shoes.
If anyone wants to assist or take over or add to this, please feel free.
Below is the current draft that I typed in about 5 minutes from memory:
Parker Bros. shotguns were manufactured from approximately 1867 through 1942. During these years, approximately 242,000 guns were produced in various grades and and are widely considered the finest and most collectible American shotgun. Most Parkers were produced in Meriden Connecticut; the final 6 years of production were conducted in Ilion, NY following the purchase of the product by Remington. Ultimately, high production costs, the Great Depression, the onset of WWII, and the advent of the repeating shotgun lead to the demise of the Parker gun.
Configuration
All Parkers are break-open style actions and most were side-by-side double barreled designs, the remainder being single barrel guns intended for use in trap shooting.
For the first 20+ years of production, Parkers used an exposed hammer design, but by 1888 the first hammerless guns were offered for sale.
Gauges
Parkers were offered in 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 20, 28 and .410 gauges. There is an experimental example known to have been produced in 18 gauge
Grades
dollars grades
V through A-1 Special/ Invincible
Famous shooters
Parkers were often seen as the gun of choice by celebrities(Annie Oakley, Frank Butler, Clark Gable, )
as well as the top ranked competition shooters of the day ( )
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