How old was you when you bought your first Parkers ?

[Milton C Starr]

Originally Posted by Bill Murphy

Milton, stick with the tens. Tell us about the #6 frame ten you recently bought.

Its Craigs old NH #6 frame 10 ga , #116794 .
I really wanted this one because the original owner lived only about 2hrs from here near Columbus GA . I found some interesting information when I was trying to research him .

[Milton C Starr]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

I have one - a DHE with Damascus barrels, the only known Parker of any grade with 24”, 28 gauge Damascus barrels.

Robin Hollow has one for sale in high original condition with 28” barrels.





.

That has to be one of the coolest small bore Parkers .
I dont think I have ever seen a Parker 28 with damascus barrels .

[C.O.B.]

I heard about Parkers long before I ever had one from my mother. My Grandfather was a double gun guy and Parker's were his favorite especially for shooting trap. I have a trophy he won at the Detroit gun club for breaking 200 straight from 16 yards to win the class C championship in 1936.
. He shot both trap and skeet and I was lucky enough to find some old photos of him both hunting and target shooting with a PArker.

Mom said the Parkers were his favorite. The family story is that he bought an A1 special at Abercrombie & Fitch in Chicago while he was on his way to Mayo Clinic. He picked up the gun on his return. It would have been used as this was 1948 or so but Mom still remembers the argument over the $600 when there wasn't any discretionary funds.

My parents bought me a Trojan 12 when I graduated from college. Shortly after that I bought a Vh that I traded a grade 5 Browning Citori 20 ga for. I played with some other doubles but never got the hang of double triggers and collected A5's and M12's for a long time.

About 20-25 years ago a friend an I were headed west to shoot Prairie Dogs and stopped in Cabela's in Owatonna MN. I found a nice DHE 20 with a straight grip 26inch barrels and bought it on the spot. A lot of guns have come and gone over the years some I still regret letting go of. I never thought I'd have an English Best but have several now or a high grade Parker but the God's have smiled on me not to mention creative financing and I have a BHE 32 inch 20 and an AHE 20/28 factory two barrel set. I have way more than I need but not as many as I want and we won't even go into the rifles

[Gary Bodrato]

Maybe Fuchs?

[Milton C Starr]

Originally Posted by Rich Anderson

I heard about Parkers long before I ever had one from my mother. My Grandfather was a double gun guy and Parker's were his favorite especially for shooting trap. I have a trophy he won at the Detroit gun club for breaking 200 straight from 16 yards to win the class C championship in 1936.
. He shot both trap and skeet and I was lucky enough to find some old photos of him both hunting and target shooting with a PArker.

Mom said the Parkers were his favorite. The family story is that he bought an A1 special at Abercrombie & Fitch in Chicago while he was on his way to Mayo Clinic. He picked up the gun on his return. It would have been used as this was 1948 or so but Mom still remembers the argument over the $600 when there wasn't any discretionary funds.

My parents bought me a Trojan 12 when I graduated from college. Shortly after that I bought a Vh that I traded a grade 5 Browning Citori 20 ga for. I played with some other doubles but never got the hang of double triggers and collected A5's and M12's for a long time.

About 20-25 years ago a friend an I were headed west to shoot Prairie Dogs and stopped in Cabela's in Owatonna MN. I found a nice DHE 20 with a straight grip 26inch barrels and bought it on the spot. A lot of guns have come and gone over the years some I still regret letting go of. I never thought I'd have an English Best but have several now or a high grade Parker but the God's have smiled on me not to mention creative financing and I have a BHE 32 inch 20 and an AHE 20/28 factory two barrel set. I have way more than I need but not as many as I want and we won't even go into the rifles

Speaking of rifles there are some from vintage/classics one I would like to get some day . Lots of nice reproductions though that make them easier to obtain . I really want to pick up a Uberti 1876 in 50-95 eventually . I almost ordered a C Sharps 1874 last year , but they dont offer a pistol grip unless you get the presentation grade . So I would have to buy the action from them then find someone who builds Sharps to finish it .

There is a gunsmith I talk to a bit who builds the best looking single action revolvers in my opinion , I wouldnt mind getting one of his works . Lots of guns I would like to get if the funds allow it haha .

[Ed Norman]

Milton,
Thank you for starting this thread. I purchased my first side by side about a year and a half ago at 65 years old. I took about 40 years off from hunting because of my business responsibilities. I purchased a beautifully restored 12 gauge fox A grade from a guy that is a member here and in the fox forum. I have always wanted a 16 gauge, I was looking at a gun dealers ad last year and he had a 16 gauge and the ad said "it hits like a 12 and carries like a 20" for some reason that really stuck in my head. Now I own 3-16 gauge side by sides, I got a nice 16 gauge vh that was restored from a member in here. I really like that gun, I have 2 fox 16 gauge shotguns that are original, and I also understand the beauty of an unrestored gun now too. I cannot thank the members in here enough and in the fox forum for all of their help/advice. I have met some members in person, and they are really great guys. When I bought the parker, we met in Grayling, I was so excited I held that gun in my hands, shouldered it a few times I shook the sellers hand, went back and put the gun in my gun case and sat down in the car and it was one of the most satisfying feelings I have ever had. I looked down at my passenger seat to check to see if there was any calls or texts on my cell phone and there was my money still in the banks envelope still sitting there. I jumped out of the car, the seller was getting ready to pull out and I gave him his money. We both had a good laugh about that. I often feel like a "kid" again with these shotguns, and with our first bird dog my wife and I acquired a couple of years ago. Milton, I hope you continue your pursuits, its nice to see a younger man with your enthusiasm. Thanks, Ed Norman

[terc]

First Parker about 1990,I was 30 years old. Up until then I new little about Parkers. They always seemed to be something that were out of my reach.
Back then, pre-internet, gunshows were numerous and very active places. It wasn't uncommon to buy or trade a gun then flip it at the same show.
I was at a show in Greensburg PA. I had just traded up to a little Browning Citori, English grip gun. Walking past a table back in the corner an older gentleman, Bill Ault, had a table full of Parkers.
I walked out of the show without the Browning, but with a little 20g Trojan. That was the start. A few weekends later at a show in Harrisburg PA I thought I was trading up to a nice 16ga VH from the Hartman Bros. ,Elmira Arms, well it was my first learning experience with Parker condition. I wish I new were my first Parker is now.

[Milton C Starr]

Originally Posted by Ed Norman

Milton,
Thank you for starting this thread. I purchased my first side by side about a year and a half ago at 65 years old. I took about 40 years off from hunting because of my business responsibilities. I purchased a beautifully restored 12 gauge fox A grade from a guy that is a member here and in the fox forum. I have always wanted a 16 gauge, I was looking at a gun dealers ad last year and he had a 16 gauge and the ad said "it hits like a 12 and carries like a 20" for some reason that really stuck in my head. Now I own 3-16 gauge side by sides, I got a nice 16 gauge vh that was restored from a member in here. I really like that gun, I have 2 fox 16 gauge shotguns that are original, and I also understand the beauty of an unrestored gun now too. I cannot thank the members in here enough and in the fox forum for all of their help/advice. I have met some members in person, and they are really great guys. When I bought the parker, we met in Grayling, I was so excited I held that gun in my hands, shouldered it a few times I shook the sellers hand, went back and put the gun in my gun case and sat down in the car and it was one of the most satisfying feelings I have ever had. I looked down at my passenger seat to check to see if there was any calls or texts on my cell phone and there was my money still in the banks envelope still sitting there. I jumped out of the car, the seller was getting ready to pull out and I gave him his money. We both had a good laugh about that. I often feel like a "kid" again with these shotguns, and with our first bird dog my wife and I acquired a couple of years ago. Milton, I hope you continue your pursuits, its nice to see a younger man with your enthusiasm. Thanks, Ed Norman

The 16 gauge is pretty neat gauge to me and it has a following here in the South . You mention the 16 gauge to the old timers down here and their eyes light up . One thing I learned about the Ithaca 37 16 gauge , is 1 1/8 oz at 1300 fps+ gives a sharp jab in such a light gun . However I bet with the RST loads or similar loads a light 16 gauge would be pretty comfortable .


Correct me if I am wrong but from what ive read the the NH grade is the same as a PH ? I was thinking a PH 16 and 20 ga would go good with the NH 10 ga . The NH looks similar to them just alot beefier .

The 16 ga is why I never joined the shotgun team in highschool , everyone else were using Benellis and the coach kept asking me to join but I couldnt use my 16 ga .

[stumpstalker]

Milton:

Four of the six Parker guns I own were legacies from my father -- Trojan 12; VH 12; VH 16 and DHE 12. In recent years I have added a GH 12 and a VH 16.

A WW II veteran, he departed from the usual path of his contemporaries by acquiring in the 1950s-1960s the Parker side-by-sides, and not repeaters, as were his buddies’ choices. Together they shot skeet and hunted Pheasant and waterfowl.

His preference for them was not because he was an antique guy, but because he was a quality guy.

Regrettably, despite my having a plethora of family photos of him, power-boating; sailing; fishing and standing near the classic airplane he restored and won prizes for, I don’t have a single one of him hunting or with a gun.

I live in a house surrounded by objects that were his and evoke his memory: furniture; photos; implements for hobbies and tools of trade; fishing gear; documents and various personal miscellany. But it is the guns that transmit the most meaningful connection to him.

As physical objects go, guns have a way of conveying in concentration a sense of its owner -- his (or her) character, experiences, relationships, and achievements, and do so inter-generationally, as best as anything I know.

I envy your early start in this and your mindful grasp of detail. Just keep it all in proportion and your rewards will be manifold.

[Milton C Starr]

Originally Posted by Russell E. Cleary

Milton:

Four of the six Parker guns I own were legacies from my father -- Trojan 12; VH 12; VH 16 and DHE 12. In recent years I have added a GH 12 and a VH 16.

A WW II veteran, he departed from the usual path of his contemporaries by acquiring in the 1950s-1960s the Parker side-by-sides, and not repeaters, as were his buddies’ choices. Together they shot skeet and hunted Pheasant and waterfowl.

His preference for them was not because he was an antique guy, but because he was a quality guy.

Regrettably, despite my having a plethora of family photos of him, power-boating; sailing; fishing and standing near the classic airplane he restored and won prizes for, I don’t have a single one of him hunting or with a gun.

I live in a house surrounded by objects that were his and evoke his memory: furniture; photos; implements for hobbies and tools of trade; fishing gear; documents and various personal miscellany. But it is the guns that transmit the most meaningful connection to him.

As physical objects go, guns have a way of conveying in concentration a sense of its owner -- his (or her) character, experiences, relationships, and achievements, and do so inter-generationally, as best as anything I know.

I envy your early start in this and your mindful grasp of detail. Just keep it all in proportion and your rewards will be manifold.

Your Dad sounds like he was a interesting man . When I look at these old guns I often wish that the original owner had written down some of their hunts or adventures with these classics .

Something about these guns they just carry a soul to them when you carry them afield . I dont have anything against new guns either but the best way I can describe it is you cant get doubles made like this anymore really . Especially a American double .


I wish I knew what some of the original Parker owners had on their mind when ordering these guns in uncommon configurations.

From what I could find about my Parkers original owner he lived to be 86 . With this one weighing a hefty 12lbs+ I wonder how long he kept it as he got it at 27 .