11-Gauge Parkers
It is great to get back into the World of Parkers and to renew old friendships. I am still trying to learn more about the early Parker Underlifter Hammer Guns, particularly the 11-Ga. Parkers. I am glad to see that the PGCA has grown so much in the past several years since I drifted away to Antarctica. (I fell under an ice sheet and had trouble getting back up.) I am hoping that now that many more underlifter Parkers have come to light maybe the members of PGCA can help in solving many of the 11-Ga. mysteries.
With the sole exception of the almost mythical 13-Ga., the 11-Ga is possibly the rarest and most mis-understood of all the Parker gauges. Only 114 of them are listed in the Parker Story and so designated in the serialization. However it is clear that many than this number were made. Several 11 Ga. Parkers that we have identified have very low (2 or 3-digit) Serial Numbers. These are of course not included in the records. Most of the 11 Ga. Parkers that are in the records that were made before 1874 were very low grade guns. Many were Back Action and had Decarbonized Steel or Plain Twist barrels. Most of these early 11-Ga Parkers were probably just discarded when it became difficult to get shells for them and have been lost forever. The late Bill Furnish and I found that several of his guns were 11-Ga. Parkers. Several had cylindrical 0.751” diameter bores (and some were full-length tapered bores like the Poker Parker #3561 and measured approx. 0.751” as measured 9 inches from the breech). Many of these guns were listed in Stock Books as either 12-Ga or 10-Ga guns---even though they had chambers that were 0.825” to 0.830” diameter and were clearly made to use with the 11 Ga. paper (11A Brass) shotshells. For some as yet undiscovered reason, many of these 11 Ga. guns were listed as either 10 or 12 Ga. guns in the stock records. Why was this done??
I would very much like to hear from any PGCA members who have (or think you may have) an 11-Ga. Parkers. Even if you do not have a bore gauge, you should check the chambers of your Underlifter Parkers. If a modern 12-Ga. shell just rattles around in the chamber the gun should be examined more carefully. It may be an 11-Ga., unless of course already you know it is 10-Ga. I only know of fewer than 20 of the 11-Ga. Parkers. Most are from the Furnish Collection and are now in the Cody Museum. I would love to hear about any other 11-Ga Parkers that have been discovered. Also any information about the early Parkers with full length tapered bores is of great interest. It would be very nice to get pattern information on these guns for comparison with other types of chokes.
Richard B. Hoover
256-337-4082 (Cell)
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