Parker Repro info

[John Harms]

Sorry if this has been asked before, I looked through the forum and did not see a page dedicated to identifying Parker/Winchester Reproductions. I have a 12 ga that I am trying to figure out the grade. The serial number is 12-274 the receiver has 12SS-00274, Mod and Imp Cyl, H 1 1/2 Any info would be much appreciated. I am pretty sure the 12SS means it can shoot steel shot but I can not figure out the grade.
Thanks! John

[Wild Skies]

Welcome to the forum, John!

You have a bonafide and authentic DHE grade Steel Shot Special, a limited edition run of only 350 built. Lots of threads here in the Parker Reproductions sub-forum that discusses this particular model, either do a search or simply scroll through the listed threads to find oodles of info on them.

[John Harms]

Thank you Greg! I will find the sub-forum about the Steel Shot Special and read up on it!

[Ken Hill]

John,

Welcome to the forum. Most (if not all) of the Parker Reproduction catalogs and write-ups can be found here http://parkerguns.org/forums/album.php?albumid=99.

Ken

[Bill Murphy]

Your gun is 99.9% likely to be a DHE, but probably one or more Steel Shot Specials were made in BHE grade, maybe even an A-1 Special. If you have one of those, lucky you. The SSS is a scarce and wonderful variation of the Parker Repro.

[John Harms]

Thank you Bill. It is hard to tell, I am going to do a lot more research, figure out what it is worth and then sell it. By the sounds of all the posts the Parker Repros have a cult following and someone will be very happy with it.

[Bill Murphy]

You are right about the cult following for the SSS. The reason is that everyone seems to want 28" barrels, but everyone seems to want open chokes. The Repro with 28" barrels almost always seems to be made with modified and full chokes EXCEPT the Steel Shot Special, which is normally improved cylinder and modified. This explains why the big search for the Steel Shot Special.