Research Letter Followup

Christopher Hall · 09-03-2014, 08:47 AM

First, thank you Chuck for getting the letter to me so quickly. It has raised a few additional questions, and I was wondering if anyone here had some answers.

My Parker is a GH grade with Damascus barrels, S/N 139228. The choke was not listed, is there a typical choke that these guns came with?

It was ordered by a T. B. Davis Arms Co of Portland, Maine. Anyone familiar with this company?

The gun was returned by an A. W. Read of Portland ME for a stock modification shortly after the purchase. I have found a couple references to a person of that name as an amateur shooter from Portland from around that time, but was hoping someone here might have some more information.

Thanks in advance.

Pa SxS · 09-03-2014, 11:10 AM

Chris,

The order book didn't mention chokes and the stock book choke column wasn't visible due to the way the book was placed in the copier. My guess is that it was full and full.

Bill Murphy · 09-03-2014, 12:36 PM

Arthur W. Read, amateur trapshooter from Portland, Maine, shot Interstate Association birds in the mid teens, but no sign of him shooting in the twenties. He was not a prolific shooter and shot scores from the low eighties to the mid nineties. He only shot a couple hundred birds a year. T.B. Davis was a Parker dealer during that time, his name appearing often in the order books. There are search results for "davis portland" on this website. I have a 1912 catalog with a T.B. Davis stamp on the cover.

Christopher Hall · 09-03-2014, 12:53 PM

Thanks Chuck and Bill. I am having the barrels measured and evaluated for thickness and choke now so will be interesting to see if they have been changed at all.

Also interesting to find out that perhaps my Parker was used in competition. If it checks out safe, I may have to revive the tradition with it.

Bill Murphy · 09-03-2014, 06:17 PM

I assume that if he bought the gun in 1906, he was still shooting it when he shot competition birds in the mid teens. My Interstate Association records only go back to 1913. If I had earlier records, they would probably show that he was shooting from the time he bought the gun.