New Member Looking for Parker Assistance

[BrandinHeidbreder]

I have had the pleasure of meeting a local gentleman that is to a point where he is selling his collection. I have acquired a handful of guns from his already, but he has a Parker that keeps getting my attention. His asking price is not low, but has said he is willing to work with it. I tried to obtain photos to hopefully allow some experts like those in this community to give some insight. From what I gathered it was built in 1907. Any additional information and assistance on a value range would be amazingly appreciated. To cap it all off, my son's name is Parker and would love to pass something like this down to him if it makes sense. Thank you in advance!

[Steven Adam Gray]

Whats he asking for the gun? Is it lose in any way any cracks in the stock or forend? Whats the chamber length? What choking is in the barrels?

[Dean Hanson]

Brandon, the gun should be a VH grade, 30" barrel, capped pistol grip, 12 gauge. Looks to be in very good condition. That said, this gun is the working person's 12 gauge. Usually beat ta bits and shot ta snot. This gun, IMHO, is rare to the condition. I would value it from $1250-$1650. They are readily available and several in great condition. Good luck with your endeavor.

[Researcher]

While a 2-frame, Quality VH, 12-gauge with 30-inch barrels is the most common Parker Bros. gun, this one looks in pretty good condition. From the picture of the open breech, we can see it has the 1910 bolt and bolt-plate, so it was back to Parker at some time. Look on the left barrel flat close to the lug for a Remington repair code. Area blocked by the lug in the picture provided. Checking the PGCA home page under the Research Letters section shows there are surviving records for the gun so you could get a letter.

[Researcher]

The red arrow points to the 1910 bolt-plate --

145563 01 Red Arrow 1910 bolt-plate, Blue Arrow pin.jpg

What does the pin at the blue arrow indicate? I haven't observed that previously.

[B. Dudley]

The gun has had its frame and forend metalwork restored at some point in the past. And not totally accurately. The wood and barrels appear to be original.
It is a relatively common grade and configuration.

All that makes it not worth a terribly high amount.

[BrandinHeidbreder]

Originally Posted by Dave Noreen

While a 2-frame, Quality VH, 12-gauge with 30-inch barrels is the most common Parker Bros. gun, this one looks in pretty good condition. From the picture of the open breech, we can see it has the 1910 bolt and bolt-plate, so it was back to Parker at some time. Look on the left barrel flat close to the lug for a Remington repair code. Area blocked by the lug in the picture provided. Checking the PGCA home page under the Research Letters section shows there are surviving records for the gun so you could get a letter.

Is the "WK" the mark you were seeking on the left barrel flat?

[BrandinHeidbreder]

Originally Posted by Dean H Hanson

Brandon, the gun should be a VH grade, 30" barrel, capped pistol grip, 12 gauge. Looks to be in very good condition. That said, this gun is the working person's 12 gauge. Usually beat ta bits and shot ta snot. This gun, IMHO, is rare to the condition. I would value it from $1250-$1650. They are readily available and several in great condition. Good luck with your endeavor.

Thank you for the info. He is asking about double the higher end. Neat to see a piece of history, but don't think the price is going be right. So appreciate the knowledge everyone passed along so quickly!

[Dean Romig]

The forend checkering looks to be original Parker factory work… but we can’t see the checkering on the grip area of the stock to be able to comment on it.





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[Researcher]

Is the "WK" the mark you were seeking on the left barrel flat?

No. W.K. in the oval is the mark of Walter King foreman of the barrel department at the time the gun was made. I was just wondering if there might be a Remington repair code, two- or three-letters and a numeral 3 in the area blocked in the original picture.