Parker Skeet gun value?

[J.B. Books]

Factory skeet guns from the 30's have some unique features. Most of them are 26" barrels, BTFE, straight grip, checked butt (V &G grade), single selective trigger, double bead, with ejectors. I am aware a few factory P/G stocked skeet guns exist.

The barrel flats will be stamped "Skeet In" and "Skeet Out", a skeet gun will also be the reverse of normal choking for a double with the tighter barrel (Skeet Out) on the right and the more open barrel "Skeet In" on the left. I believe that is because the first shot in skeet is a high house going away from post 1. The safety is usually non automatic on a skeet gun.

Your gun is too early to be a factory skeet gun. How many of the above features does it share with the items above? If it is a DelGrego conversion it would be worth more than if it is not.

PS. If your gun is equipped with a BTFE but does not have a reinforced lug you may have problems with the lug separating from the barrels some day.

[Drew Hause]

The concept of shooting clay targets thrown to duplicate the opportunities normally encountered by the upland hunter originated with William Harnden Foster, H.W. Davies, and C.D. Davies of Andover, Mass. about 1915. The first field was on the grounds of the Glen Rock Kennels; a full circle with a 25 yard radius, with one trap at 12:00, throwing targets toward 6:00. The shooters shot from 12 stations.
"Shooting around the clock" was conceived in 1923 by Foster, who was then editor of both 'National Sportsman' and 'Hunting and Fishing' magazines. Two traps (one elevated) were positioned at 12:00 and 6:00, and the shooters walked around a semi-circle with a 20 yard radius with 8 stations, shooting the last position from the center of the 'clock.' In the Feb. 1926 issue of 'National Sportsman', a $100 prize was offered for the best name for this new shooting game. The May 1926 issue announced the winner, Mrs. Gertrude Hurbutt of Dayton, Montana, and the new name "skeet" from an old Scandinavian word for shoot.
The National Skeet Shooting Association was formed March 20, 1928 with William Harnden Foster the first President, and the next year the Great Eastern Championship was conducted at the Remington Gun Club in Lordship, Conn. By 1933, there were more than 800 skeet clubs and twenty-six State Associations in the U. S. The First National Skeet Championship was held in Cleveland, Ohio in August, 1935. Foster became Outdoor Life's Skeet Editor with the February 1937 issue.

By William Harnden Foster, and possibly depicting his son. Foster Sr. shot a 27" barrel 20 gauge DHE Parker SN 225905



Also by Foster