Parker book

[Mike Franzen]

I agree The Parker Story is the best book for collectors. The best read in my opinion is is Peter Johnson’s “Parker, America’s Finest Shotgun”

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Mike Franzen

I agree The Parker Story is the best book for collectors. The best read in my opinion is is Peter Johnson’s “Parker, America’s Finest Shotgun”

I'm new to Parkers too, and from MY humble perspective, I found the Johnson book too wordy. I think an editor could have cut this book in half and retained any of the information you would need. It's a flowery wordy enthusiast rendition that is clearly biased, no matter how much you love these great guns, but that's just me. I appreciate it from the perspective that it was the first book on these guns (I believe). The serialization book is a must. The Muderlak book is waiting in the wings while I wade through the Parker Story. While I thought the Johnson book was too prose and glowing, the Parker Story reads like the history of the foundation of the Roman Empire. It is packed with detail that stands as a tremendous desk reference. I should have read the serialization intro first, then Muderlak, then the Parker Story. But you'll find that you'll learn a heck of a lot from people on this board. It's incredible to find out what you don't know. Yet.

[Bill Murphy]

Andy, you have to understand that Peter Johnson was not a gun expert, or even a gun enthusiast. He was a college English instructor, maybe a professor. He owned a Parker shotgun or two. When Peter would visit our gun show tables, he had more questions than answers. His research was done by writing letters to a very few sources and patiently waiting for the replies. He did not drive a car and did not travel to do his research. He got some assistance from his students. I have absolutely no criticism of the writing style of my friend Peter Johnson. It is not a book to be used to establish fact, but it was the first book that got us to where we are today. Ed Muderlak and others have written about their experiences with Peter Johnson and shine some light on Peter's efforts. I believe our friend and member James Hall, also wrote of his conversations with Peter.

[Mike of the Mountain]

I agree with Todd. Johnson (which you have read), Baer, Muderlak and TPS. But definitely get the Parker Identification and Serialization book too. You will use that one A LOT.

[Mike of the Mountain]

Andy, when on my downtime from December through February, I read all of those books, including TPS. There were some chapters I skipped in TPS just because I really wasn't interested in reading about certain aspects of the family or items not shotgun related. That's OK, if I need to look something up I know where to find it. You'll figure out what you want to do as you plow through the many pages.

I REALLY enjoyed Ed Muderlak's books. I mean REALLY!! They are all good in their own way, but it was nice seeing some of the things he wrote about.