PARKER SAA GRADE - JUST HOW RARE?

[Sandy Brygider]

I have a nice Parker Single Barrel Trap 12 Ga with 32 inch full choke VR barrel and on the water table is SAA which I assume is the grade. Blue book says only one was manufactured in this grade and if this is it I assume it is quite rare. The serial number is 220773. Any info, help, or assistance is appreciated. I am quite comfortable with the side x side Parkers but this one stumps me. Is it the missing gun? Or were there more than one SAA grade guns made?

[Robin Lewis]

The ser# you posted isn't in the Serialization book or in the PGCA records.

I am under the impression that the "one" SAA is not lost and the owner is known.

Could you please post some pictures?

[Dean Romig]

Yes, high quality pictures please.... now that you have our interest.

[Sandy Brygider]

Here's my photos gentlemen.

This link should function accordingly.

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://s1258.photobucket.com/user/americanviking1985/embed/slideshow/"></iframe>

[Sandy Brygider]

http://s1258.photobucket.com/user/americanviking1985/slideshow/

[Robin Lewis]

Looks like an SC, I don't know who added the two A's?

[Sandy Brygider]

On an sc are they marked with an S, a C, or an SC, or something else? Putting a loop to the letter grade shows the S may be overstamped of another letter/number, but the AA do not look like overstamps, and the case color on the water table is definitely original and if overstamped I would think it would be more evident.
However, I am not the expert on Single Barrel Parker Trap guns. Do the original records show this as a different grade or is it just not in the records, by serial number?

[Robin Lewis]

Take a look at the Parker Grades page on our site, those pictures should help you ID it.

[Sandy Brygider]

Thanks so much…..

[Sandy Brygider]

Where on the sight would I find the Parker Grades page? Can't seem to locate it.

[Rick Losey]

Go to the PGCA HOME link above the first forum

The grades link is in the list on the left

[Brian Dudley]

You can see in the photo of the water table that the "C" has been stamped over with an "S" and then the "AA" added after that.

So you have an SC grade with was the lowest catalogued grade of the single barrel trap guns.

The configuration and grade you have SC, 12g. 32" is the most common of the Single barrel traps.

[Steve Huffman]

never mind me having a bad day

[Bill Murphy]

The "4" on the water table is the indication of grade. A grade 4 is an SC grade. For a look at what an SAA Parker may look like, go on the Julia auction site and look at item # 2433 in the October gun auction. Maybe someone would link those pictures for us.

[John Dallas]

It looks like a rare gun to me - an unmolested trap gun. Can't be many of them around

[Bill Murphy]

Yup, a very nice SC. Can someone link the Julia Auction description of item #2433 in the October gun auction so we can see what an SAA Parker looks like? Thanks, it just happens to be above my pay grade to link anything.

[Rick Losey]

try this Bill

http://jamesdjulia.com/item/2433-369/

[Robin Lewis]

The Julia auction gun is an upgrade and I don't want to post an upgrade in the grades section. I asked for pictures of a real SAA but never got them.

How can we be sure the upgrade is an honest representation of the "one and only" SAA, therefore I would rather let things as they are on the grades page.

[Bill Murphy]

Robin, I agree. Until we find an original or a catalog representation of an original, our website should not picture Runge upgrades in the "Grades" section. However, the Julia pictures may give the original poster an idea of what the original may look like. Thanks for the link. One thing we must consider is that the records are not complete, and there may be more than one original Grade SAA gun out there. What do you think of the Runge engraved Del Grego upgrade? These are wonderful guns and this AA single shows not only Runge's small scroll, but his gold inlay work.

[Sandy Brygider]

Thanks folks for all your information - guess I'll just shoot the old SC for now.

[Kevin McCormack]

The "4" on the water table is the indication of grade. A grade 4 is an SC grade. For a look at what an SAA Parker may look like, go on the Julia auction site and look at item # 2433 in the October gun auction. Maybe someone would link those pictures for us.

Why don't you link them for us; now that you have thrown your dash of turmeric into the pot, so to speak?

[Bill Murphy]

Kevin, Rick Losey kindly posted a link for us several posts back. Check it out. Linda has an extensive herb garden but did not grow any tumeric this year. A little goes a long way. Maybe next year. Tell us what you think of the Runge SAA Parker.

[Dean Romig]

Bill, do we know what the serial number of the SAA is? I find mention of it in The Parker Story but no serial number is listed. If it was made in the late Remington days, I guess Bob Runge certainly would know how to make the upgrade look.

[Bill Murphy]

Don't know the serial number. I guess it's time to scan the SB and find out. OK, I scanned back to 216,000 and didn't find it. I may have missed it I sure would like to find it.

[Fred Verry]

page 63 of the grades codes lists # 234562 as the first S7 trap gun as does page 583.

[Dean Romig]

Thanks Fred.

[Bill Murphy]

OK, I see it. I missed it when scanning the SB. I assume no information on this gun since it is post-order book era and pre-IBM card era.

[Bill Murphy]

Or maybe there is some information. My files show that the gun was sold new by Abercrombie and Fitch, probably to Lynn Hunt of Bronx, New York, who returned it for credit to Parker Brothers in 1932 as credit on a new gun. Later, it appeared on loan from Murta Appleton in Philadelphia to the Philadelphia Sportsmans Show. From there, it disappears from view. Bob Beach may have more information about the original retail sale of the gun. Early owner Lynn Hunt, although also a New York resident at the time, was not Lynn Bogue Hunt, the famous wildlife artist. Previous research on another of Lynn Hunt's guns clarified that fact. Lynn Hunt was an ATA trapshooter of some repute.

[Bill Murphy]

The Julia Runge-DelGrego upgrade SAA single trap is safe at home with me. I haven't shot it yet, but plan to soon. It is one fine example of Parker craftsmanship. It came out of DelGrego's in 1972, the year Larry Sr. worked on my VH 28 and GHE 16 steel/Damascus gun. I guess maybe all three guns were in the shop at the same time. I sure would like to get a look at the #234,562 SAA.