parker bros history and information

[Milton Starr]

IM trying to find some history of the parkers bros company info .When did they go out of business why .Where can i find a scale of the grade of guns like a 1-10 which grade is the best thing . Are all the 8 gauges considered or were built in high grades ?.Is a Trojan grade a high grade ?.What is the round bolt in the end of the frame

[Bill Murphy]

Purchase the book "The Parker Story" by Mullins, Price, et al for about $200 from the Double Gun Journal company in "second" form. All information not contained on various clicks on this site are available in that book. The book is an absolute bargain at that price. Welcome to the Parker shotgun world.

[Jack Cronkhite]

Bill is bang on. Prior to laying out your cash, go to the home page and cruise through all the tabs on the left side of the page. A wealth of info and a lot of great photos. Read the FAQ's. A lot of effort has gone in to building the information so that an individual can enlighten themselves at their leisure. The "round bolt" you speak of can be seen in the Technical info tab and the part name is given. If you get tempted to attack the screw slot on the "round bolt" DON'T DO IT. It may look like it has some role in undoing something but it should be left alone. About all that happens when playing with that part is the screw slot gets damaged. If it truly needs to be undone, the gun has a problem beyond the average Joe playing with it. You will find, after your research, that the Trojan is not a high grade gun but it is a great field gun that has taken a lot of game.
Enjoy your reading.
Cheers,
Jack

[Francis Morin]

I understand, I think, your possible confusion. Parker grade numbers for the Hammerless double guns, I believe initially ran from 1 through 8, the higher the number, the higher the Grade- I have two older PH guns with Twist barrels, they are both marked with 1 on the watertable, as well as the letter P- my GHE is a grade 2, so marked on the watertable- DH- grade 3, CH grade 4, BH grade 5, AH grade 6, AAH grade 7, and the scarce A-1 Special grade 8.

When Parker Bros. later brought out the VH grade, as there is no number smaller than 1, already in usage, that grade with be marked V- the Trojan was the last "new" grade Parker introduced- possibly to compete with the fine AH Fox Sterlingworth- as an economy model- no "extras available" but a solid field grade gun indeed. I have owned and hunted with two 12 gauge Trojans, both were marked OV on the watertable. The Trojan grade can always be distinguished as the frame contours are not sculpted as on the higher (VH-A1-S grades) and no ejectors were offered for the Trojan.

You can also "ballpark" the grade of the Parker you have in hand by the barrel steel: Vulcan, Special, Titanic, Acme, Peerless etc- BUT this is not 100% accurate, as over the years a DH(E) may turn up with Acme barrels, or a CH(E) with Titanic barrels, etc. Case in point- my GHE 12 has 28" Vulcan Steel barrels, usually found on the VH(E) grade.

The other gents are right- research and the TPS book(s) are the best place to start your quest for an "Olde Reliable". If you should end up with a Trojan, whether 12, 16 or 20 bore-you will have, along with the VH(E), the most popular model Parker offered- and as a collector friend advised me when I bought my first Parker (a Trojan 12 many years ago)- in a era of "upgraded and possible counfeited" Parkers (due to the great demand for them) no one can ever "upgrade" and pass off a Trojan as being a BH(E), due to the difference in the frame contours.

Any Parker Trojan or VH that fits you and has not been badly "butchered" (cut off buttstock, cut off barrels etc.) will perform just as well in your hands as a AAH(E) grade would- Good luck in your quest.:bigbye:

[Milton Starr]

how many trojans were made in 8 gauge and 10 gauge ? . is the grade numbers the same as the frame size numbers ?.how many hammerless were 8 gauge ?

[Dave Suponski]

Milton, There are no Trojan 8 and 10 gauge gun's. 12,16 and 20 were the only gauges available in the Trojan.

[Francis Morin]

David is correct Milt- the Trojan was only offered in 12-16-20 gauges, never with ejectors, most often with double triggers, and without the 1878 patent date forearm latch mechanism found on the Graded Parker hammerless guns.

But as they say, never say never too often- Peter Johnson in his 1960 book on Parkers mentions a very few Trojans made in 24 gauge- on the PGCA site I also read about a few Trojans offered with Twist barrels instead of the Trojan Steel-

I agree, grade numbers on the watertable, but the frame size for your Parker is found on the bottom rear part of the lug-if a later series gun, right behind the pinned in place tool steel wedge shaped wear bar-

Almost always in the Trojan- 12 gauges were No. 2 frame, 16 gauges were No. 1 frame, 20 gauges No. O frame size. The difference in the size of the frame in the same gauge Parker is mainly the dims. on center between the firing pin holes in the standing breech face- If you had two 12 gauge VH(E) Parkers, one on a size 2 frame, the other on a size 1 frame, you would see the difference in that set of dimensions right away- also the wall thickness at breech of the size 2 framed gun would be somewhat greater than that found on the size 1 framed gun--

I have a shooting companion that inherited a "matched pair" (sort of);:bigbye: two 12 VHE Parkers- both on the No. 1 frame-one made in 1913 with 28" Vulcan steel barrels and straight hand stock and DHBP, one made in 1924 with 30" Vulcan barrels, pistol grip and a red recoil pad- both balance perfectly at the hinge point and weigh aprox 7 lbs. He is wise enough to use RST 1 oz. light loads in either one-:cool:

[Milton Starr]

doesnt T grade stand for trojan ?

http://www.pugsguns.com/findItem.action?id=1438

can someone correct me if wrong there so many grades kind of confusing being new at this lol

[Dean Romig]

No T doesn't stand for Trojan.

It is a mistake to make assumptions when discussing Parkers, or anything else for that matter, for which there are reams and volumes of documented research data available.

[E Robert Fabian]

Milton, T is listed as Twist steel barrels unknown grade in The Parker Story. My guess is it's a grade O or 1.

Parker used allot of the alphabet for awhile, One letter for a 10 ga pistol grip another for a straight grip.

[Bill Murphy]

Our friend Peter Johnson was incorrect when he mentioned the 24 gauge Trojans. They were V Grade hammerless guns. The T Grade is a 0 (zero) grade hammer gun. Seven of the 48 Trojans with Twist Steel barrels were 10 gauge. There are two 28 gauge Trojans mentioned in the records. We have also seen a Trojan with ejectors, single trigger, beavertail forend in skeet configuration. It is pictured in a late Remington parts price list and was in the Remington Museum in 1998.

[Dave Suponski]

Thanks Bill, I should have qualified my post with "Guns listed in Parker sales brochures" or sum such...:)

[Austin W Hogan]

I just recieved an e mail from Charlie Price. He indicates that the two 28 ga Trojans are typos; the barrel length appears in the gauge column. He thinks this is corrected on the TPS errata sheet.
Thank you Charlie

Best, Austin