An amazing discovery

[Chuck Bishop]

I did a letter for a fellow PGCA member. It was for a AHE 16ga. with 26" Acme barrels made in 1922. Unfortunately I only had the stock book for this gun. He also told me that this gun was pictured in the Parker catalogs. I have pictures of quite a few catalogs so I went looking for this gun. The first catalogs were dated 1923. I have 3 versions of this catalog, 2 are dated April 21, 1923 but show a different gun. The other version shows this gun. The engraving is obviously different between these 2 guns so it's very obvious they are different guns. The next catalog I have is 1926 and it show this gun with 2 different views a side view and bottom view. If I zoom in on the picture, I can make out the S/N which is 197081! Unfortunately you won't be able to zoom in to read it. I went through all the other catalogs up to 1940 and all showed the same gun except that some catalogs only showed the side profile not the bottom profile.

This is one exquisite Gun!

[Garry L Gordon]

That is pretty amazing. What a nice gun. Thanks for sharing the gun and catalog information with us. The Parker brass must have like it, too.

[Jeff Peck]

That is amazing !

I wonder how many other " catalog" guns are out there with members !

[Jeff Peck]

I was able to zoom in on the catalog !

[Dean Romig]

What an incredible find! What a beautiful gun!

Those Grade 6 Parkers are just the most amazing guns and outshine almost everything else in terms of engraving and full coverage.





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[jerry serie]

Wow! Pretty exquisite indeed! Would this be engraving by Fred Anschutz? Only two 16 gauge AHE's with 26" Acme barrels. Are there more photos?

[Dean Romig]

Could very well be the work of Fred Anchutz. The game scene animals certainly have his style.





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[Chris Travinski]

That is a fantastic gun! I have always enjoyed Parker woodland scenes, I love the Elk. Do you have any pictures of the other side?

[Harold Lee Pickens]

Chuck, I think that as historian/curator of the records, you should have the option of holding, maybe shooting those beauties. Hope to shoot with you again this year.

[Chuck Bishop]

Harold, people do sometimes send me pictures of outstanding Parkers they own and sometimes they let me hold and shoot them. I remember when a member friend let me take a few shots out of his AAHE. i never thought I would be privileged to do that.

Getting the Covid shot next week so I'll be ready for the Southern and Hausmanns. We did have fun at "The Rock"!

[Dean Romig]

My best experience shooting another member’s Parker was when I shot John Dunkle’s grandfather’s AAHE Double Trap with every option possible, plus a special option I’ve never seen on any other double, Parker or otherwise.

I know I’m not the only one who has had this rare opportunity but it was a very special moment for me.

Thank You John!





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[Brian Dudley]

It looks like a heck of a gun still in great condition today! I know there have been a few other examples of catalog guns found in the past and before any were actually found there used to be some debate as to if the detailed images of guns pictured in catalogs, which showed serial numbers, were actual guns or not. Another example that they were.

[Paul Ehlers]

This is one of the things that dreams are made from!!

[Chuck Bishop]

More pictures. I tried to rotate some of the pictures, saved them, renamed the files but it won't save the rotation. It must be something in the original picture data that prevents me from rotating. It looks correct when I look at the pictures in "manage attachments"

[keavin nelson]

Thanks for sharing that Chuck, an amazing piece of Parker excellence!

[jerry serie]

Many Thanks Chuck for bringing this gun to life!