1917 Parker Single Barrel Trap Manufacturers Choke

[Gary Doyle]

Were the early Parker shotguns, such as the 1917 SBT manufactured with different chokes? I have seen most early American trap guns with full chokes, a few modified, and a Parker SBT listed with a 32" barrel and cylinder choke.
I was wondering if that cylinder choke was original, or perhaps modified by a previous owner.

Thank you!

[Dean Romig]

Full, IMod, Mod are all simply terms used for a general choke boring. The thing that actually determined which term applied to a particular boring was the pellet count at a specific yardage.

I can’t believe Parker Bros. Would have produced a dedicated 32” trap gun with cylinder choke or to even produce a one that patterned that loosely.






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[Bill Murphy]

You probably determined that a Parker trap gun was made with a cylinder choke because you did not measure the bore and choke with a proper tool. You need to get farther along in your shotgun education and measuring tools. A Parker trap gun with an original bore of .745 or .750 and a choke of .030 will measure a very light choke on a cheap choke gauge. Get a bore micrometer and report back.

[Gary Doyle]

Thank you both for the quick reply!

1) A Parker SBT 1917 is listed for sale with a 32" barrel and cylinder choke
bore. Therefore, I do not have access to measure it myself.

2) I was seeking information if Parker would have manufactured the gun with a
cylinder choke?

3) I have a small collection of the early American SBT guns and most all are
full choke.

[Bill Murphy]

I gave you a good answer. A Parker could have been made in any choke, but a bore micrometer will tell you the truth. Some sellers have no idea what they have, and that includes big name dealers. A PGCA letter may tell you if some rare choke was original equipment. There is a lot of PGCA information on 1917 Parker single barrels. What is the serial number of the gun you are interested in?

[Gary Doyle]

Thank you Mr. Murphy

I will email the seller and ask them to measure the choke, if they have an accurate tool.

[Gary Doyle]

The serial number is 177324

[Bill Murphy]

Thank you. That's a really low number.

[John Davis]

Heavy odds favor that any Parker SBT started life with some degree of Full choke. Very unlikely that it would originally have been Cyl. But possible I suppose.

[Dean Romig]

A couple of years ago someone came on this forum looking for a Parker 20 ga. SBT so he could cut the barrel and use it for a single shot grouse gun….





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[Garry L Gordon]

A couple of years ago someone came on this forum looking for a Parker 20 ga. SBT so he could cut the barrel and use it for a single shot grouse gun….
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And that makes me physically hurt to read!:crying:

[Bill Murphy]

One of my SC 20 gauge singles has a Cutts Compensator barrel as a mismatched extra barrel. Makes me cry too, except that the gun was probably owned by Colonel Cutts, a person important in shotgun history. The gun letters as a 20 gauge, but the Cutts barrel and another 12 gauge barrel are all that survive. Colonel Cutts experimented with all kinds of single barrels on which he could install his compensator. He probably destroyed the original 20 gauge SC barrel in one of his experiments. It's out there somewhere. The gun was found in Maryland, near Colonel Cutts' home.