What Parker am I looking at?

[Morgan Blancharf]

A friend has a very plain 12ga Parker (no engraving other than the name) that shows a great deal of wear but is mechanically sound. The barrel shows that it has Trojan Steel barrels and it has a pull off forearm, which according to my books was used on the Trojan. But, the action, which lacks a dolls head, does not look like the Trojans I see in the book. The serial number indicates it was made in 1923 and the interior of the gun and the bores are in nice shape. The stock has a crack and is wearing a rubber pad from Bob Chow in San Francisco. It would be a nice shooter. I have included some pictures, hopefully they are clear enough to be of use.

I am not a Parker man (Colts, Winchesters, Spencer’s, etc. are more my line) but I am interested in this gun. I am trying to figure out what it is and what I should offer. Any help appreciated.

[Russell E. Cleary]

Morgan:

For a start, the barrels are apparently from a Parker Trojan, but the gun's receiver is sculpted as would be a Parker at least one grade higher.

Others more knowledgeable will likely chime in. You have come to the right place to learn more.

[Dean Romig]

It is definitely a Trojan ( 203330 ) ( J in the Serialization book ) with a sculpted frame as was done on Grade-0 and higher hammerless guns. And beneath the serial number on the water table is the Trojan stamp OV within a 6-point bordered space for it. However, the space between the forward edge of the forward screw on the side of the frame and the edge of the sculpting is pretty narrow compared to other hammerless Parkers.

I doubt even a PGCA Research Letter will answer why that was done to it.... factory error? Special order? We may never know but it's the doggondest thing I've seen in a long, long time.






.

[Morgan Blancharf]

The serial number on the forearm iron and barrels match the serial number on the water table, so I believe it is factory. I have always been told that with Parker’s anything is possible but I thought the whole point of the Trojan was that there were no variations or alterations to save money.

[Brian Dudley]

This is very interesting. What does the buttstock look like?
And all numbers match on the metal parts. On the surface it appears as if it may be a graded gun that was finished as a Trojan for the sake of filling an order is something like that. But it has no rib extension… which is the real head scratcher to that theory.

Essentially it is a Trojan with frame sculpting.

There are a number of Lefevers that I have seen that are marked as DS or I grades but have grades features like Hs or Gs.

[Morgan Blancharf]

Some shots of the stock. It looks like a plain straight stock, consistent with what is on a Trojan. It has a crack on the right side, a brass rod has been run through from side to side near the action (nothing major) and it has the later butt pad, but the wood fits properly and appears to be consistent with the wear on the gun, though it appears to have been oiled. To my eye the wood looks to be original. The lower tang number also matches.

[Dean Romig]

Definitely Trojan wood.

The lack of a rib extension is appropriate for a Trojan 12 gauge of that approximate year. Parker Bros. discontinued the Trojan rib extension roughly around 1920 and that gun was made a few years later.
I once owned Trojan 202066 which may be the last known Trojan 16 with the rib extension.





.

[charlie cleveland]

I would value gun at 750 to 1000....make a fine shooter if barrels are ok....charlie

[Brian Dudley]

The gun is simply a factory oddity. I doubt there is anything “special order” about it. More than likely the shoe filer working on that gun was not paying attention and started doing the wrong operation and decided to just finish the job vs throw it out.

The gun would actually be more interesting to me if it had a dollshead and maybe even a patent forend latch.

[John Allen]

It could be a "lunchbox special" built by a Parker employee. I would get a letter just to see if any information is available.

[Arthur Shaffer]

The gun is simply a factory oddity. I doubt there is anything “special order” about it. More than likely the shoe filer working on that gun was not paying attention and started doing the wrong operation and decided to just finish the job vs throw it out.

The gun would actually be more interesting to me if it had a dollshead and maybe even a patent forend latch.

This would be my guess. It mayt be a lunchbox special, but would have requird more work to make a plain shooting gun, so a guy trying to save money would probably not put oyut the extra effort.

[Morgan Blancharf]

I would value gun at 750 to 1000....make a fine shooter if barrels are ok....charlie

Thats the price range I was thinking. The interior of the gun, including the bores are in nice shape. I have tried 2 3/4 shells and they seem to fit well. I don't know enough to know if this is chambered for shorter shells or if it will shoot modern shells without an issue. I assume that the Trojan steel would handle sensible modern loads, which is one of things that I like about it. I have a British John Shaw and sons Damascus hammer double that I load BP shells for, but it would be nice to have a double that would shoot modern shells.

[Dave Noreen]

The chambers of 203330 most likely left Meriden 2 5/8-inch intended for 2 3/4-inch shells. No one can tell you over the internet what ammunition may be safe in a given gun. A 2-frame Parker Bros. 12-gauge gun in sound condition should handle any SAAMI Spec lead loads. By serial number this is a 1923 gun, the year after our ammunition factories began producing progressive burning powder, high velocity, 1 1/4-ounce, 12-gauge loads. The gun has probably digested lots of them. Whether one wants to subject the 99 year old wood to the recoil of high velocity 1 1/4-ounce loads is another question.

[Morgan Blancharf]

The chambers of 203330 most likely left Meriden 2 5/8-inch intended for 2 3/4-inch shells. No one can tell you over the internet what ammunition may be safe in a given gun. A 2-frame Parker Bros. 12-gauge gun in sound condition should handle any SAAMI Spec lead loads. By serial number this is a 1923 gun, the year after our ammunition factories began producing progressive burning powder, high velocity, 1 1/4-ounce, 12-gauge loads. The gun has probably digested lots of them. Whether one wants to subject the 99 year old wood to the recoil of high velocity 1 1/4-ounce loads is another question.

I made a deal for the gun. I will address the stock crack and measure the chambers before I get too far down the road. It's a nice old gun that should be fun to shoot with lighter loads. I have plenty of modern shotguns to handle anything stouter. I think I'll take it out to a cowboy shoot along with a couple of 1st gen SAAs and a nice Winchester and blow some people's minds...

[Dave Noreen]

What length are the barrels? The mention of "Cowboy Action Shooting" sends shivers through the membership here for all the perfectly good shotguns that have been ruined by barrel whacking for CAS!!

[Morgan Blancharf]

What length are the barrels? The mention of "Cowboy Action Shooting" sends shivers through the membership here for all the perfectly good shotguns that have been ruined by barrel whacking for CAS!!

Yeah, some of those people are idiots. I have been shooting SASS for 30+ years, but I have too much respect for old guns to cut them down. It’s a fun game and extra fun to shoot with old stuff. A few years back a friend and I were at a shoot using BP loads in real cavalry and artillery models. It kind of freaked people out. With a couple of notable exceptions, I don't own anything I would not shoot and, in my experience, more guns are destroyed by neglect than use. So I use them.

The barrels are 28 inch and when hung and tapped they ring with no buzz (once I taped the extractor). I like a 26 in better, but 28 is fine.