Ball Grips

[Gerald McPherson]

I have a Gh Parker with a ball grip or round Prince of Wales grip. Any ideas about number built? First one for me so not very common around here.

[Brian Dudley]

There is no way of knowing. But on hammerless guns, it would be the least common of the 3 different grip styles.

[CraigThompson]

I’ve had I think two hammer guns with ball grips and my DH 8 has a ball grip .

[Dean Romig]

The so-called “Prince of Wales” or “POW” grip on a Parker gun is a misnomer.
The true Prince of Wales grip was originally designed and made by Churchill who made shotgund to the specs and fitting of the Prince of Wales, King Edward VII (formerly Prince Albert Edward, eldest son of Queen Victoria). No other gunmaker could make a gunstock with this particular design and name it a Prince of Wales grip. This from David Trevallion who received his gunmaking and stock-making training at Purdey’s of London.

There is the P - pistol grip which is different from others (“C”) that had a capped pistol grip and then there was the “B” for ball grip, which in my opinion was the distinctly bulbous ball on the pistol grip of earlier hammer guns.

In any case, Parker never made a Prince of Wales, either capped or not, nor did they ever refer to any of their grips as such.

I only wish they could have been more definitive in recording the type of grip a gun had.





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[Garry L Gordon]

It’s interesting that I have found ball grips on CH guns more than any other hammerless grade.

[CraigThompson]

It’s interesting that I have found ball grips on CH guns more than any other hammerless grade.

First time I visited the Southern there was a dealer there from FL , he had FIVE VH/VHE 410’s of which two had ball grips .

[Dave Noreen]

It’s interesting that I have found ball grips on CH guns more than any other hammerless grade.

Only capped pistol grip, half-pistol grip and straight grip on hammerless Parker Bros. guns. The "ball grip" was a feature of some Parker Bros. hammer guns.

The majority of half-pistol grip Parker Bros. hammerless guns I've seen have been .410-bores.

[Gerald McPherson]

Thanks Dean. All those folks are my ancestors. This gun in the ID and Ser. book is in the middle of 17 with a P for stock code so not too rare in 1900. Looking at surrounding pages that seems strange. The serial number is 94523. I wonder why so many at the time.
Page 40 Fig D-3 shows Annie Oakley's gun and says it is coded as B. That must be a different shape. Huummm.

[John Bastiani]

Only capped pistol grip, half-pistol grip and straight grip on hammerless Parker Bros. guns. The "ball grip" was a feature of some Parker Bros. hammer guns.

The majority of half-pistol grip Parker Bros. hammerless guns I've seen have been .410-bores.

My 410 VH has a ball grip. Early Remington gun when they were still in Meriden.

[Dave Noreen]

Most Parker Bros. catalogs just say "Straight or Pistol Grip"

114917

114918

114916

114919

In 1929 they differentiated full pistol and half pistol --

114920

but 1930 they didn't --

114921

[Dave Noreen]

My 410 VH has a ball grip. Early Remington gun when they were still in Meriden.

Remington didn't call it "ball grip" --

114923

[Brian Dudley]

.410s seem to usually have uncapped pistol grips.

[Bill Murphy]

Yes, the rarest .410 Parkers are capped pistol grips. By the way, many of us refer to the "half pistol grip" as a relaxed curve to the pistol grip, not a round knob grip. Brownings with a round knob are referred to by collectors as a "round knob" grip, which is more correct than "ball grip" or "half pistol grip".

[Garry L Gordon]

Only capped pistol grip, half-pistol grip and straight grip on hammerless Parker Bros. guns. The "ball grip" was a feature of some Parker Bros. hammer guns.

The majority of half-pistol grip Parker Bros. hammerless guns I've seen have been .410-bores.

Bill Murphy's resurrected thread regarding the Gold Hearts gun has a research letter on a wonderful DH noted to have been ordered with a "ball grip."

[Bill Murphy]

Garry, Gerald's mention of the Annie Oakley gun on page 40 of the serialization book is, like the Gold Hearts gun, a standard round knob gun ordered as a "ball grip". Neither of those guns are the bulbous "ball grip" of the early hammer gun style.