1928 SBT Upgraded?

[Ralph Miller]

I bought my SBT, S/N 227591, a couple of years ago. It was made in 1928 and I believe was a grade 5B. It is in 12 Ga with a 32 in barrel. The SBT has been upgraded and there are two Remington repair codes on the barrel, LK3 (Feb 1941 and ANN3 (Mar 1944). The barrel and receiver are beautifully engraved. The barrel engraving extends down the barrel surrounding the left side Parker Bros logo. The receiver engraving is in floral designs, with no bird or gold inlays. The forward and rear stocks have hand checkering, but are also carved with floral leaf designs on all open areas. The receiver still has the color case hardening showing nicely. This SBT appears to be a very well kept working Trap Gun. My question is: were the modifications performed at the Remington factory, or somewhere else.

Thanks for your help,

Ralph Miller

[Phil Yearout]

Pics?

[Ralph Miller]

Yes, pics, I need to put some together.

Thanks,

[Ralph Miller]

Some Pics, more to come.

[Ralph Miller]

More Pics.

[Ralph Miller]

More pics.

[Ralph Miller]

More pics.

[Ralph Miller]

More pics.

[Dean Romig]

With just the Remington service codes and without a PGCA Research Letter we can only presume that the carving in the wood and the elaborate engraving are aftermarket upgrades or embellishments... but they are exceptionally well done! That is a very interesting SB.





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[Bill Murphy]

Wow. What a nice SB. I would buy that gun.

[Ralph Miller]

Thanks, I plan on doing a letter soon. It would be nice to know the modification origins. I recently retired from aerospace, so I am getting around to playing with my favorite hobbies. I bought this SB in 2019 and then bought the Parker Books, amazing history on a fine company and shotgun. Last year I finally purchased my first Parker double from a friend. It is a nice 1892, PT, H, 0, C, 12, 30 Dam barrels, #2 frame. I have many different firearm collecting interests, and I now plan on doing more shooting, now that I am retired.

Ralph

[Ralph Miller]

I just sent off the PGCA Research letter.

Thanks for the info.

Ralph

[Ralph Miller]

Thanks again for everyone's feedback.

Ralph

[Brian Dudley]

My guess would be restocked. And the barrel engraving added.

[Dean Romig]

I might agree Brian but the Parker trap comb ‘nose of the comb’ is absolutely perfect. What restocker would have the finnesse of experience to recreate that unique look?





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[Brian Dudley]

I might agree Brian but the Parker trap comb ‘nose of the comb’ is absolutely perfect. What restocker would have the finnesse of experience to recreate that unique look?





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My thoughts on a restock are based on the stock having no sign of ever having a flur drop point. Which would be on an SB. Meaning that the stock carving was not added on an original factory stock. Instead, the stock was made that way and carved. The carving execution is very good and was done by a skilled hand. I suppose one could speculate that the stock and carving was factory done on a special order. But without a letter to support that, it would be hard to believe. Of course other details like inletting quality would tell more of a story.

[Drew Hause]

It may be a Pachmayr upgrade. Some of the guns were reported to have been stocked in Germany
https://doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=19801&Number=214544

https://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=20781

The 'case colors' on the forend iron do not appear to be original

[Ralph Miller]

All, great information on the potential history. I bought the SB in Ca about 5 years ago, it was my first Parker SB. The Pachmayr pad was obviously added some time later, maybe in the 1950's or 1960's. The forearm has a number 3060 written in pencil on the inside? It looks like the original owner shot this SB a lot, but took good care of it.

Thanks,

Ralph

[edgarspencer]

The curvature of the wrist doesn't look like Parker, and the checkering appears finer. The Germanic carving, in my opinion, was done by a skilled hand, who probably did a lot of that work, and was likely a German craftsman. Same for the fore end. The added engraving is quite good.
As to the comb shape, there are stock people, and then there are stock people. I had one of those correct a Delgrego nose to a Meriden nose, and frankly, he got it right.

[Ralph Miller]

Thanks for the feedback.

"The curvature of the wrist doesn't look like Parker, and the checkering appears finer. The Germanic carving, in my opinion, was done by a skilled hand, who probably did a lot of that work, and was likely a German craftsman. Same for the fore end. The added engraving is quite good."

I agree, probably performed by another engrave & wood carver.

I am hopeful that The Parker Letter investigation can uncover what the Remington work tag numbers stamped on the barrel indicate, what work was done. LK3 (Feb 1941) and ANN3 (Mar 1944). That may indicate additional engraving and carving in-side, or outside the Remington factory?

[Brian Dudley]

A letter will not provide information on remington era repairs.

[Dean Romig]

Unfortunately the Remington IBM cards and codes ‘never’ indicate the service or repair work done and a PGCA Research Letter can’t provide that information if it’s not in the factory records.





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[edgarspencer]

As Brian and Dean have indicated, a PGCA research letter will only reflect how it left the factory, and any subsequent work Parker performed. Since it’s quite unlikely the carving and engraving was done by Parker, that work would not be addressed.

[Chuck Bishop]

Ralph, your research letter went in the mail today. Unfortunately the information contained in the letter is only based on the stock book entry, the order books ended in December 1919. Any special work asked for would have been entered in the order book.

It's a SB grade gun. The engraving on the action is original. I can't tell if the case colors are original but based on the case colors on the fore-end iron, I don't think they are. The engraving on the barrel is not of the quality that either guns manufactured in Meriden or Ilion NY. Looks very large and not like the rest of the scroll engravings. The fore-end and stock may or may not be original. The carving has a definite Germanic style. I don't see a mullard boarder on the checkering. The nose flute looks good but the best way to tell if the wood is original is to separate the metal from the fore-end wood and lift the trigger guard tang out of it's channel and rotate it 1/4 turn CCW. You should see the S/N's stamped in the wood plus a #5 stamped in the trigger guard channel. Personally I don't think the wood is original to the gun.

Unfortunately we don't know what the Remington repair codes mean, we only know the month and year the gun was returned for service.

If your pleased with the gun, that's all that counts. Go out and shoot it, that's what it was made for and before you ask, as long as the barrel is within specs, you can shoot any modern trap load.

[Dave Noreen]

Good chance the extra engraving on the barrel and the stock carving were done in Germany and there are two likely scenarios -- 1. Pachmayr sent it to West Germany to be done. 2. A U.S. service man had it done while stationed in West Germany.

[Dean Romig]

Or did Pachmayr have in-house craftsmen who would do that?





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[David C Porter]

I doubt Pachmayr did the work; too crude. I had dealings with their engravers: Richard Boucher, Geno Cargnel, Angelo Bee, & their stockmaker Engilbert Olafsson who I learned stockmaking from. Englebert besides being an excellent stockmaker was an excellent carver.

[Ralph Miller]

It is a beautiful and unique Parker SB, that I bought at an estate sale, through my local gun shop, along with a few Browning Superposes. I did not think it was original at the time, but it was a good deal and I did not have a Parker SB. I am now planning on shooting it and comparing it to my Browning BT-99.

Thanks for all the information you provided, on this unique Parker SB,

Ralph

[Bill Murphy]

Tell us about your Superposed purchases.

[John Davis]

I’m betting you will love shooting this SB.

[Ralph Miller]

Four Superposed purchased: one from 1971, in 26", in 20 Ga, one from 1973, in 28", in 12 Ga, one from 1964, in 32", in 12 Ga, and one early 12 Ga, in 30", made in 1932, with double triggers. Nothing quite as unique as the Parker SB!

[Ralph Miller]

Hi Dean, I apologize, I have not been checking my private messages, and did not see yours. I will send you some pics on the SB for you to view. I did do a letter thru PGCA and it did not indicate the level of beautiful engraving and wood carving of the stock and forearm, that it has. It indicated a B grade SB when leaving the factory. The key to to this mystery is in the Remington Service Tag codes stamped on the barrel, LK3 Feb 1941 & ANN3 March 1944. If we could see what they said they may have performed the additional engraving & wood carving?

[Bill Murphy]

Ralph, what is the serial number of your 1932 Superposed? I have two 1932 Supers that are just a couple of digits apart. Harry, who built your Trojan?