Twist Trojan Discovery

[Dean H Hanson]

Hello All, Over an interesting weekend in S.D., a buddy and I discovered he owns the back half of an incredibly rare Parker. Unfortunately the original Twist barrels have been replaced with Vulcan Barrels. We have gone down the proverbial rabbit hole and now are on the hunt for 28" 1 frame twist steel Trojan Barrels or just Twist barrels...1916 era. Does any one have any barrels(will post in the WTB), does anyone want to share if they own/know of one of the 48 recorded Twist barreled Trojans, does anyone have of of the 10 gauges....curiosity, and does anyone have any pertinent info on what we may need to know to make this gun correct again. It does have the Trojan dolls head extension. Thanks for any help. Be well, Dean.

[Steve Huffman]

Whats the serial number? Maybe the barrels are around.

[Dean H Hanson]

173981

[Dean Romig]

If the Vulcan barrels are perfectly fitted we might safely presume the gun had been sent back to Parker to be rebarreled. Have you checked with Chuck to see if there are records that would support this premise?






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[Dean H Hanson]

Definitely not Parker fitted.

[Brian Dudley]

It must have been one of the Iver Johnson guns. There was like 30 of them made. 1 frame 12g trojans with twist barrels. It is the only way one could have a 1 frame 12g trojan that was factory built.

[Russ Jackson]

Dean ,I owned those barrels years ago ,If you do a search of the serial# on our site you can see how nice they were ! I kept them for years and never found the rest of the gun and finally gave up searching for it and sold them !:banghead: I sold them on our site here !

[Russ Jackson]

Dean ,the barrels were in nice condition ,there are pictures of them on our site just search the serial # !

[Dave Noreen]

173901 and 173992 have crossed my field of view, so they are out there. The letters say they were an Iver Johnson Sporting Goods of Boston order.

[Russ Jackson]

I happen to own 173901 ! I bought it on our For Sale section on our site !!!!! Wished I still owned the other set of Barrels I once owned !

[Dean H Hanson]

Russ, any chance in a zillion you remember who bought those barrels?

[Russ Jackson]

Dean , Check Your PM's !

[JAMES HALL]

Little help on twist

[JAMES HALL]

More

[JAMES HALL]

More

[CraigThompson]

Straightened

[Dean Romig]

Thanks Jimmy - That’s great information. I learn something new every day.





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[Dean H Hanson]

Thank you Russ. Hopefully I can track those barrels down

[Dean Romig]

Does any one have any barrels(will post in the WTB), does anyone want to share if they own/know of one of the 48 recorded Twist barreled Trojans, does anyone have of of the 10 gauges....curiosity, and does anyone have any pertinent info on what we may need to know to make this gun correct again. It does have the Trojan dolls head extension. Thanks for any help. Be well, Dean.


Dean, I would like to understand your request.
Would you be kind enough to re-read and restate it?






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[Dean H Hanson]

Dean, Ultimately I am looking for the original barrels for the back half of the Trojan I have. I have been given a lead from Russ Jackson on the original barrels and am currently following that trail. I was also interested in learning more about these rare Trojans to see if any are around. I am always trying to expand my Parker knowledge and appreciate the info provided by the great members here.

[Dean Romig]

Thanks Dean but I’m still confused by your statement “of of the 10 gauges.”





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[Dean H Hanson]

I seem to recall, according to The Parker Story, that several 10's were also made in this configuration.

[Dean Romig]

Okay so you’re looking for info on those too.

Thanks.





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[Dave Noreen]

Again, according to The Parker Story there were at least ten "DamVul" 10-gauges in the books 30- & 32-inch and one 12-gauge 34-inch. The 10-gauges were in the same serial number range as the Twist Trojans. These were made long before the VH/VHE was cataloged as being available in 10-gauge. I seem to recall Mills having one?!?

[Dean H Hanson]

UPDATE!!!!
The matching barrels have been located!!!! In the process of figuring out how to make this Parker whole again. Huge Thank you to Russ Jackson for the tip. I will keep updating as info is available.

[Dean Romig]

That is a truly rare occurrence - Congratulation, it CAN happen!!





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[Reggie Bishop]

The happy ending! Congrats!

[Russ Jackson]

Dean ,So glad to hear this is working out ! Post Pictures when you get your deal done !!!!!

[Jim DiSpagno]

Good things happen to good people. Way to go Dean

[Garth Gustafson]

Awesome news Dean! Congratulations and thanks to Russ for connecting the dots. Can’t wait to read about it in PP (hint-hint)!

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

They are rare but sometimes you can find those missing brls, just ask Murphy! Gary

[Larry Stauch]

What a great and educational turn of events, almost 8 years in the making.
The pictures of the complete gun will be an interesting conclusion to the tale.

[Larry Stauch]

Interesting reading on page 246 of the TPS about these Trojans. It lists seven 10 gauges, 4 with 30" barrels and 3 with 32" barrels, but in the table immediately below that paragraph it lists no 10 gauge guns. That seems odd.

[Dean Romig]

Probably a simple oversight by the authors of TPS.





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[Dean H Hanson]

Update: Well folks it is with mixed emotions to report the happy ending.... not the fairy tale ending I had hoped. The owner of the barrels could not part with the barrels. so in the best interest of all parties involved, the back half of the gun will be in his possession soon. His intent is to have the gun put back together in its entirety. It has been a whirl wind journey these last several weeks and although some disappointment has crept in, the opportunity to be involved in such a worthy Parker endeavor gives me personal pride and satisfaction. Good luck to the new owner and maybe, just maybe I'll see that gun again some day. My Parker journey has another chapter..... on to the next.

[Dean Romig]

Well I hope he is as generous as you are Dean, and that he will share pictures of it altogether for the posterity of “Parker Knowledge”.





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[Dean H Hanson]

Dean, this is a perfect example of what Parker's do for me. If I couldn't share my passion and love for the Old Reliable, then I need to find another rabbit hole. Why not give incredible joy to someone appreciates them like I do.... and in reality, has much less time than I to achieve a 1 in a million chance in the Parker realm. Again,"if it were easy, everyone would do it. It's the hard that makes it great".

[Dean Romig]

I agree Dean - me too.





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[Russ Jackson]

You just have to wonder why Iver Johnson felt the need to order these guns with the Twist Steel Barrels when I would feel certain the Trojan Steel was readily available ????

[Dave Noreen]

More likely the Brothers P had an excess to their needs of Twist and Damascus tubes and offered Iver a deal to make use of them. By 1916 composite iron and steel barrels were no longer being offered in Ithaca Gun Co. catalogs. A.H. Fox Gun Co. never offered them.

[Dean Romig]

….because of the hype that composite barrels were unsafe.





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[Dean H Hanson]

And some idiots still believe they are!!!

[Bill Murphy]

Iver Johnson was taken in by the $20 price tag.

[Dave Noreen]

….because of the hype that composite barrels were unsafe.

The "hype" really started during the Great Depression to try and garner some sales of new guns.

[Dean Romig]

Thanks Dave. I had understood it started sooner, like shortly after smokeless and nitro powders became popular and folks weren’t heeding the warnings NOT to load to the same recipes they had always loaded black powder to… and burst their gun barrels.






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