Steve, to whom was your gun originally sold? Many of the first singles were sold to known competition shooters.

I know the heritage of my Parker. The original owner was a well known industrialist in the early 20th Century living around San Francisco. It has a straight grip with a pretty good chunk missing from the wrist along the left side of the lower tang. I bought the gun from the fellow's son-in-law who was in his 80's. I think the S# is 123855...not sure, gun is in safe. The original owner, he was in the coffee biz...big time, was quite a hunter and he gave a bunch of guns to his son-in-law. They were all stolen except for this Parker and a little 08 Colt .380. I bought them both. Interestingly the owner had used the little Colt to kill an intruder who was trying to break into his house. So that gun has a history too.

Huge article on the SBT in this latest, Winter issue 2011 of Double Gun Mag. It covers the subject pretty well. Great pics too. Come to find out there were six made in 20 gauge and they got one to write the article. Almost all have 32 inch tubes, but not all are full choke. Trap shooting in the teens was quite the deal. People showed up dressed to the 9's. It was very popular. Women shot too. Apparently it was the advent of the clay skeet that made the difference. Live pigeon shooting was expensive (they charged the shooter a $1 a bird and usually shot 50.) They specially raised the birds. Not all of them flew when they opened the "traps" they had to be trained to do so. I guess birds that were missed flew back home. Don't pigeons do that?

They often times used a baseball diamond to shoot in. The PETA folks of the time made a big stink about it and shooting live birds became less and less popular. Clay birds don't bleed and shooting them removed any stigma.

Now, I have killed a great many birds and the thought of shooting live birds doesn't matter much to me. I think pigeon shooting, the way they did it way back then, sounds like a ball. Just think, go to Central Park in New York, toss out some corn and have at it. You could shoot pigeons until your arms fall off. In NY they complain about the little beasties, calling them flying rats. The simple solution would be to shoot them; great fun! Never happen tho.

Ray Folger

Here's another interesting tidbit from the DGJ in the Winter 2011 article. All of the SBT chambers measured came to 2 5/8. It goes on to state that Sherman Bell has written that shooting 2 3/4 inch shells in the shorter chamber doesn't raise pressures enought to worry about it. But it is interesting.

I wonder if they were applying the "slower shot, tighter pattern" theory. Also trap matches can be long - many shots. No need to launch magnum loads. Therefore, if one wants to do it right one must shoot 2.5 inch shells. I shoot standard trap loads in my gun and do just fine.

Parker SBT
 

Mis post wrong thread

Parker SC
 

Afraid it's back with it's owner now. Was just on loan to me.

Enjoyed using it last two months at weekly club trap shoots. I am a bit afraid of shooting much with a different gun so back to my Beretta Sporting O/U and more Clays than Trap. Never thought about it much but seems to older Single Barrel Trap guns don't throw as high as new high rib guns. The Parker prints on paper about the same as my Beretta SP II

SBT bug has bitten me though, looking around, My SxS doubles are LC Smiths so looking at LC SBT's That Parker is nice though

Boats

My SBT takes a lot of "air". The bird is well above the line of sight when they break due, I think, to the high comb. This makes my hardest shot, the directly going away bird, much easier. I find the gun a natural follower, it swings easily and I'm not really aware of the muzzle. It makes me a much better shooter. I'm easily a three bird better shooter, but I seldom break 25. I need to shoot more.

My SBT seems to pick up 2-3 more birds also. Best trap gun I have shot so far and I've owned quite a few. Shooting buddy has me looking for him one now. Original, unaltered seems tougher to find. Glad I have mine. Dave

Unaltered trap guns are rarer than chicken lips. Trap shooters never miss the bird. it's always the gun's fault.

Seems like I saw one for sale in "our" magazine.