Wonder if Pachmayr might have any surviving records of work done on this gun? With the looks of the stock work, and the gun being in California, the first thing that popped into my mind was old August himself.

And the Pachmayr pad is a pretty big clue too.





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Ralph, I bought my first Parker single in 1971, been buying them ever since. I even sold one one time, a mistake of my own making. I have a small flock of SC grades, two of them 20 gauges, a nice SB, and a Runge engraved SAA upgrade. I would like to find a nice A, have missed a couple. The last SA1 Special sold at auction was a bit beyond my comfort zone. I've been shooting the singles for 48 years so far.

Good on you. They were (and are) made to be used. Most of our SBTs probably get more use than all the rest of our Parkers put together.

Don't know if this qualifies as "nice" --

https://www.gunsinternational.com/gu...n_id=100850231

Thanks John, the next thing I plan on doing is to request a letter on the SBT and see what that turns up.

Ralph

Jeff is correct. I've probably run more shells through my SB and SC than all my other guns combined.

Dave, I saw that gun sold at a bargain price and missed it. If I were buying guns, I would contact the owner with an offer. I'm not sure if it's an original SA or an upgrade. My SAA is also one of Shelly's guns.

I looked at an SA a while back and considered it. But I couldn't see that much difference from my SB and I actually liked my SB more. I passed. Now an SAA would be a different story.

Bill, there is definitely something special about the Parker SBT. I never owned one before, but was sure missing a great example of fine craftsmanship. I plan on shooting my SBT one of these days, and maybe look for another one.

Ralph

A grade SBT
 

It would be a great place to start until an original one comes along.
I typically don't care for the colors that DelGrego puts on these guns, but that whole package isn't bad looking. Of course they always pick one that's not in the book...

Hmmm...:rolleyes:




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"Hmmm" is an interesting comment. However, no one, including the seller, is representing that gun as an original A grade. Stock book entries will usually identify a single by grade, I think. Don't know if that particular gun is in the stock books however.____Further checking results in "No information available on that serial number."

My point exactly Bill... "of course they (DelGrego) always pick one that's not in the book."





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Hmmmm
 

Okay, it just seems that way. Of course DelGrego had no control over what gun was sent to them. So A or C?

Ok Larry, I'm going to say it looks to me like an original SA, (restored and customized of course). But I still can't see that much difference between the SA and my SB, so I'm going to continue to hold out for the SAA or SA1S. And I'm going to hold my breadth.

And Bill, I think the seller is claiming the gun to be an original A grade when he advertises "Rare (only 32 made)".

Some additional pics of my SBT. By the color case hardening under the forearm, the Parkers were stunningly beautiful when brand new. Some browning on the barrel crown and corrosion on the trigger indicates to me the SBT was not well taken care of (wiped down) as it should have been, over the years. Some nice markings on the underside of the barrel, still trying to decipher what they all mean. The numbers written in pencil on the underside of the forearm wood "3060" has no reference to the S/N? There were no numbers written on the end of the stock, but the numbers "50814" were written in pencil on the base of the Pachmayr pad.

Ralph

Okay - finally... the serial number. At first I thought I read 227591 but it turns out 227591 is a Trojan. Looking more closely I read it now as 227691 which is a SC H 2 S 12 32 so it now appears the whole gun was upgraded and what a work of art, certainly equal to the SB's being produced in Meriden.

It has two separate Remington service codes which begs the question, "Did Remington perform the upgrade?"



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Dean should know that, when Robert Runge was doing these upgrades, there was no Serialization Book, and for the most part, no PGCA. He did not "pick his upgrades by using guns that were not in the book". The Georgia Boys provided the most entertaining reading by using serial numbers of faked up guns in their advertising. When the SB was published, we could compare their guns to the guns as manufactured.

I don’t think we know WHO upgraded this SBT do we Bill?
I sure don’t. To me this gun doesn’t say “DelGrego.”

There’s another thread going on, “Open letter to...” that discusses the DelGrego and Runge families...



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Nope, don't know who upgraded this gun. Why do we assume it was not a B when built? Singles are not usually identified by grade in the stock books, at least not correctly noted by grade.

All I know is what I read in the Serialization book beside the gun's serial number...
SC H 2 S 12 32

If it is not unethical to do so, maybe Chuck will chime in to either confirm or deny what the serialization book shows.



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Trying to get up to speed on my SBT, it being my first. The S/N is 227591, as stamped in four places, and I also noticed that it did not match the B grade in the Parker gun I.D & Serialization (2002) book. I also just received my Parker Story book, but I have barely scratched the surface of all the detailed material, what a great book. So here are some more pics to show you what I am seeing. I really appreciate your help in identifying my SBT correctly.

Ralph

Ralph, although your gun has been "customized", I don't believe it's been "upgraded". But a letter from the PGCA should be able to settle that question.

Again, the Serialization book identified Parker No. 227591 as being a 16 gauge Trojan with 26” barrels. This misinformation once again supports the necessity of ordering a research letter for our Parkers rather than relying on the Serialization book.

My apologies to you Ralph, and all others who have read this thread. When I first saw that the serial number came up as a Trojan I jumped to the (incorrect) conclusion that the number I saw on the lug must be 227691 instead, because it made more sense being an upgraded SC but I was very wrong - apologies to all.

Dean



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Dean, I saw the SC mention in the Serialization Book, suspected that it was mismarked in the Book. I swear I have seen singles in the Serialization Book posted as S and "S" only. I couldn't find any of those today, but I know they are in there. This is difficult, but maybe we will get more information on the Book entries on single barrels. I don't think all singles are entered correctly by grade.

The Serialization Book is wrong on a few S/N's on that page. 227588 is a VH, 227589 is a SC, 227590 is a SC, 227591 is a SB, and 227597 is a Trojan. The rest of that column in the Serialization Book is correct. You many want to write in the correct grade for those guns in your book.

The Serialization Book is a good place to start but it ain't the gospel. I would always recommend a letter if there is any doubt or even if there isn't.

Thanks guys for all the information on my SBT. Dean did you say that it has two separate Remington service codes. Were these on the barrel, can you describe what they look like. Do you think Remington could have completed the SBT, or performed the upgrade/customization on it. Another couple of pics from a different angle, notice the last three digits of the S/N in the channel below the water table.

Ralph

Ralph, the Remington Repair codes are on the barrel flats as shown in your last posted picture. It's impossible to know what work was done at Remington as there are no records to enlighten us. However, I have my doubts that the customization work on your gun was performed at the factory.

The LK3 stamp indicates a service (3) was performed on it in May (K) of 1942 (L).

And the ANN3 tells us that a service (3) was also performed in March (A) of 1944 (NN).


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Thanks John & Dean for the code info. I found the code information as I made it in chapter V, in the Parker Story. There is a lot to read, but it is very interesting. Were there ever guns that were ordered and started the soft build and fitting process, but were never completed because of the 1929 stock market crash. To be assembled/finished later to a higher grade by Remington for another customer? Just a thought, after reading about the large inventory Parker had before the crash and how a lot of the ordered guns, may never have been finished. How long did it take Parker to build a grade B shotgun?

Thanks,

Ralph