George, what does the PGCA letter say about the original owner? Was this originally a South Carolina gun?

Dave, Volume 16, Issue 4, page 46 of what?

Bill, Oooops.....Parker Pages

At least back then, it made a lot of sense. People were more careful with their money....I truly think if you took a guy from 1910 and told him you were going to see a professional baseball game ($125) where you would eat a hot dog ($9) and drink a beer ($8) he would pass out.

If you had a 16ga. Parker that fit you perfectly and wanted to shoot a 20ga as well, you could add a second set of barrels which cost a good deal less than a whole new gun, and you ran no risk of the stock of the new gun not feeling or fitting the same. After all, you can only shoot one gun at a time anyway.

Reading through the Parker Brothers order books, you get the feeling that some of these customers knew a lot about a shotgun and what they wanted in a shotgun. A second set of barrels for a specific use was one example.

Bill: The PGCA letter states that "Parker shotgun, SN 92373, was ordered by Frank W. Irwin in Cherokee, Iowa on July 28, 1899, and was shipped on September 13, 1899. According to Parker Bros. Order Book No. 47 it was a CH hammerless, 12 gauge. It featured Bernard steel barrels with a length of 32 inches and Lyman sights. It stock configuration was a straight grip with a Silver's pad. The chokes were patterned RH (265 #7 pellets in a 30 inch circle at 40 yards) and LH (280 #7 pellets in a 30 inch circle at 40 yards). Trigger pull was set at RH 4 pounds and LH at 4 3/4-5 pounds." The order specified to "Make guard same as grade 5 or 6" and "He is to use gun and talk Parker for 3 years and it is his gun". According to Parker Stock Book No 33, it's specifications were: Length of Pull: 14 1/2", Drop at Comb: 1 9/16", Drop at Heel: 2 1/2" and Weight : 8 pounds 1 ounce."

According to Order Book No. 53 it was returned by him on April 16, 1901 to "take dents out of barrels, clean & rebrown, blue all iron parts, nickel triggers, make RH trigger pull 4 pounds and tighten action" for this there was no charge.

According to Order Book No. 63, the gun was returned again by Frank W. Irwin c/ Sportsman, St. Louis MO on January 16, 1904 to "fit 12 gauge 32 inch Titanic Steel barrels to shoot 10 inches high, retarget and clean out old barrels (Bernard), and set trigger pull at: RH 3 1/2 pounds and LH 4 pounds" again there was no charge.

I have not yet been able to find W. Frank Irwin, but I believe that he might have been a professional shooter. What do you think ?

Best Regards, George

sounds like this man learned a lot about how he wanted his gun to shoot as he had it through the years...its a interesting read.... charlie

Frank Iwin was probably the famous "Tramp" Irwin, a trade representative for Laflin and Rand and also affiliated with the Sportsman's Review. He was a highly regarded live bird shooter at the turn of the century and thereabouts. He shot all over the midwest, obviously on someone else's dime. Search "tramp irwin" on la84foundation.com in the Sporting Life database and you will find pages of entries. Use the "text version" for color highlighted search results. There is also at least one reference about the time of the Parker order where he was mentioned as shooting a "new L.C. Smith". He apparently never met a sponsor he didn't like.

Thanks for the info Bill. One more piece to the puzzle.

Best Regards, George

"You can only shoot one gun at a time":eek:....sacriledge I say.