I was just about to turn 50.A friend and gun dealer invited me to go along to the Tulsa Gun Show in April 10 years ago.I had been saving up for my first double and decided it would be a 16 gauge.Lots to choose from if you've ever been to Tulsa.I came home with a very nice LC Smith.The Parkers,known to me as the Cadillac of doubles back then were just not affordable for me.Since then I have accumulated several doubles from all the american gun makers and finally 3 years ago at 57 purchased my first Parker,a 12 gauge V grade.It is in very good condition and proved itself 2 seasons ago with a limit of teal on opening day.I have since acquired a couple more,the last one being a Trojan 20 gauge which is just waiting for hunting season this fall to help me harvest a couple teal and maybe a rooster or two.I hope to add a PH or a D grade to my collection someday.The hook is set.

I bought my first Parker when I was 22. It was a 12 gauge DH titanic owed by one of my hunting mentors. My collection was enhanced by buying broken guns cheap, fixing them, and trading up mostly at the Tulsa Gun Shows. As I have aged, my interests have been on 16 ga Parker, Smith, and Ithaca, mostly mid grades with mostly damascus barrels. I have picked up a few Parkers that I thought were unique or special. My hammer guns phase has included the 14 and 16. Like Milton I always wanted a big gun because my grandad and great uncles had them. I looked for several years before I found a 4 frame B grade hammer 10. Many times I thought this gun will be the last one.

I had looked at alot of Parkers and came close to buying one before but for some reason I always told myself to wait . I thought I missed out on picking up a Parker back in November I had really wanted . Then around the same time the one I recently purchased came up for sale but was gone as soon as it showed up . Well then it popped up again not long ago and thanks to Mr.Josh Loewensteiner I was able to buy a Parkers I never thought I would own and my first Parker as well .

The big frames are my passion and you dont see them often , especially in a price range I could say was feasible . Sometimes you get lucky though and you find the right one or in my case It found me .


At 27 I often wonder by the time I get older if theres going to be any interesting old double collectors to talk to .

My first Parker was a well used VH 12 gifted to me by my grandfather which I still have today. I was in my thirties. The first Parker I purchased was a VH 16
from Gary Hermen at his gun shop Safari Outftters in Ridefield CT. That was in 1978. I was living in northern NJ and working for Buick Motor Division as a Car Distributor. I sold the gun to a Louisiana duck hunter a few years ago in order to purchase another Parker I had my eyes on! 😊

Believe me, you will be one of the "interesting old double collectors" to perpetuate this passion soon enough.





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Haha , I was telling my little brother just the other day soon as my nephew gets big enough im going teach him about vintage doubles . At the rate hes growing it looks like hes going to be a big fellow someday so I think he will be able to shoot the #6 frame 10 gauge just fine .

I have a few Parkers and will buy more. The hard part is selling them. I don't have a Parker I don't like and hardly have one I don't like to shoot. I have shot competitive skeet and sporting clays since I was a teenager, got the big cards and won a few bucks. I shot all over Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia and some NSSA World Shoots in Georgia. Now I only shoot double guns for money, no matter what the game. I may not win much, but I'm shooting my Parkers. Our pigeon club is full of double gun guys, most of whom shoot side by sides in competition, win or lose. I bought my first Parker in 1960 when I was 14, a 28 gauge that I still have. I have every kind of double gun, but the Parker is king. I like big guns and I like little guns. Eights and .410s are my favorites, but I have everything else too. I would rather shoot a hammer gun and I do shoot them a lot. My favorite is Austin Hogan's old 32" #3 frame lifter 12. Ron Kirby found me a great .410 VHE skeet gun and I bought two great 32" smallbores on this forum. Our members have helped me a lot with my collection although I was buying Parkers long before the PGCA and for 38 years before we copied the records at Ilion. Imagine how hard it would be to write a big check for a Parker without a PGCA letter of documentation. Well, we did it.

My first was a VH 2 frame 12 ga, that was in need of much attention. We were visiting friends in Farmville, VA. in 69 and my dad came back from the hardware store with it for $60. It had been restocked, but that was broken through the grip, secured with much of the old fashion black tape, barrels were painted with black paint! And it was a bit loose. My first project at 15! The stock, once degrimed, turned out to be a nice piece of walnut, and repairable, barrels rust blued with the tank and products from Herters! While not the first one I shot, as Dad had bought and sold a couple, it was mine! I still have it! Along with a number of others to keep it company. He spoke of stopping in a shop in NY during his travels, that was full of them.
It would be about 7 years before I bought my first one, a VH 12 on 1 1/2 frame, in a trade. I still have that one also.

While I have Foxes and LCs, my favorites to shoot are the Parkers!

I have shot side x sides my whole life but my first Parker was bought March 2011, a 30 inch 20ga VHE, still have the gun and shoot it all the time. Since then I have bought at least one a year, last one was a 20ga DH. Before that I shot many side x sides but mostly Winchester model 21's and Fox Sterlingworth's ,but I have seen the light or at least some of it , now it's either a Parker or a model 21 most of the time. Hard to believe I have been hunting for about 56 years as I am now 71.