First Parker
 

In November of 1976 I was shooting skeet with Bill Williams at the old Winchester trap and skeet club in Long Beach, California. There were a few shooters on station 7 on the field we intended to use. While waiting for them to finish I was drawn to the old gun one of the shooters was using. It looked and sounded like a very small sXs not usually encountered on a skeet field. When the squad finished and was walking off I approached the gentleman and asked about what I could now see was a Parker. He said it was a family gun and he only used it occasionally to shoot a round of skeet. Serial #241081. Straight stock, double triggers, original BT forend, 28" barrels bored ..004 and .003. and about 80% overall condition. I took a deep breath and asked if he would consider selling it. Without hesitation he replied yes but would accept not a penny less than $6000.00 for it and wanted cash. There was a branch of my bank just a few blocks away so off we went to close the deal. Upon returning to the gun club he handed me the Parker and I was astounded when he asked if I had any interest in the original case. Turned out it was a leg-o-mutton marked T.J.B. with the felt stockings. The grade of the little gun was a CHE. Good start to my Parker collection and a very lucky one.

18 years old. In the late 70’s till about 2001 in our area we had a local Weekly want ad paper called the Swap Sheet.
It was printed in another town and delivered every Wednesday, I knew the first stop it was delivered at and was there waiting at 10:30 AM every week.
This was before cell phones and internet.
One week there was listed was a Parker Bros. Gun 20 gauge for $200.00.
I called however no answer.
Back at that time I was a member of the local volunteer Fire Department, and the dispatcher had a Criss Cross book that crossed the phone number to the address.
I would drive nearby to a pay phone and stake it out till a car pulled in then make the call. I was always the first one there with this method!
The gun was a nice VH 20 gauge with 28” barrels my first Parker!
I remember the phone never stopped ringing while I was there!
I acquired many nice guns from the Swap Sheet!

In 1993 they had the great mid-western flood along the Mississippi River and I was in a gun shop in St Charles, Missouri when a gentleman walked with a large box of gun which had been in his flooded basement. Their were several Parker and I selected a 20 gauge PHE with 28 inch steel barrel. Took it to Paul Fucks in Alton, IL for a total restoration.
Then a 1894 Quality O, 12 gauge with 30 inch plain twisted steel barrels was acquired and sent to Paul Fucks again for a full restoration.
Followed by mint condition 12 gauge 1918 SC SBT with 32 inch barrels.
Since the first three all have been GH or GHE on various frames sizes and gauges.
Been collecting Parkers since I was 42 years old, however all are shot on a regular bases or they are sold!!!

I have always wanted a 28 ga , now the 10 ga will probably always be my favorite . But theres just something interesting about a 28 ga . I wish Parker had made a damascus/twist barreled 28 ga .

This Parker is also my first American made sxs , the two other doubles I owned were Birmingham made guns .

Parker did make grades 28 gauge guns with Damascus bbls but rare and very pricey

Look T GI #101497660

I have one - a DHE with Damascus barrels, the only known Parker of any grade with 24”, 28 gauge Damascus barrels.

Robin Hollow has one for sale in high original condition with 28” barrels.





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Milton, stick with the tens. Tell us about the #6 frame ten you recently bought.

I was 27 when I bought my first Parker, a 28" Trojan 12ga in 1984. I really didn't know much about them but a good friend had a Trojan that he used for upland bird hunting and it was a pride and joy that he spoke highly of. Whenever he made a good shot on a Grouse or Woodcock he would say he Parkerized it. I was in the USAF at the time and was getting ready to go on a remote assignment to a radar station in Iceland. I had rented my house and I was selling my Jeep because I could not have nor would I need a vehicle on that one year assignment, that gave me a little bit of extra money. I don't remember why I had gone to a local gunsmiths shop but he had two Trojan's for sale on consignment, a 12 and 20. The day I was to fly out of Boston was a Monday in December. I had a lot to do that day including the sale of my Jeep but I decided to go to a farm I hunted since I was teenager, it was a farm that bordered a brakish river and it had a cove where we hunted ducks. It was dead low tide at first light and saw some ducks in a channel that I could sneak up on by walking in the mud and staying below the banking. The channel had a turn and I knew when I came around the corner the ducks would be in range. It worked and as they flushed I pulled the front trigger and dropped a Black duck. I swung to the next target, a Greenhead and pulled the front trigger again, it was my first time shooting a gun with two triggers. I walked over and picked up the Black looking it over when I looked up and saw five mallards cupping in. They were 90 degrees to my position and about 45 yards away. I had a couple of seconds to react. I had not opened the gun and reloaded but the left barrel still had a 1 1/4 ounce of lead #4 in it. I was still holding the Black duck in my left hand and I rested the forearm of the gun on my forearm, picked out a Greenhead and dropped it. I was thrilled, two ducks with the first two shoots from my first Parker. I was convinced that my friend was right and there was something special about a Parker shotgun. I took Peter Johnson's book with me to Iceland and read it a couple of times, that was about the only information I had about Parker's. A lot has changed since then, I still have the gun and I shot a lot of ducks and geese with it over the years. Being a 12 it has taken a back seat to a battery of Short Ten's I use for water fowling for the last 11 years. It's sentimental value far exceeds it's monetary value so it will most likely be part of an estate sale some day as I don't see myself selling it.

This thread has had some great stories, hope I can add to it. The first Parker I'' had'' was found behind a stack of cues in a corner after a friend had shown me his good guns. Those were broom handle pistols and old Winchesters a Greener and others. I asked what is that in the corner and was told it was his sisters but she did not want it. When I dug it out it was a DHE 410 skeet and I started to research it.When I saw him again I told him it was worth more than all he had. He had given me his fathers safe and asked me to keep it for him and go ahead and use it. I had it for at least 15 years before he moved and got a safe. Bought my first the next year, 1975, at auction for 200.00 a vh which still shoot and hunt with and a few more since. Never had to sell one though.Had custody of a AAHE for a little while and it was the worst fitting gun I ever saw. I miss looking at it but not shooting it. When the owner was ready to take it back it was with mixed feelings I handed it over.