Research Letter Received!
 

Could not wait to get the mail today! Here it is! Whats interesting is that I currently live in Duluth, MN....

Pictures of gun can be found here ------> http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthr...652#post100652

Awesome letter, Dane! The letter for my 6 frame 10 specified names and locations, also. What's cool is the fact that your gun is still in Duluth. There are not too many PGCA members up here. I am in Hibbing, one member is in Ely, and you. Welcome aboard.

:cheers:

You hit the jackpot Dane! You're one of the lucky ones.

Now you need to find out who or what the JHS represents.

Thanks Mark. Your last name sounds familiar. Do you shoot at O.V.T?

Some people I talked to were skeptical of the monte carlo being original. Good to see it is! Here is my previous post w/ photos. http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=9970

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Dean, you seem very educated in Parkers. Is there anything uncommon or rare about this gun after reading the letter?

JHS is probably professional shooter J.H. Stair of Crookston, Minnesota. He was still shooting many hundreds and thousands of targets per year into the teens, maybe later.

Dane - There are several 'uncommon' things about your Parker. The letter that Chuck put together for you contains some very desirable information about the very specific instructions that Parker Bros. received. The DAH, DAC, LOP, Drop at end of butt, trigger pull weight, chamber length, Monte Carlo, Silvers pad, engraving instructions... literally everything about your letter is what we all hope and dream for when we send for a research letter. Yes, your Parker is very uncommon but equally desirable is that wonderful letter.

Best, Dean

Most interesting letter. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for all of the help! :bowdown:

That's a great letter. Couldn't ask for much more info than that. Definitely unusual.

The Monte Carlo stock is very rare in that era and still quite scarce later on. The fact that your gun belonged to a very prolific professional shooter of the time makes it interesting to those who collect early competition guns. Mr. Stair was apparently a trade representative, but I don't know for whom. Harry E. Stair, of the same town, was a representative for Peters Cartridge Company. I would assume that J.H. Stair may have represented Peters also. He shot Peters cartridges at one shoot in which he placed high. He was near the top in many shoots he attended, including one where he was second place for a Smith shotgun and one in which he was second place for a Parker shotgun. All these references are from la84.com, Shooting Life magazine.

I wonder if J.R. Allen was the first owner of the gun? My grandpa grew up on a farm in Foreston, MN and eventually moved to Brooklyn Park, MN. His mother and father being Wilma & Roy Atkinson. (Roy L. Atkinson and Wilma Britton married 1919). I am curious as to how they acquired this gun...

The Monte Carlo stock is very rare in that era and still quite scarce later on. The fact that your gun belonged to a very prolific professional shooter of the time makes it interesting to those who collect early competition guns. Mr. Stair was apparently a trade representative, but I don't know for whom. Harry E. Stair, of the same town, was a representative for Peters Cartridge Company. I would assume that J.H. Stair may have represented Peters also. He shot Peters cartridges at one shoot in which he placed high. He was near the top in many shoots he attended, including one where he was second place for a Smith shotgun and one in which he was second place for a Parker shotgun. All these references are from la84.com, Shooting Life magazine.

I was thinking while I was looking at the records that he hit a "Home Run."

It's nice to do that kind of letter, sometimes you strike out, sometimes you hit the jackpot.

Contrats, Dane!

How do you find all of this info? Do you think it is true that this belonged to a professional shooter named J.H. Stair? Or a the initials a coincidence?

Some J.H.S. shooting results I found.

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No, it is not a coincidence. He owned your gun. The Allen guy was probably a local dealer who received the gun from the person who ordered the gun. Such a gun would only have been ordered by a shooter of the significance of Stair. It was definitely his gun. As I said, my research material came from la84.com search function and American Trapshooting Association average books from the era. I am glad to furnish you this information if you keep me in mind when you want to sell your gun. Congratulations on a great gun.

Thank you for your help. I do not intend on selling it. Do people insure guns? Do you have a rough idea of what it would be worth?

Found a nice article.

Great article. Again, congratulations and good luck on further research.

Dane, I guess I was lucky when I suggested that Mr. Stair might have worked for Peters. Can you access the continuation of the article for us? Where did you find that?

Bill, google has a "book" category to search under. I searched his name and found many E-books that were free to download as a pdf. This article was found from a Fins, feather and fur book which is about 650 pages. The "book" is just magazines compiled together.

Here is the rest of the article....

Thanks.

Mr. Stair's shooting averages came from Interstate Association and American Trapshooting average books for 1913 and forward to 1922. His death was in June of 1924 and he apparently did not shoot in competition in 1923. The la84foundation.com search function has dozens and dozens of "stair" references when you select "Sporting Life" as the search publication. Finding the original owner of a gun through initials engraved on the gun is not an easy process, but it can be done if you have a few clues and are diligent. I have found a few, but this was the easiest. Your next step is to research Mr. Stair's street address and post some pictures of his home. In later years, he moved to Minneapolis, according to the ATA books.

Bill, today I brought it to my local hunt club and it was pretty exciting to tell all the "older" local shooters about what we discovered about the gun. A lot of them remembered the hardware store it was ordered from and one used to work there. One older gentleman that does wood work and engraves, and also has a few Parker's thought it was worth around $2,000. I know you haven't seen the gun personally but what is your opinion?

*Given the history and rare options

Provenanced competition guns are in my collector interest, so it is worth more to me. I will let others give their opinions of the value of a Damascus DH with special features.

Bill,

Check this out. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/se...sort=relevance

Just took some better pictures of the gun. Album is here http://parkerguns.org/forums/album.php?albumid=435

Thanks for the pictures.

A very interesting gun to say the least. It's only my opinion, but I think it is worth well north of the two grand your club buddies valued it at. If it were mine I would get one of the professional stock repair guys to stabalize the crack in the wrist by the top tang.

One other thing I find of interest is the barrels. In the picture showing the muzzle end. Is that a band of a different type of Damscus right at the muzzle on the right barrel? It looks different than the rest of the barrel. Maybe Drew or Brad can weigh in on this one.

I think it is a slight pitting. IMO

Is that a Patent date stamped into the wood immediately behind the grip cap? It looks like it from here. That would be for the patented hickory reinforcing rod inserted from the butt through the wrist into the head of the stock.



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Bill, If I am looking where you describe. The plastic black circle cap on the stock. There are no numbers stamped on the wood.

Really? Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me....

Dean I thought you may be interested I bought this gun from Dean Atkinson off the PGCA site. You were correct the stock is stamped with the patient date for the hickory rod! I added some stock finish and replaced the pad (first pad replacement on a curved butt gun). The barrels are sound .731/.731, .038/.039 chokes and .031/.031 min walls, 2 7/8" chambers as per the letter. Plan to have B. Dudley replace the side action screws and lightly re-cut the splinter checkering and touch up the butt stock checkering borders. Shot the gun and it functions perfectly. Edgar I reversed the trigger plate screws and they align. Cool Parker that will clean up very well in my opinion.

Thanks Craig - I thought so.






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Without any provenance at all the gun should bring 3-3.5K as a DH shooter. Fixing the wrist crack would cost maybe $3-400 at The Stock Doctor. The screws are purely cosmetic, you might or might not want to address them. No idea what that would cost. The provenance brings it into another realm, per Mr. Murphy's comments. If you shoot trap at all, I would fix it and keep it. If not, somebody else might enjoy it more, unless you're into closet queens. JMHO.

Since this gun was fitted with the hickory rod I am not concerned with a 3/8" crack coming off the bottom radius of the tang, but I will be guided by Brian Dudley. Four action screws will be replaced, the checkering will be lightly re-cut. I will have much less in $3K in the gun. I plan to shoot it at clays and ducks. It's just a great Parker and an example of a special order gun with many unusual features. What fun!!!