Would Parker have done it?
 

Just stirring up some thoughts.

Would Parker have made or have been willing to make a 28 gauge hammer gun or a 410 bore hammer gun had the request been made.

I understand hammer guns were falling out of favor at the time the 28 and 410 were introduced.

But would Parker have been willing to make one or more?

I doubt the tooling for a one of would have been practical

Probably, if the price were right and for the right customer. Colt made only one 8 gauge (so I understand) and it was for Grover Cleveland. This was an era where companies aimed to serve the customer

I am sure they would have if a customer wanted one. But i doubt it would be on anything smaller than an 0 frame since that is the smallest hammer gun frame that was built up till then.

20 gauge hammer guns were made up into the 160,000 SN range, so since there already existed tooling for 0 framed 16 and 20 gauged guns, it wouldn't have required much work to build one in 28 gauge. It may have turned out a little heavy, but certainly no more than an 0 framed hammerless 28 when compared to the typical 0 framed 20.
As there were several American gun makers,and plenty of British and continental makers turning them out, it does make one wonder why Parker never did.

I wonder if one is hiding in the missing records?:whistle:

If the right Connecticut Governor had asked, they would have made it.

Edgar is right. No tooling neccesary for a 28 gauge hammer gun on the 0 frame. If Dr. Truitt had been around, it would have been a 34" gun.

......or under Gary Carmichael's bed

Thanks Edgar I wondered where in the world I put the thing!

Do not forget Parker Brothers made around 5--- 20 bore single barrel trap guns of which I passed one up in Las Vegas some 30 plus years ago for $1500 , because I was told and thought Parker only made 12 bores in single barrel trap guns.

To answer John's question----yes----Parker was in the business to SELL guns !!

Allan

The serial number on this 20-gauge Lifter is 10165 and the pin separation is 18MM which translates to less than 13/16" which is the 0000-frame size. In fact, it is more than 1/16" smaller - which would make it slightly smaller than a 00000-frame size... if Parker had ever even made such a frame size. The frame sizes were determined by firing pin separation at the breech face and are incremental by sixteenths of an inch. The 0-frame has a pin separation of 1" exactly. The 00-frame has a separation of 15/16" exactly... and so on.

My point is that Parker Bros. could have easily made a .410, even in a lifter, if they so desired. That bore size was certainly being made in the British Isles at that time.


.

Never say never. One could turn up yet. There are a lot of missing records as Mills pointed out. Wouldn't that be something!

Dean,

Is that an early lifter that does not have the recessed hinge pin?

Would smaller frames like you are referring to been more likely found in that very early period?

Here it is John. It is an enigma as far as its features and configuration are concerned, but it does letter.




.

Think of how difficult it was for the Skeuse family to build a small frame hammerless Parker with ejectors, cocking slides, complex floorplates, single triggers, you name it. How easy it would have been to build a 28-.410 hammer combo gun on an 0 frame.

It even looks like a 410 frame

I wonder how much it would take to have a second set of barrels manufactured in 28 gauge or 410?

that is awesome. Thank you for sharing the images and info on the gun.

It is cool how they integrated the smaller breach balls with the step for cosmetics. I really like that design.

Parker did some very interesting things. Thanks again for sharing. That is one very cool piece.

Thanks for all the info guys.

Dean,

Wouldn't that gun be considered a sort of pre-courser to the 0 frame, when the few orders for 20g. guns were filled on a one-off basis before a standard small bore frame was made?

A lot of the VERY early Parker lifters (first couple 1,000 S/Ns) of larger gauges measure all sorts of odd sizes since standard frame sizes were not yet established.

It could be Brian. It was certainly one of the very first 20 gauge Parkers made. I wouldn't say it may have been a pre-courser to the 0-frame but it is obvious Parker Bros. hadn't yet settled on the 0-frame size for the twenty gauge.




.

Actually, Parker No. 10165 is only the second 20 gauge known, according to "Parkers Found" on page 13 of the Winter 2015 Issue of Parker Pages.





.