New member and a new to me Parker
 

Hello all,
I received a call last week from a friend looking for info on a Parker. Not being very well versed I sent an email to someone that I know who is a Parker guy. He gave me the gist of what/ how I needed to know.
So the friend had another guy wanting to see this gun and the guy bailed on the appointment. So I jumped at the chance!
I drove an hour yesterday after pheasant hunting which was my pups first hunt, she did good!
Anyhow, the cell phone pictures didn't do the gun justice.
It is a VH with 28" barrels- factory pistol grip, Parker grip cap- beaver tail -open choked 20ga. Just what I've been looking for. The stock finish appears original and the case colors are still quite vibrant. The blue is very good as well. I could not pass on this gun!
I'm excited to own this gun , I'm taking it afield today!
Oh and that's my 18mo old Sage.

Welcome to the forum. That 20 gauge should serve you well chasing those birds! Enjoy it!

Great find!

Welcome Aboard William Congrats on your New Parker ,You came to the right place to learn about Parker Guns ,and a nicer group of Gun Enthusiasts can't be found ! You can't go wrong with a 20 Gauge Parker ,especially for your First Parker Purchase !

Just for your own information about your new gun. The stock and forend are not original, and they are not appropriate for the grade, or any grade for that matter. The metalwork has also been redone at one point as well.

The gun has also been converted to a single trigger. It looks like maybe a Miller.

Congratulations on both your first Parker & your first day afield with Sage! We have something in common in that I have shot a bunch of birds with a Parker over my lab named Sage. Unfortunately, I lost Sage a couple of years back to old age, but I still have the Parkers & the memories of those times.

Even though your Parker has had some alteration and other work done to it, it doesn't distract from it being a great introduction to the Parker world and I hope it gives you many years of good service along with the memories you'll build with it and your buddy Sage.

Definitely 2 lucky dogs! Way ta go!!! Enjoy and good luck hunting.

I'm told by one of the members here that it left the factory with pistol grip and grip cap. It has the Parker grip cap though I do question the checkering.
Yes it does have a Miller trigger. I'm not concerned if the wood is original or not, I'm a hunter not a collector.
We had a great morning, Sage and her Momma( my "other " Parker) had a combined 11 or 12 flushes today. The first rooster was a left to right crosser that I crushed, Sage flushed 2 chukar and retrieved both. Parker was responsible for a couple more rooster's. The two guys hunting with me missed 4 birds,winged 1 we found later and each got 1.
I realized that the better you shoot the heavier the game bag gets... Hmm maybe these guys miss on purpose?!
The gun is a joy to carry

First time I did walk up after a pheasant tower shoot that was two days prior I as well got quite tired from carrying what I shot ! Believe it or not nine pheasants in a game vest is way more than enough .

The tower shoot that my dogs took me to had the dogs drop the shot birds at my feet and the club truck came around periodically to take the birds back to the cleaning room and have them ready for the sports when they were out of the field and filled with lunch

We were out shooting birds that hadn’t been hit the day of the tower release . You know walk , hopefully point , flush , shoot , retrieve and last but not least CARRY .

William, can you post some pictures of the stock and forearm, trigger also, with more light on the subject? It is a really nice gun.

Yes ill do that a little later, right now I'm in a box blind looking for some antlers!

Hey..... You can't eat the antlers :rotf:





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I know, I know. The rut is the only time I really look for a buck and this is a nice 8 !

Saw a doe and a fawn.
I took the trigger guard screw out, serial number on the wood.
Here are pictures of checkering, I think someone other than Parker did the checkers. Notice the forearm flores de lis is not perfect.
Also note the PG cap and nicle silver stock weight.

I wouldn't think twice about buying that 20 Parker with what looks to be a perfect finish on the checkering and wood. I also like the red Winchester AA hulls below the gun. They are neat when reloaded instead of looking at the standard yellows.

I have not witnessed the serial # on the stock under the tang on many guns (my own VH20 has it), but would a re-stocker usually go to the trouble of stamping the number? If this stock is the original factory version, does the checkering match anything anyone has ever seen on an original gun? Would this practice have been SOP on a DelGrego stock?

Actually those red hulls are 28s in the left drawer, 410s in the right. I have a 35 gallon drum full of AAs to feed the Parker.

Until I can get the factory letter I won't know much. Do the factory records show stock dimensions? Sadly the link doesn't work for me, I have sent an email...

Original or not, there is nothing wrong with a "shooter" shotgun; not a darn thing. Enjoy it!

If a stock maker cares about doing things the way they were originally done, they ahoukd stamp the numbers.

The stock wood itself does appear to be factory original. It appears to have been over sanded to eliminate the factory checkering in order to attempt something more fancy looking. The forend is not original at all.

I'm in agreement about the forend, I have a strong suspicion the stock has been reshaped. However this will be field gun and it feels so good in the hand.

So I have since shot this Parker 11 shots fired for 10 birds. One bird last week took both barrels to bring down.
Am I happy? Absolutely!
Now I need a 410,28,16 as well!

I hope you have deep pockets!

Got my Letter today, this gun was orignal pistol grip, explains the grip cap.
However someone opened the left barrel to I/C but I don't care.
It was ordered in 1914 and sent to Delaware.

If it fits and hits, what’s not to like?

I'm thinking whoever did the beavertail was a skeet shooter, would explain why the left barrel was opened up and the new forend kept his tender fingers off hot barrels.