Need advise on 16ga Trojan with bad barrel
 

Guys, I need a little advise on what to do with a 16ga, single trigger Trojan ser#178175. The receiver functions perfect mechanically, looks decent,wood is in nice shape but one of the barrels is blown up. Also, the exterior of the barrels is rusty but there is NO rust on the receiver. Looks like the barrels were stored possibly in a different place than the rest of the gun after the barrel failed. I realize this gun has low value compared to other Parkers even in good shape. Is there someone out there that has a set of barrels that could be fitted? Is it cost effective? Should I salvage this shotgun and move on? I can post photos later today if needed.

Thanks,
Bibb T. Gault
San Antonio,Texas

IMHO it will not be cost effective. You can find another Trojan for less than the cost of the any replacement barrels or even the cost to have them sleeved.

So are you saying that even if I were to find a decent used set, it would cost more that its worth to fit them?

Thanks,
Bibb T. Gault
San Antonio,Texas

You might just part it out, there are a lot of people that need the parts, stock ect. If indeed it is a single trigger that in itself is unusal and people would love to know if it is original.

Believe it or not I have bought a set of 20 gauge Trojan barrels that were re blued for $400. The owner however failed to disclose that the cocking hook was messed up and that cost $ 200 or so to repair, so with fitting. shipping ect the barell cost was near $900 total

PDD

I will post some photos here in a few minutes. I can't imagine it not being original with 1 trigger, but you guys are experts. This Trojan belonged to my dad, but he got it already blown up 25-30 years ago with several other Parker shotguns and parts etc.

Thanks,
Bibb T. Gault
San Antonio,Texas

The main question I would have is "where is it blown up"? If near the muzzle or beyond 18 inches from the breech you may just want to have the barrels trimmed back by a competent gunsmith. The cost of that should be minimal.

Best Regards, George

Single trigger 16ga Trojan photos
 

OK, here are the photos. It has been a long time since I looked at this gun closely.I was wrong, the receiver does have some rust on it. I think it is safe to say there will not be any cutting back these barrels to save them as George inquired. Maybe the single trigger is a modification. There seems to be a plug where a 2nd trigger could go.

Is it possible that the trigger for the bad barrel was removed, and the gun was used as a single barrel gun?

Big D. The single trigger still fires both barrels, just 1 at a time.

bibb if this were my gun i would get me a barrel liner for a 20 ga or 28 ga etc... a full lenth one maybe from brilys and have a good tig welder to sew up the barrels reblue with colds blue and you could be shootin this old gal again but in a different ga...ill probably get laughewd at for suggesting this but thats what i would do if it were mine... charlie

Wow Charlie, thats pretty creative. Have you actually done something like this before? Estimated cost of the liners? I have a pile of 28ga left over from an Original 28ga Parker I sold several months ago. Belonged to my dad and could not see me actually shooting something that valuable with the risk of scratching it up.

Thanks,
Bibb

If your 28 ga shells are old and in the box, they are worth more as collector pieces. It would be better to buy new shells.

I'm Interested
 

Dear Bidd,
If for some reason you decide not to get barrels and want to sell the reciever, please let me know. Thanks, Berk

Parker only made a handfull of single trigger Trojans. And if this gun is original then It is worth more than parting it out. However, the single trigger setup looks odd to me. Wouldn't the single trigger be selective. And the crude checkering on the tip of the trigger looks out of place.

bibb i dont know what the barrel liner would cost give brilys a call...but the barrels can be fixed the way i said...you have to take around rod same size as the inside of the 16 ga barrels slolw heat the barrel metel that is blown... hammer and peen it down ...kinda like shaping a bent car fender...once you have worked barrels down then tig weld broken seams... you then will have some grinding and re welding...remove the iron rod in the barrels and put in liner.... not as easy as it sounds but most anymetal man could do this....and yes ive done this before..the cost was very little as i done them myself i didnot have to have a barrel liner my barrels were not hardly as bad as yours but close... charlie

Brian, you are correct that is not a Parker single trigger (at least from the ones that I have seen)

Most of my 28ga shells are modern and the ones that are old I doubt are old enough to be collectable.

Bibb take a picture of the boxes that you think are old enough, you maybe surprised.

So if it's not original, was it possibly done when sent back for repair, or with some sort of kit? Are there any marks on the receiver that would indicate when and if a modification took place? Do factory records get detailed enough to indicate it it came with 1 or 2 triggers? Sorry for all the questions guys, but I am very curious as it seems to function very very slick and does not appear to be a hatchet job.

Thanks,
Bibb

I will post a couple of 28ga box photos.
Thanks Eric!

No it does not look to be a hatchet job, the reason I said it did not look like a Parker trigger was the selector switch to switch from the right barrel to the left barrels was located where the left trigger was which on yours looks to be covered over with a plug. If you request a letter there maybe more information on the trigger.

Whatever it is - it appears to be a non-selective trigger setup. I wasn't aware Parker ever made such an affair.

...and yes ive done this before..the cost was very little as i done them myself i didnot have to have a barrel liner my barrels were not hardly as bad as yours but close... charlie

Charlie, am I correctly understanding that you have welded up split barrels and fired them, and you still have an intact left hand?? Can you post a pic of the results of your barrel welds? I did not think such a procedure was even possible, let alone advisable. You've got way more guts than I do....my heart still races every time I fire low pressure loads through good damascus barrels.

Here are some pics of the old boxes and new boxes along with the shells. I probably have about 20 boxes of the modern shells. Sorry about the photos being side ways. It turned them when I uploaded them.

Darn new fangled black barrels let go again. Supposed to be safer than Damascus?

If it was my fathers gun I would look for another 16ga Trojan, maybe one with a broke stock to keep the price down and have the barrels from the new one fitted to dad's gun. I good smith could number them to the gun too. A legacy Parker is worth saving IMO and worth more than it's monetary expense. You could recoup a little of the money spent on the 2nd gun by partiing out everything but the barrels.

ruff yes i have welded up split barrels a nd fired them with factory low brass....this old gun was a steel barreled hammer gun ...the barrels were split at about the fore arm and wthere was about a 10 inch sp;it....it was the right side barrel and yes i still have my left hand...ruff you saythat you cring shooting the damacus barrel guns...ive have safely fired up tp 3 ounces of shot several times thru a 8 ga fa lommis with fine damascus barrels....and the barrels are pitted from the chambers to the muzzles but not danderous pitts..i mean not really deep pitts...my dad and i have hunted witha lefever 10 ga over a lot of years actually since 1959...this thing has shot literally dozens of boxes of high brass loads at ducks and turkeys over the years...ive got several guns that are damascus and ive never had any problems with them...in fact a parker 10 ga that i hunt turkeys with has fired several 3 1/2 in magnum 12 ga in it using gauge mates.... and they are twist steel barrels....i guess what im trying to say is that damascus and other twist steel laminated and the other type steel barrels are a lot better than we give them credit..the barrels im talking about arethe better gun makers barrels...you have to also take into consideration to always inspect the barrels good if they pass i would never be afraid of a set of these barrels....all the barrels ive seen blowed up had had a some kinda obstruction in them...such as a dirt dauber nest a reload that did not make it out of the barrel and someone got to check... etc.... back to welding barrels..the last fellow i worked fors grandfathers old hammer gun was in a bad fire warped the barrels so badthey ltierly looked like you could shoot around the corner with them....they had sat untouched for about 20 years but he had wrapped them in a old sack and poured burnt oil on them...we took those barrels straighted them brazed them back together...put new springs in it....we then had a old gent make a stock forearm we then cold blued the old gun....we test fired the old gun with low brass shells by the old method of tying string on trigger and getting behind the shed...old gun held up and was shoulder fired after being test proved...we only got to test one of the barrels as one hammer was missing...bout 5years later he found a hammer that would work and it proved out ok too...bout all this old gun does is set in the gun cabinet but if someone else shoots it down thru the years it wikk be ok...wish i had some pictures to show you the work but we done this when no body thought about taking pictures.... charlie