Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Thynne
I just ran across an article where the gunmakers, nearly all of them stood in front of the Congress of the United States in 1912. Parker Brothers was Represented by Walter King. The question was who made the barrels for American Shotguns , and Mr King answer,all but the barrels from Whitworth, all of the barrels are made and rough bored in Belgium. It would be interesting to know if they were the same for all grades, or if the steel for different grades was made differently, or from another firm. This included Fox L C Smith and many others! This is well beyond the damascus years! I found this interesting. Walt Snider found this, and published it!
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Jim, you should read more of Mr. King’s statement where he states that Parker Bros. made their own barrels for a period in 1877, 78 and 79 but it proved too expensive because he had to pay his workers more than twice the amount that the factories in Belgium paid their employees.
In other words, it was far less costly to import the Belgian tubes than to make them "from scratch" there in Meriden where it was necessary to pay the workers the "going rate."
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__________________
"I'm a Setter man.
Not because I think they're better than the other breeds,
but because I'm a romantic - stuck on tradition - and to me, a Setter just "belongs" in the grouse picture."
George King, "That's Ruff", 2010 - a timeless classic.
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