Following is the text of a post I sent to George Purtill in January of 2016 in response to his inquiring about an article on the origins of the Parker Gun:
"George, "The Gun Report" article referred to is most likely the seminal article written by CDR Roy Gunther, "Charles Parker, The Man and His Guns" (Vol. 36 No. 1, June 1990, pp. 16 thru 27). It is a thorough detailed treatise on the origin and development of Parker Guns, including many photographs, illustrations, and a patent drawing of Miller's patent for a double shotgun for Meriden Mfg. Co. This single work more than any other put the "key in the lock" shortly thereafter in Remington Arms' granting CDR Gunther access to the Parker records. The aftermath is pretty much history."
The "Parker records" I refer to are the Stock Books, much larger in format compared to the Order Books, which somehow CDR Gunther wrestled up and onto Xerox machines at Remington, copying all that had survived. When I visited him at his home in Averill Park just east of Albany shortly thereafter, his entire living room, dining room and connecting hallway were lined with stacks 2-3 feet high of copies of the Stock Book pages. I still marvel at his having done it alone.
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