forestry emblam

[Harold Peterson]

what does emblem mean that looks like a forestry emblem on my 1916 16 guage parker

[Joe D.]

If you are referring to the silver shield in the toe line of the stock, it is for initials or personalized engraving.

[stumpstalker]

Just as said. And a prestigious symbol for identification, derivative of medieval heraldry and ultimately traceable to actual shields used for protection on a battlefield.

The shield on the knife in the photo below is called a “Federal” shield by knife collectors, which name and shape does suggest officialdom, law enforcement, wardens, registered guides or forestry.

The only Parker gun shield I have a picture of is the oval shield shown in the second photo. It does not look quite so "Federal", but is still derivative of coats of arms and does present a broader surface for the initials of it's owner.


I wish I knew whose initials those are on my gun. I did what research I could -- local gun clubs and the now-closed in-town sporting goods store -- but could not find a trail to follow.



http://www.medievalchronicles.com/me...-and-heraldry/

[Bill Murphy]

Do you have a PGCA letter on your Parker? It may identify the initials.

[Harold Peterson]

thank you for the information ..the gun was my great grandfathers and even though I was very small I can still remember him and his english setter "WHITEY".I am amazed at how tight this gun still is how it throws up so perfectly and the information on the pages here told me so much more about it it truly is a treasure

[stumpstalker]

Bill:

If you are referring to my DHE 12 gauge: Yes, I have a Research Letter for the gun. (I have six Parker guns and have obtained Research Letters on all of them except for one that is a Trojan, a [non]-grade for which I understand letters are not available.)

Below is the Letter on the gun and an indistinct photo of the gun's receiver. it. As you can see no buyer is listed. However, your inquiry has motivated me to reach out to the Winchester Arms Collectors Association, since I just discovered that Winchester took over Wm. Read & Sons in 1921. Very slim chance there, but still worth following-up.

My father bought the DHE and a VH as well from a hunting and fishing buddy, Joe Macone, who with his brothers opened Macone Sporting Goods, located in our home town of Concord, Massachusetts, after WW II. That local store was closed many years ago, and I am told that no sales records exist.

My guess is that the “source” of vintage guns for that store was just locals walking in with an heirloom for sale or someone approaching one of the brothers at a near-by club with a gun to divest. Has it not been said that everyone of that generation wanted fire-power at the time -- pumps; semi-autos -- having just won a global war with such advantages over our adversaries? My father, although also a WW II veteran, fortunately for me went in the opposite direction and only acquired, shot skeet and hunted with Parker side-by-sides. (His favorite, by-the-way, was the [non]-graded 12-gauge Trojan.)

I did contact the two Concord, MA gun clubs to see if there were records that might lead to who “S. F.” (the initials on the shield) was. Between “sorry, we have no records of membership” and club officer apathy I got nowhere.

Thanks for raising the question, if you did mean my gun and not Harold’s.

Now, as for Harold’s gun. I would really like to hear more about his legacy 16-gauge of 1916 of Meriden manufacture, i.e., photos if they exist of his great-grandfather; the gun; of “Whitey”; an idea of the game pursued; the details of the gun if a Research Letter is obtained.

It is nice to hear that Harold treasures the gun; not all inheritors of these guns have such an appreciation. And, I recommend that Harold join up, as I did, and discover that membership in the PGCA conduces to infinite appreciation of what we have inherited.

[Dean Romig]

An interesting gun, letter and family history Russ.
1916 should make it an upland gun probably used for pheasants, grouse and puddle ducks here in Massachusetts. And was easy to carry on that light frame size... is it a 1 1/2 or possibly a 1 frame?





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[stumpstalker]

Dean:

It is a 1 1/2-frame.

REC

[Harold Peterson]

thanks to this site I have found it is a 1 frame I guess it has a 1 on that spot and was in Savannah Georgia ..more like quail perhaps I have a few pictures none that show the stock real well the markings are worn but everything is still incredibly tight ..I will have to take a picture of the whole gun have tried uploading pics I guess I do not know how

[Bruce Day]

MeToo.

But mine is a special deputy Wells Fargo badge.