Parker Serialization Book

[James L. Martin]

I just got a letter on a late 12ga VHE that said the stock dimensions and grip type,chokes and butt treatment are not listed in the Remington IBM card book. When you look up the serial number in the serialization book it's listed as a capped pistol grip, as are all the guns after it ? there were no straight grips listed in the last 9 pages. The reason I bring it up is that I looked at a late Parker a while back that was a straight grip but the book listed it as a capped pistol grip ,so I thought maybe the stock had been changed , but now I think that the book info may be wrong , if the IBM cards do not list the grip type then where did that info come from?

[Dean Romig]

Probably a default built into the available data.

[Pa SxS]

Good question James, sorry I don't have an answer. What Dean suggested is probably the case. The IBM cards just don't have a lot of information.

[Bill Murphy]

Serial number?

[Charlie Price]

As I recall, the IBM cards did not specify a stock configuration. The code for capped pistol grip seems to have been entered into the database on all IBM card guns. Sorry, I don't know of any factory records with stock data from this era. Charlie Price

[Dean Romig]

Thanks Charlie for confirming what I believed I had heard or read many years ago.

This is a copy of an original Remington IBM card and as you all can see, just as Charlie has said, there is no column or code for stock configuration. In fact, I can't see where any of the columns have an entry of any sort. I think Remington simply used the IBM card system only to catalog the Parker guns but with hand-written information only.

EDIT:
The beauty of this is the fact that the current owner of the gun can order a research letter. In the case of the card shown, once he knows that the gun was shipped to Abercrombie & Fitch it would be a simple matter to send for a G&H / A&F research letter from Bob Beach, the G & H Historian.




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[Pa SxS]

Just FYI, I routinely check all S/N's using the G&H Parker database. I don't include that info in the research letter but I will e-mail you or put a note in the envelope alerting you to contact G&H.

[James L. Martin]

Thanks to all for the info, but I think the serialization should just show that the stock type is unknown instead of a default like capped pistol grip

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by JAMES L. MARTIN

Thanks to all for the info, but I think the serialization should just show that the stock type is unknown instead of a default like capped pistol grip

We can't change history, unfortunately.

[Bill Murphy]

It goes both ways. My .410 Skeet is clearly a CPG but it is listed as straight grip. We will have to look at the cards and compare them with the Serialization Book to see how the problem arose. If the card is wrong about the gun, it is the fault of the Remington people. If the card matches the gun but not the Serialization Book, the fault lies with the Parker Story transcribers.