New Trojan owner

[Harold Ward]

Hello everyone, brand new owner of a pretty 1917 Trojan that to me looks like it just came out of the box. I know very little about Parkers except that they are considered the best American made shotgun ever, in fact this is the 1st one I have ever even held in my hands. My gun, sn 178014, I never even anticipated buying at a local auction that I participated in over the web , I hadn't even inspected the gun before buying it. But the gun was about to be knocked off @ $225 I could not resist, and now I'm so happy I could lay an egg. There is 1 concern I have and that is the lack of case color. As I understand it all Parkers were case hardened, the gun looks to be in original cond. except or that, and the collection it came from had 70+ dbl. guns and none were refurbs, and of var. brands, including the Parkers, LeFevers, Fox, LCS, I.J. etc. This gun is tight as a tick and has seen some, but very little use. My ? is , is this a normal occurrence or could it have come from the factory in the white, which is what it looks like.I will be sending the info off for the letter to get as much info as pos. Thanks for letting me ramble, the older I get the more I tend to, Harold

[OH Osthaus]

Pictures please, sounds like you got a great deal

i doubt a Trojan left the factory in the white

the "book" says that number left the factory as a 12ga with 30" barrels and no optional features

[Phil Yearout]

Is is possible someone polished the action? That's what happened to my Trojan 16ga somewhere down the line before it found its way to me...

[Harold Ward]

Thanks everyone for the quick response, I will try to get some decent pics uploaded by this weekend. I checked the barrels and they are right on the 30 inch mark, I am still amazed how tight and crisp the action is on this 97 year old gun, just not used to this level of quality workmanship in shotguns. I've used my old 870 for 30 years and now I see what I have been missing. That sure is a sweet 16 you have there, looks great:-)

[wayne goerres]

Apparently someone out there likes to polish actions. I have a P grade with a polished action. Its also a 16ga.

[J. A. EARLY]

Originally Posted by wayne goerres

Apparently someone out there likes to polish actions. I have a P grade with a polished action. Its also a 16ga.

Wayne,

If I have a gun that is going to get the wood freshened up, and the receiver is rusty with no colors, maybe 5% left under the lever and trigger guard only, I get the Flitz to it. I myself had rather have it clean than grungy. I don't really call the Flitz to be polishing like a buffing wheel and compound, but just remove all of the rust and leave what colors are there. Yes it is shiny, but I'm not going to recase a gun I'm going to use and I personally like the look.

[wayne goerres]

Who ever polished mine did a good job but it wasnt cleaned it was defiantly polished. Not only did they do the frame and triger guard they also did the forend latch. This one is ready for case coloring. But I am not going to have it done. I like it the way it is.

[Harold Ward]

Hello everyone, here are those photos I promised, sorry the quality isn't the best in the world, I'll try to do better the next time.

[OH Osthaus]

i would go with the idea it was polished, I may be reading the picture wrong, but the one of the floor plate looks like it has faint remnants of some very light pitting near the hinge.
top tang and sides would not have naturally worn that smoothly

[Bill Murphy]

Harold, in my opinion, there is nothing to be done to your gun except to shoot and enjoy it. Just getting the screws renewed and qualified would be a gunsmith project that would cost a bunch. You have a great gun that does not warrant any expensive gunsmithing. Let's see a better shot of that recoil pad. It appears to be a very nice Jostam Hy-Gun. Congratulations.