sheild inlay

[V.J. Enright]

I just received a 10 or 12 gauge made in 1878 and it has a gold sheild inlay. Can anyone tell me what the sheild means?

[Bindlestiff]

Welcome to the forum.

I guess you missed the message as you signed in that on this forum we use real first and last names. If you could post you name I'm sure John can correct your member name for you.

Also, if you could then post the ser# of your gun someone will look it up in the Identification and Serialization book and if its recorded there you will know its configuration as it left the factory.

As far as the gold shield.... Parkers have shields on their stocks but most are silver in color. If yours is a gold color it could be that the stock finish and oil has aged over the years and the shield has taken on a gold tint. Or, it could be a high grade Parker which has gold shields rather than the silver ones; as well as high grade wood and are almost always richly engraved.

[Mike Grierson]

I had the impression they were for engraving initials on,but I have no idea where I got that from,probably a dealer at a show,any truth to that?...Mike

[Dean Romig]

Sure, that was probably the intended purpose along with just being a nice embellishment which, along with other niceties like the forend tip, help to set the Parker Gun on a somewhat higher level amomg other American shotguns. Not surprisingly a very miniscule percentage of low grade Parkers ever had initials engraved in the shield but as we climb through the grades a higher and higher percentage of guns were engraved with the owner's initials. This can be directly attributable to the fact that the higher grades were specially ordered and were not simply to stock the gun racks of early hardware stores.

[John D.]

Hi V.J.

My thanks - I just got your note to my Admin account and as well - I was reading your thread at the same time.. Anyway - welcome to the Forum and I moved your thread out of the "Site Help" forum and into the main Parker Forum..

My thanks and welcome again!

John