Trojan info needed

[Tom Christman]

I just picked up a second Trojan. This one has everything except for the wood, the safety pin, the safety lever and jacket, the bushing for the tang screw, trigger guard and the two tang screws. So it's almost all there and if I can't find those parts I know someone that can make them based on the parts in the other Trojan I have.

The serial numbers on both indicate they were both made in 1921. However, one has the rib extension and one does not. What other differences are there that I don't see? I want to make sure that if I copy the parts from the other Trojan I have they will fit this new Trojan.

If you have some of these parts as spares and would like to sell them at a fair price, please let me know.

Also, would a research letter tell me anything about these Trojans that I don't already know by measuring them myself? How about who they were originally sold to?

Thanks.

[Bill Murphy]

Give us the serial numbers and we'll tell you whether or not you are likely to find original buyer info in your PGCA letter.

[Dean Romig]

Frame size, stock dimensions and barrel length as well as with or without the rib extension, as you suggest, are about the only differences between Trojans.

Oh, and gauge too.

[Tom Christman]

195031 has rib extension
196297 has no rib extension

[Bill Murphy]

In that serial number range, you are not likely to find any information about the original owner in a PGCA letter. Sorry.

[Old and Reliable]

Tom. I am sure there are some fine gunsmiths in the Badger State. When I served in the USMC several of my buddies hailed from Rhinelander, and LaCrosse. My gunsmith, also a PGCA member and devotee of The Old Reliable, may have the parts, and has redone many Trojans, several of which I have seen and shot. He is working on an older (1903) GHE 12 for me now.

Contact Brad Bachelder- 616-459-3636, e-mail at bachelderfirearm@ aol.com. His summer hours are Tuesday-Friday 1000 hrs. to 1700 hrs. EST.

If you are observant enough to spot the rib extension difference in your Trojan Parkers, you may have also spotted the lack of the letter Sierra (s) in his e-mail. I tried to reach him at bacheldersfirearms@aol.com, which Won't Work- use the intel in the second graph and you'll be "spot on". His wife Lori, who is the Ops. Mgr. explained that to me.

By the by, I had a 12 gauge Trojan for many years as my pet pheasant gun.
28" barrels choked Mod and Full, DT, standard stock and black buttplate, made about 1926-lotsa wear and tear but what a great shooter. I bought it about 20 years ago for $375 if memory serves, low price mainly due to someone having written their full name, rank and sn on the bottom of the receiver with an electro-etching stylus. Sold it about a year ago to a hunting pal who always wanted a Parker, and the GHE 12 will be its replacement in days to come. My former Trojan had the small rib extension, not the Doll's Head shape as on my GHE-

Perhaps it was the introduction of the Model 21 in aprox. 1931, that had no rib extension at all, that prompted Parker to delete that feature, perhaps it was cost reduction as the Great Depression was afoot. I had also read somewhere that Parker designers had planned to eliminate the Doll's Head from the graded guns, but Sales and Marketing thought too many Parker owners extant relied on that design, almost a Parker Trademark, as the recessed hingepin design. Someone also once suggested that Winchester had tried to buy Parker Brothers Co. in 1926, and when their offer was graciously refused, went ahead with the design of the M21. Just rumor!!

[Dean Romig]

Parker Bros. began to discontinue the rib extension on the Trojan in the very early 1920's as another cost cutting measure.

[Tom Christman]

Both guns date to 1921 so this must have been during the transition. Are the older Trojans with the rib extension more desirable because of the rib extension? I see no other differences in these two guns.

[Researcher]

The only time a Trojan with a rib extension is worth more is when a dealer has a customer who believes it is.

[Tom Christman]

I didn't mention worth. However, the rib extension is on there for a reason - to keep the barrel on face. So I would think that if I had two Trojans in identical condition, one with the rib extension and one without, I would pick the one with the extension.