Parker book

[bob lyons]

What is the best book to buy on collecting Parker Shotguns ?

[Dean Romig]

Without a doubt The Parker Story is the last word... maybe not the first but certainly the last.





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[Mike Franzen]

I agree The Parker Story is the best book for collectors. The best read in my opinion is is Peter Johnson’s “Parker, America’s Finest Shotgun”

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Mike Franzen

I agree The Parker Story is the best book for collectors. The best read in my opinion is is Peter Johnson’s “Parker, America’s Finest Shotgun”

I'm new to Parkers too, and from MY humble perspective, I found the Johnson book too wordy. I think an editor could have cut this book in half and retained any of the information you would need. It's a flowery wordy enthusiast rendition that is clearly biased, no matter how much you love these great guns, but that's just me. I appreciate it from the perspective that it was the first book on these guns (I believe). The serialization book is a must. The Muderlak book is waiting in the wings while I wade through the Parker Story. While I thought the Johnson book was too prose and glowing, the Parker Story reads like the history of the foundation of the Roman Empire. It is packed with detail that stands as a tremendous desk reference. I should have read the serialization intro first, then Muderlak, then the Parker Story. But you'll find that you'll learn a heck of a lot from people on this board. It's incredible to find out what you don't know. Yet.

[Bill Murphy]

Andy, you have to understand that Peter Johnson was not a gun expert, or even a gun enthusiast. He was a college English instructor, maybe a professor. He owned a Parker shotgun or two. When Peter would visit our gun show tables, he had more questions than answers. His research was done by writing letters to a very few sources and patiently waiting for the replies. He did not drive a car and did not travel to do his research. He got some assistance from his students. I have absolutely no criticism of the writing style of my friend Peter Johnson. It is not a book to be used to establish fact, but it was the first book that got us to where we are today. Ed Muderlak and others have written about their experiences with Peter Johnson and shine some light on Peter's efforts. I believe our friend and member James Hall, also wrote of his conversations with Peter.

[Mike of the Mountain]

I agree with Todd. Johnson (which you have read), Baer, Muderlak and TPS. But definitely get the Parker Identification and Serialization book too. You will use that one A LOT.

[Mike of the Mountain]

Andy, when on my downtime from December through February, I read all of those books, including TPS. There were some chapters I skipped in TPS just because I really wasn't interested in reading about certain aspects of the family or items not shotgun related. That's OK, if I need to look something up I know where to find it. You'll figure out what you want to do as you plow through the many pages.

I REALLY enjoyed Ed Muderlak's books. I mean REALLY!! They are all good in their own way, but it was nice seeing some of the things he wrote about.

[todd allen]

The best approach is to start with Johnson's book, then Baer, Muderlak, and finish with the Parker Story.
Trust me on this.

[Tom Flanigan]

I’ve always liked the Johnson book. I bought my first copy at ten years old when I knew nothing about the different Parker grades. It contains some good information but, unfortunately some errors. It is written more from the perspective of an enthusiast than the perspective of a historian. But it is an interesting read nevertheless and was instrumental in furthering my love of the Parker gun.

[stumpstalker]

Bob:

I believe that with THE PARKER STORY you will definitely get your money’s-worth, because you will continue referring to it. Not a serendipitous random-walk, the textual content of its two volumes is detailed and organized; and it is profusely illustrated by drawings, tables, and photos.


But I agree that you should not skip over Peter Johnson’s PARKER, AMERICA’S FINEST SHOTGUN. Published in 1962, it is a time-capsule, and what lover of vintage guns can’t appreciate something like that? It is distinctive, as it presages the coming resurgence of interest in doubles -- guns that had become by mid-20th Century overshadowed, both on the range and in the field, by repeaters.

On one level there may be no substitute for Johnson’s infectious passion for the Parker gun. You read that at age five he began collecting gun lists; and as a youth eyed the qualities of a Parker brought into his home by family friend, Dr. Bryant Cook.

In spite of being a blatant booster of the Parker gun Johnson was not a Parker dogmatist. He cites the quality and dependability of other American doubles, specifically listing the Fox, Ithaca, L. C. Smith, Baker, and Lefever.