Your intro to Parkers and your first Parker

[Mills]

My first Parker is a Trojan 20 gauge, but it is also still one of my nicer ones, being restored by Del Grego and still in good restored condition.

[Bill Murphy]

My Dad took my $130 first Parker to Del Grego's while I was in the Army in the late sixties. I wouldn't trade the relationship my Dad started with Larry Del Grego Sr. for my gun to be in original condition. My 28 gauge in Del Grego restored condition has more history behind it than if it were in original condition. This gun is pictured in Larry Sr's hands in Kevin McCormack's article in DGJ about the Del Gregos. I have been shooting that gun for 54 years and it still has the early Del Grego colors in about 98% condition.

[Jim DiSpagno]

My first encounter to the World of Parkers started as a boy about 5 when my father taught me about firearms safety. He had bought a Parker 12 ga. GHE at the NYC auction of the Arthur Von Briesen Manson. He and a neighbor bought the 2 double barreled shotguns without knowing what they actually were, only advertised as quality American doubles. After the auction, they picked up their guns only to find that they were consecutivly numbered GHEs in 12 and 16 ga. My father wanted the 12 only because he had his Win model 24 in 16 and the neighbor wanted the 16 because he already had a Fox Sterlingworth 12. Then for the next 40+years they tried to buy each others gun. Never happened.Now, for the past 20 years or so, I've tried to buy that 16 from his oldest son who said our daughters would have to work out a deal when we are gone. But I still know where it is. There are no records on either gun even through Bob Beach. They are in the 208 range and nothing is found. DelGreco probably can help but is unwilling so it will remain an undiscovered part of Parker history.