How old was you when you bought your first Parkers ?

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Milton C Starr

Theres a multitude of doubles I would like to get as I start my collection .
I have a hard time focusing on what I want next haha .

I’ve found it’s okay to want something specific . BUT you need to keep your eyes open and an open mind . Sometimes other things at really exceptional buyers prices crop up and even if you don’t really want them for the right price you add them and maybe not to long there after turn them over for profit then you have more equity towards something you really desire .

[Phil Yearout]

I don't remember how old I was; 55-60, somewhere in there. With several Stevens and Fox shotguns in the cabinet I thought I'd see how the other half lives so I made an offer on a little 16ga Trojan with an issue or two that I was sure would be declined and suddenly found myself owning it. We've gotten along just fine and it got me in the Doubles Club ...

[Milton C Starr]

I really those paper 16 gauge hulls .
Ive have enjoyed all the stories I have read in this thread .

Another interesting topic would be how to introduce or get other people my age interested in vintage doubles .

[BRDHNTR]

Our family, father, uncles all shot Parkers. My dad inherited his dad's 16 ga vh and shot that for years. Before i was old enough to hunt with a gun i would walk alongside my dad while he hunted grouse and woodcock. He talked alot about how fine parker shotguns were. I guess i just grew up not knowing there was any other shotgun worth hunting with except a Parker. And growing up in New England back in the day you hunted with a 16. When i reached 13 yrs if age dad let me hunt with the 16 and i killed a lot of birds, rabbits etc with that gun. After my dad died of Lou Gherigs disease I inherited the 16 and have kept it ever since. I finally had to get it fully restored as the stock at the head was pretty punky, there were no colors left. It needed a good restoration so i drove out to Del Grego's shop one day and sat down with Lawrence and Babe and figured out what we wanted to do. All new wood, colors, rust blue appropriately etc. A yr later they called and said it was done. After i got back from viet nam, i knew i had to have more parkers. It's a disease but one that won't kill you. You may go broke, but it won't kill you.

[C.O.B.]

I never knew my Grandfather but have his DNA for which I'm grateful. The story regarding his A1 Special trap gun is that he used it very little but it was his favorite gun. He had a stroke and was unable to use it. It was his wish that the gun be given to a shooting friend who wouldn't be able to afford it upon his death. That wish was honored. My parents tried to track it down but it had been gone over 15 years by then and was never found.

I have been blessed with the AHE 20/28 set by a good friend who can no longer enjoy this fine gun as it was meant to be enjoyed. He knows I'll enjoy it and take good care of it and therefore made it available to me on a very gracious time table for payment.

I plan on following in my Grandfathers path with Gunner's Gun. A custom Parker purchased from a member here. It started out as a VH 20 but I had it restocked and engraved with pheasants, grouse, and woodcock. Gunner"s portrait in on the floor plate. He was my little buddy and I had his mom and there has never been a friend like him. He will go to a good friend who also has GSP's and a young son who is growing into being a hunter.

[Hixie]

My Dad was a Parker guy for as long as I can remember and he usually had 5 - 10 of them on hand. I remember as a kid helping him clean his guns when he returned from a hunting trip. As I grew older and began hunting, he let me use certain Parkers of his and the others I was absolutely forbidden to touch. I consider myself lucky to have that introduction because I got to shoot/hunt with a few in different gauges and stock dimensions and learned what worked for me.

He passed in 2014 and I inherited his father's GH 12 ga and a second GH 12 ga, both of which I continue to hunt grouse and woodcock with. Last year I purchased my first Parker, a DH 12 gauge with 30" Damascus barrels which I will hunt turkeys with.

Being mostly a grouse and woodcock hunter I have in mind what I want for my next Parker and continue to search for it.

[BRDHNTR]

I should have mentioned in my earlier post the following additional history on the 16 ga vh that i inherited from my father. This 1927 vh was purchased by my grandfather in Boston. My grandfather and family lived in Dedham, Mass but also owned a farm of sorts in Bow,
New Hampshire. Some time later he was shooting hand trap on the farm with his 4 sons and while shooting it the recoil caused his hand to strike his nose. Must have held the gun loosely. Anyway, he went home to Dedham complaining of a headache. Went to bed and was unresponsive the next morning when my grandmother had called the family doctor to check him out. He was dead by then of apparently a cerebral hemmorage. Instead of a nose bleed out, it bled inward. So, i never met my grandfather but have his 16 to this day and consider it very special. My apologies for being long winded.

[Pa. Parker Pal]

Bought my first Parker at age 44. My stepson who was and is involved in antiques knew a gentleman who had a12 ga. trojan and needed money as he was getting older. The trojan is in very good condition with the only flaw is lack of case colors on the receiver. He also said he had the original hang tag but had to look for it, unfortunetly he never found it. That started my passion for these great firearms and I managed to acquire two more. I paid $400 for that first Parker

[MrBojangles]

I received my first one as a gift, a VH 12 ga with condition, upon graduation from college, aged 21.

[Dan]

I just turned 65, this past season while hunting pheasant's with a couple of good friends both of which are all in S x S shooters, one of them made a comment to me something like this, " You know Dan as much as you love the old guns of quality I'm surprised you don't have a S x S". That comment got me to thinking, he was right so within a couple of weeks I purchased my first Parker a CHE 30" 12 gauge. With all this virus crap going on I haven't been able to shoot any clay with it but I have been swinging it along the ceiling/wall lines all the time, not quite the same. Hope the Fall shoot in PA still happens, I would like to attend.