Do Simmons Hardware records still exist somewhere?

[Don Kaas]

If you have a letter with the guns original details and there is no record of the Titanic barrels being fitted, I would make the assumption they were fitted post 1919 (hence the lack of repair records). Parker was not a big operation and I believe you may be a little too restrictive on Walter King's barrel finishing stamp's dating. W.K. stamps are known past 1910... I have had 5 or 6 D grades that started life as Damascus guns and now have factory fitted Titanics.

One example of this is DHE #132,781 which started out in 1905 as a Damascus 26" 0 frame 16g sent to Portland, ME per the factory records. It lost its D3 barrels to pitting and a severe dent it received when the DHE tumbled out of a railroad locomotive cab in the "early 1920s". Mr. Brown was a civil engineer for the railroad between Boston and Portland and would bring the Parker along on inspection tours and shoot pa'tridge when the train stopped for water at rural NE sidings It went back to Parker and now has 26" Titanics clearly stamped "W.K.". While no factory record exists of their being fitted (post 1919) I am pretty sure of the facts because the "Doc Brown" the son of the man who bought the gun in 1905 told me so. He died in his late 90s a few years ago and was the local doctor in my family's hometown in NH (he gave the gun to my late uncle who left it to me). I shot the gun last weekend in VA and it remains in original condition with the scars of its railroad accident on the stock from the incident many years ago. It is my favorite bird gun...

Notwithstanding accidents, an uncleaned, black powder residue caked Damascus barrel used with corrosive primers pitted VERY quickly. It was commonplace to return them to Parker for boring and dent removal. It became increasingly common for them to be replaced by the more modern and fashionable "black barrels".

[John Havard]

Don, very interesting. Perhaps I am being too restrictive on the dates of barrels bearing Walter King's stamp. The reason I am, however, is based on what is said on (as I recall) page 582 of The Parker Story where proof stamping is discussed. The book pretty clearly states that after Walter King moved up he was replaced by "J.G." and his proof stamp initials are on all guns after the 1910 time frame. Working from memory here but that's what I remember the book essentially saying.

Did Parker keep proofed barrels around in stock for 10 or more years? Could this set of barrels have been stamped by Walter King prior to 1910, laid aside for 10 or more years, and then have been used to replace the damascus barrels that were originally (?) supplied with this gun? Does anyone know about how fluid the cutoff date which separates barrels stamped with "WK" and those stamped with "JG" is?

In any event, if I find out anything about Simmons Hardware's records I'll let everyone know. It's a long shot for sure but what the heck?

[Autumn Daze]

John, the "JG' denotes Jim Geary.