How old was you when you bought your first Parkers ?

[Brett Hoop]

First off let me say it is wonderful to see younger people take an interest in the Parker gun.
My first exposure was a VH 20 ga my grandfather let me use a few small game seasons. Even then I felt the sole that is there about the wrist of a Parker. Soon there after I found out the local high school art teacher also had a Parker. He wasn’t a hunter, but he had a small collection of high quality firearms. I eventually weaseled my way to get to see his Parker, and was shocked when seated in his library he pointed to a wooden box and said it’s there in that wooden case on the shelf. I had no idea people kept shotguns in wooden cases.

When he opened that case, maybe that was when lightning struck or something because I have never forgotten or got over, what was a thrill for me. The fitted case held a Grade 3 hammerless 16ga that was of very high condition. Flash forward 35 years and after chasing about everything here and there, life let me have a great bird dog and a Parker was needed. Then another and another.....

[Milton C Starr]

Some great stories here ! do any of y'all keep these stories written down for future generations ?
I think your grandkids would find it pretty cool to know the story of grandpas sxs .

I would at minimal like to have at least 3 Parkers , one for me and each of my brothers .
I was thinking it would be special if we could all go hunting with a Parker in hand .

[Rick Riddell]

Wow this is really cool! My first Parker I was 32, I love British doubles but wanted an American made gun and no better choice than a Parker, it was a reworked Trojan and I really enjoyed it. After reading more about them and asking all I could here (with annoying questions!) I started on my quest to upgrade, I’ve settled on 3 and am quite content, although I am hearing the call of a small bore or hammer gun! We just recently got our son his first Parker at 9, he doesn’t quite understand it yet, but god willing he’ll be on here 20yrs later telling this same story!

[john pulis]

I purchased my first L.C. when I was 16 and my first Parker, a GH, forty years later, which I restored. I have collected both for the last few years and hope to continue. I keep an eye out for a 16 Parker hammer but they seem scarcer then hens teeth.

[Jerry VanHorn]

I was 29...and my first Parker was a PH 20. Year was 1975. I remember I paid $1500 from an ad in Shotgun News...The following year, I got married..bought an old Victorian to "fix up"..and sold the Parker and my Mark IV Lincoln to help pay for upgrades..The wife is gone. the house is gone..I miss the Parker most !!!

[edgarspencer]

My dad had three Parkers when I was a kid. I would sneak out with the 16, up the outside basement stairs, hunt for 1-2 hours and get back before he got home. Always gave anything I bagged to an old guy down the road, mainly because I never came up with an answer to the inevitable question "How did you get that bird?"
Got my first VH20 from a neighbor when I was about 21. Had to trade a lot of my saltwater fishing tackle. Turns out, that gun was bought the same day as my dad's 20, at The PB factory. My dad's father's cousin took my dad, and the Cousin's wife's cousin, in his Pierce Arrow, from East Hampton, CT to Meriden.
Got it? Our family vet bought my dad's 20, and took it to CO. He offered to sell it back to me, but seems to think it's worth an AH price. I still have the 16 I covertly hunted with way back then.

[Hammer Gun]

Well for me my first double was a LC Smith 12ga, I was 45 at the time, my first Parker was about one year later, I happened into a gun shop to buy a client a Ruger red label shotgun for a gift at Xmas, The owner showed me a Parker 12 ga PHE steel barreled gun in great condition, well most folks know the rest of the story, I stoped at that shop every time I was coming to the cabin in the mountains, and usually could not wait to see what new offerings that shop held, 33 years later, I have been fortunate to own some nice Parkers, and some unusual ones, Gary

[Mike of the Mountain]

WOW! Some cool stories here on first Parker’s. My first was not as exciting as being gifted with one at 9 or finding one at 16. I acquired mine through attrition. I had been shooting competition for decades and got tired of NSCA shooter attitudes and so many rules that I needed something different to put the fun back into clays. Enter our buddy Cold Spring and his passion for double guns. He got me hooked on the horizontal oriented barreled guns. Started with Fox guns. I had one, then two. Next thing I had quite a few Fox guns. I “needed” more so I could shoot hammer gun events too. Enter those sexy hinge pin guns from Parker!! Be still my heart!! So then I see all the events sponsored by Parker or for Parker or about Parker and I quickly moved my Fox guns and procured more Parker’s! By now I’m fully addicted and loving it!! But, I digress. The first Parker I purchased was an early 12g lifter with 30” barrels. The next day I purchased a DH 12/30. Let’s just say when I’m in I’m ALL in!! 😂 That was about 8 or 9 years ago and I would have been 49 or 50. Fun times when you’re having flies!!

[Tom Hawkins]

I bought my first Parker when I was 22. It was a 12 gauge DH titanic owed by one of my hunting mentors. My collection was enhanced by buying broken guns cheap, fixing them, and trading up mostly at the Tulsa Gun Shows. As I have aged, my interests have been on 16 ga Parker, Smith, and Ithaca, mostly mid grades with mostly damascus barrels. I have picked up a few Parkers that I thought were unique or special. My hammer guns phase has included the 14 and 16. Like Milton I always wanted a big gun because my grandad and great uncles had them. I looked for several years before I found a 4 frame B grade hammer 10. Many times I thought this gun will be the last one.

[Milton C Starr]

Originally Posted by Tom Hawkins

I bought my first Parker when I was 22. It was a 12 gauge DH titanic owed by one of my hunting mentors. My collection was enhanced by buying broken guns cheap, fixing them, and trading up mostly at the Tulsa Gun Shows. As I have aged, my interests have been on 16 ga Parker, Smith, and Ithaca, mostly mid grades with mostly damascus barrels. I have picked up a few Parkers that I thought were unique or special. My hammer guns phase has included the 14 and 16. Like Milton I always wanted a big gun because my grandad and great uncles had them. I looked for several years before I found a 4 frame B grade hammer 10. Many times I thought this gun will be the last one.

The big frames are my passion and you dont see them often , especially in a price range I could say was feasible . Sometimes you get lucky though and you find the right one or in my case It found me .


At 27 I often wonder by the time I get older if theres going to be any interesting old double collectors to talk to .