1900 Remington at Rock Mountain

[jeffery c]

I kind of wonder about that about the M11 being the end of doubles. Even Remington brought out the 32 and bought Parker within 25 years of the decision to discontinue doubles. Remington probably actually lost tens of thousands of sales by this decision. There was the depression, of course. Yet many makers sold a lot of doubles in competition with the autos and pumps in the interwar period, despite the depression. Didn't LC Smith have robust sales even after WW II? Stevens probably sold more doubles after WW II than before WW II. For practical hunting guns I think doubles are the best option, especially because repeaters are plugged at three anyway. I wonder if American gunmakers, besides Stevens missed a chance to keep selling doubles after WW II.

[Researcher]

From its introduction in 1905 to WW-II Remington produced half a million 12-gauge RAS/Model 11s plus another 15500 Sportsman before they started serial numbering them along with the Model 11s. Meanwhile Parker Bros. produced about 112000 guns. Winchester produced their first million Model 12s along with several hundred thousand Model 97s. All those Fox Model B and Stevens doubles Savage produced after WW-II are a drop in the bucket when compared with the many millions of Remington Model 870s, Model 11-48/Sportsman-48, Sportsman-58 and Model 1100 autoloaders.

[jeffery c]

Originally Posted by Dave Noreen

From its introduction in 1905 to WW-II Remington produced half a million 12-gauge RAS/Model 11s plus another 15500 Sportsman before they started serial numbering them along with the Model 11s. Meanwhile Parker Bros. produced about 112000 guns. Winchester produced their first million Model 12s along with several hundred thousand Model 97s. All those Fox Model B and Stevens doubles Savage produced after WW-II are a drop in the bucket when compared with the many millions of Remington Model 870s, Model 11-48/Sportsman-48, Sportsman-58 and Model 1100 autoloaders.

That makes sense, Researcher, doubles sure were outsold in that time period! I wonder if Remington lost money in the end buying Parker?

[Jack]

Originally Posted by jefferyconnor

I wonder if Remington lost money in the end buying Parker?

To quote The Parker Story (page 163), "it is clear that this (Remington's acquisition of Parker) was not a wise move from a financial standpoint."
Remington paid over $750,000 just for the right to make Parker guns. During the seven years of production they produced a little over 6200 guns. They were plagued by high production costs and a dwindling market for high-quality doubles.

[jeffery c]

Originally Posted by Jack Huber

To quote The Parker Story (page 163), "it is clear that this (Remington's acquisition of Parker) was not a wise move from a financial standpoint."
Remington paid over $750,000 just for the right to make Parker guns. During the seven years of production they produced a little over 6200 guns. They were plagued by high production costs and a dwindling market for high-quality doubles.

I wonder if that 6,400 includes both Meriden and Ilion production?

[Jack]

Originally Posted by jefferyconnor

I wonder if that 6,400 includes both Meriden and Ilion production?

According to The Parker Story, the total Remington production of Parker guns was 6,224: 4,629 in Meriden and 1,595 in Ilion.

[Researcher]

Sales of luxury items, like Parker Bros. shotguns, tanked after late 1929. I find the transition covers guns in the 234xxx, 235xxx and 236xxx range. My 20-gauge VH 235178 was Made and shipped in the fall of 1930. I find some guns in the 234xxx range with the PARKER GUN WORKS OVERLOAD PROVED stamping and find guns in the very high 236xxx range with the PARKER BROS. OVERLOAD PROVED stamp, one of which does have an AD (A = March D = 1935) Remington date code?!?

The Parker Story states "the first gun placed in production under Remington management was 236531, a VH grade 28-gauge shotgun with 26-inch barrels. There were lower numbered guns, both finished and unfinished, in Parker Brothers inventory when Remington took over, but 236531 was the first serial number assigned under Remington management." The Remington Parkers chapter ends with "Remington produced a total of 6,224 Parker guns, 4,629 in Meriden and 1,595 in Ilion."