Remington Parkers

[Kim I. Manning]

Can someone comment or direct me to a previous discussion on how the later Remington Parkers differ from the Meriden guns? I've read that the Remington guns used better wood than the earlier ones on lower grade guns, but that the Remington guns were heavier and not as well balanced. I had an opportunity to handle a R/P 1937 20 bore DHE skeet gun with 26" barrels-it was a club!

[Kevin McCormack]

After the Remington buyout of Parker Gun and the subsequent move to Ilion from Meriden, Remington began using excess inventory of stock blanks on the Remington-produced Parkers. It is not uncommon to occasionally see very well-figured wood on V- and G- grade Remington guns that would have been totally appropriate in some cases for D- and even C- grade Meriden guns. Simply a process of using up existing stock blanks instead of turning new ones. Analagous examples are different styles of top levers, trigger guards and safeties characteristic of Meriden guns seen on very early Remington-produced Parkers.

[Researcher]

Back in the day, the Grade 0 and 1 guns were listed in the Parker Bros. catalogs were listed as having American Walnut stocks. The Grade 2 text said America or imported, and Grade 3 and above were imported. Between the 1923 and 1927 Parker Bros. catalogs "imported" disappeared from the Grade 2 and 3 catalog text.

In the days of the Remington Hammerless Doubles The A- to EEO-grades all came with imported walnut stocks and the K-grades introduced in 1900 had American walnut stocks. With the introduction of their autoloaders and pumps, the entry-level A "Standard" Grades had American walnut stocks and the B "Special" Grade and above had imported walnut stocks. That continued into the 1930s. In the late 1930s about the time the Parker operation was up and running at Ilion, this notice appeared in Remington catalogs --

Selected Figured Walnut, February 15, 1939.jpg

[Bill Murphy]

Define "club". Is this gun an original skeet gun and was it an original 20 gauge?

[6pt-Sika]

I dunno everyone has their own opinions . I’ve had my paws on several of the Remington era 20 gauge VHE skeet guns and they all felt rather lively to me . But I like the 26” straight grip BT SST configuration .

[Kim I. Manning]

The gun was a two-barrel set, PG, SST, don't remember butt treatment. It just seemed heavy and not well balanced compared to other guns I owned, including a 12 bore VH straight grip 30 inch gun.