What makes a skeet gun a skeet gun?

[Dean Romig]

This may be an exercise in hair-splitting, but here goes...

The game of "shooting 'round the clock" (later the field was redesigned because a neighbor's livestock was coming under indiscriminate shot fall), later (1929) to be named "Skeet", was being developed in the teens and was perfected in the mid-twenties and was catching on pretty well in the ranks of upland shooters. During the years before Parker Bros. made the decision to offer a dedicated 'Skeet Gun' a number of guns were ordered with certain features, including more open chokes, to be used specifically for quail, grouse and woodcock and the game of Skeet.
The Parker Story addresses the introduction of the first dedicated skeet guns but I don't believe choke stampings of "Skeet In" and "Skeet Out" are necessarily the only way to truly define a skeet gun.
William Harnden Foster, "father of skeet" shot open choked Parkers all during the development phases of the game of skeet and even well after the game was renamed and may not ever have owned a Parker stamped with Skeet In and Skeet Out on the barrel flats.

[Bill Murphy]

I wonder if the very earliest guns that show skeet characteristics and may be described as skeet guns in the stock books possibly DO NOT have the skeet choke markings? Of course, some approved researcher would have to gain access to our stock book copies. Who can post what they consider a very early skeet choke marked serial number. My earliest is 236,868. Maybe our resident skeet gun collector would post his earliest serial number. In the Serialization Book, the option code for skeet configuration is "14". The earliest 26" gun with option code 14 is #235,944. The next "14" that is not a .410 is #236,029. I will discount the .410s because they may or not be skeet guns. My opinion is that .410 skeets may not be skeet choked regardless of how they are marked. I would be interested to know whether skeet configured and skeet choked Parkers in the early 236,000 range have skeet in and skeet out markings or not.

[10 bore]

i think the skeet out(tight choke)is the right and open choke( skeet in) is on the left so the chokes are on the opposite sides. mybe thyat makes it a skeet gun scott

[J.B. Books]

Looking at the serial number of the gun for sale it is in the serial number range where the skeet in, skeet out markings were in use for factory built specifically defined/advertised skeet gun. However it looks a lot like a "skeet gun".

In my mind a true "skeet" gun would be factory marked with those choked designations. Scotts former VHE was choked full and full and was marked skeet in and skeet out so a full choke would not be reason to not stamp the barrels, would it?

I don't think the gun in question is a "factory skeet gun" technically speaking.
However the purpose of what a gun is ordered for can be different than how Parker marketed a gun.

Scott does have good point, all factory skeet guns I have seen had the open barrel, skeet in on the left which would be another defining feature.

[10 bore]

Originally Posted by Pete Lester

Looking at the serial number of the gun for sale it is in the serial number range where the skeet in, skeet out markings were in use for factory built specifically defined/advertised skeet gun. However it looks a lot like a "skeet gun".

In my mind a true "skeet" gun would be factory marked with those choked designations. Scotts former VHE was choked full and full and was marked skeet in and skeet out so a full choke would not be reason to not stamp the barrels, would it?

I don't think the gun in question is a "factory skeet gun" technically speaking.
However the purpose of what a gun is ordered for can be different than how Parker marketed a gun.

Scott does have good point, all factory skeet guns I have seen had the open barrel, skeet in on the left which would be another defining feature.

left f/f on the shelf until somone put in an order for gun and choke