The "OV" that you see stamped on your gun is the grade stamp given to the Trojan grade gun. All the guns above Trojan grade have a corresponding number grade, i.e. a GH is Grade 2, a DH is Grade 3, all the way up to the A-1 Special which is Grade 8. The Trojan has no number grade, however, because it was introduced after all the other Grade numbers were assigned to other models (the lowest number was already assigned to the VH, and Trojan is one grade below VH).
It should be noted, however, that the quality of design of a Trojan is no less than the top grade guns. It is the same gun internally as a top grade gun. The Trojan lacks a release lever for the forend (Trojan forends snap on), and a doll's head rib extension (except for the earliest Trojans, but even they have a different rib extension than all other Parkers), and certain options were never available that could be had on other grades, but it is as robust and operates as well as any other Parker. For the most part the differences between Trojan and the higher grades are cosmetic. The concept of the Trojan was to offer a true Parker shotgun for the working-class sporstman as inexpensively as possible without sacrificing any of the shooting/handling/operating/reliability qualities that Parkers were known for. So, what you end up with is plain, unfigured wood, plain checkering, less sculpting of the action, no engraving, plain buttplate, etc., and the other differences I mentioned above. But the inside parts where it counts are the same as any other Parker, and it shoots as well as any other Parker.
Jim
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Threaded Mode