VH with a single trigger?

[Researcher]

The April 21, 1923, Parker Bros. Catalog only offered the SST on DH and above --

Parker Bros. Single Selective Trigger 1923 01.jpg

Parker Bros. Single Selective Trigger 1923 02.jpg

By the next catalog I have, Jan, 1, 1927, the SST was offered on all grades from VH on up. Remington offered the SST on the Trojan Grade for a few years before they dropped the Trojan Grade.

Remington-Parker Single Selective Trigger.jpeg

In addition to Parker Bros. own single selective triggers there were numerous after-market triggers offered. We see quite a few early 20th Century Parkers with the the Lancaster and there is a King letter that seems to indicate Parker Bros. offered them in the pre WW-I days. Later the Miller triggers were quite popular. Others were the Lindsey, E.D. Fulford (he won the GAH with one of his triggers on his Remington Hammerless Double), the Philadelphia Single Trigger Co., our man Joe Kautzky, etc.

[Mike of the Mountain]

My Trojan is a mid-1920s production and the VHE was 1930-32.

[Dean Romig]

Mike, do you know if your Trojan was sent back to Parker Bros. to have the single trigger installed?





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[Mike of the Mountain]

Not according to the letter. It also has a straight grip and checkered butt, also lettered. Oh, and it’s a two barrel set, all matching numbers. It’s a great gun to shoot and it destroys clays.


UPDATE:

After not finding a letter and contacting Chuck, I couldn't find one because there is none available. I was confusing my VHE letter for the Trojan. The Trojan does have the same SST in it that the VHE does.

[Larry the Gun Guy]

Originally Posted by Mike Koneski

Not according to the letter. It also has a straight grip and checkered butt, also lettered. Oh, and it’s a two barrel set, all matching numbers. It’s a great gun to shoot and it destroys clays.

Where does the line form to be the next owner of this gun?

And the VH thread subject gun doesn't sound too bad to me. Parker SST, IC/Full; yeah. In the hundred or so years since it was made somebody put a little extra finish on the stock and reblued the barrels. So? These are shooters. Buy it, shoot it and if you don't like it pass it on. They made over 117,000 VH guns. My guess is you're not paying $5,000 for this VH.

[Mike of the Mountain]

Here is the info on the 12g VHE live bird gun. I was mistaken as the original specs didn’t mention a SST, but the info I received from G&H shows there was one on the gun by the late 1940s. However, the ID and Serialization book shows it was made with a SST.

[Dylan Rhodes]

Wow, I didn't expect this much discussion in this thread. All great comments and trains of thought to read for a new collector.

Originally Posted by Larry Stauch

Where does the line form to be the next owner of this gun?

And the VH thread subject gun doesn't sound too bad to me. Parker SST, IC/Full; yeah. In the hundred or so years since it was made somebody put a little extra finish on the stock and reblued the barrels. So? These are shooters. Buy it, shoot it and if you don't like it pass it on. They made over 117,000 VH guns. My guess is you're not paying $5,000 for this VH.

Larry, It's not the modifications that bother me. Its the single trigger actually. and at near 2k dollars for a gun with modifications I'm not certain I'm willing to take a gamble on a malfunctioning single trigger, which as previously stated, could be expensive. At the end of the day, I could end 2.5-3k in a VH grade that has been modified. At that point you might as well start looking at VHE with double trigger or save even a little more for a higher grade 12 gauge. I guess the question that's unanswered is, how reliable is the Parker SST?

Originally Posted by Bill Murphy

Question #1 asked about the originality of single triggers on V grade Parkers. Answer: Hundreds of Parker V grade skeet and trap guns were made with single triggers as well as more than a few field guns. Question #2 was about the testing of a single trigger without live firing. Answer: One of the main malfunctions of a Parker single trigger is doubling. Testing for doubling involves live fire with low power and high power ammunition, preferably more than a few shots with each. My experience with doubling in Parker shotguns is that sometimes, a Parker will double no more than every twenty five or a hundred shots, a sign of bad things to come. Test fire before buying if the price is not a solid bargain.

Bill, I appreciate the info, but i'm afraid firing before closing the deal is off the table here. Which adds to my apprehension.

[Larry the Gun Guy]

Originally Posted by Mike Koneski

Not according to the letter. It also has a straight grip and checkered butt, also lettered. Oh, and it’s a two barrel set, all matching numbers. It’s a great gun to shoot and it destroys clays.

So Dean asked if the Trojan had been sent back for the SST and the response was no and that it had a straight grip and a checkered butt. So the VHE has a pistol grip and no mention of "no safety". What gun are we talking about here with what features??? This is confusing.

[Mike of the Mountain]

I’ll have to dig out the letter.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Mike Koneski

I’ll have to dig out the letter.

Somebody ‘in the know’ bought Parker’s least expensive gun but didn’t mind paying for the extra features he wanted.






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