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08-03-2014, 08:27 PM | #23 | ||||||
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thats a mighty nice gun pete has i hope it gets to hunt another 25 seasons..and yes pete takes a good picture...charlie
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The Following User Says Thank You to charlie cleveland For Your Post: |
08-03-2014, 11:24 PM | #24 | ||||||
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I've told this story before - in fact, I wrote about it "A Last Trojan Pheasant" in Parker Pages back around 2006 or so, but I can't find which issue it's in. Anyway, that tells the whole story plus a lot more.
I think it was around 1960 or '61 and I was thirteen and I was at my friend Dave's house and as we went down into his cellar one day I discovered this leather-trimmed canvas case tucked in behind the chimney. I pulled it out and opened it and took out a really nice Trojan 12 gauge with 28" barrels and the hang tags were still tied to the handle of the case. It had belonged to Dave's grandfather up in Saco, Maine. Long story made short - I was allowed to keep that Trojan at my house and use it whenever I wanted to until I moved to another town three years later. Then after high school graduation Dave took a job as a lineman out in Boise and brought the gun with him and I haven't seen that Trojan since the day I gave it back. That three year period in my life instilled in me a desire to have my own Parker someday - a Parker I could really enjoy for grouse and woodcock in Vermont..... and now I can't even decide which one to bring with my when I go there, so I just bring a few along. |
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The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Dean Romig For Your Post: |
08-04-2014, 11:26 PM | #25 | ||||||
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My first Parker, which I still have, was a 10 gauge Grade 3 hammergun. I was eight years old, so that was in 1947, and my Dad bought gas from a local AMACO station. The station owner had taken the Parker for gas along with a box of Super X shells, which I also still have. He wanted a gun for his son so I traded him my H&R 16 gauge single shot even. The wood had been replaced (rather crudely) but it was still a Parker. I've often thought of having new wood made, but then I treasure the memory like it is.
Best Regards, George |
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The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to George Lander For Your Post: |
08-05-2014, 10:06 AM | #26 | ||||||
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Interesting to read how many people started with a Trojan, since their introduction in 1912 to this day it seems they are a gateway for many to the higher grade guns. I still treasure mine as much or more than the others I have for the memories it brings, plus it has always been a good shooter.
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The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Pete Lester For Your Post: |
08-05-2014, 11:09 AM | #27 | ||||||
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Growing up I heard many stories of Grandpa's Parker, but he lived in Minnesota and we were out in Washington. Grandpa died in 1954 and his Parker went to my Uncle Howard. My Father was a Winchester rifle guy, but a Remington shotgun guy. He had a pair of AE-Grade Model 1894s in 12- and 16-gauge and a 12-gauge 30-inch full "Sportsman" autoloader he bought for $38 with his employee discount at Seattle Hardware in 1938. He always talked about how he would have loved to have bought the Parker that was in a Seattle Hardware window display, but that would have been $100 with his employee discount!! Tough when making $35 a week! In 1959 my Father succumbed to Jack O'Connor's short barrel writings and the "Sportsman" got whacked to 26-inch with a Poly-Choke. By 1960 the "Sportsman" was gone and he had a 12-gauge, 30-inch, 2-frame, VH-Grade, which remained his primary waterfowl gun until he quit hunting after the 1987-88 season when he was 80. According to the Ron Kirby letter I got on my Father's Parker it was shipped to Seattle Hardware on July 2, 1902, five years and one month before he was born.
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The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to Dave Noreen For Your Post: |
08-05-2014, 11:23 AM | #28 | ||||||
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Dave's Dad's Parker sounds like the more than a few William Wagner Parkers that Kevin McCormack and I have bought in the Washington, DC area. Sometimes these guns don't get far from "home".
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08-05-2014, 12:29 PM | #29 | ||||||
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My first Parker is a Trojan 20 gauge, but it is also still one of my nicer ones, being restored by Del Grego and still in good restored condition.
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The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Mills Morrison For Your Post: |
08-05-2014, 05:50 PM | #30 | ||||||
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My Dad took my $130 first Parker to Del Grego's while I was in the Army in the late sixties. I wouldn't trade the relationship my Dad started with Larry Del Grego Sr. for my gun to be in original condition. My 28 gauge in Del Grego restored condition has more history behind it than if it were in original condition. This gun is pictured in Larry Sr's hands in Kevin McCormack's article in DGJ about the Del Gregos. I have been shooting that gun for 54 years and it still has the early Del Grego colors in about 98% condition.
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The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to Bill Murphy For Your Post: |
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