Parker Time Capsule

[Mark Conrad]

Walley, nice find on this interesting gun. He could have spent another $50.00 and had two guns. Guns ordered as two barrel sets are on the rare side.

Mark

James Byrnes was indeed a Gentleman of the great Palmetto State, and refused endorsement by the KKK- this was back in the era of the "Yellow Dog Democrats"--and when tacit endorsement by the "Three Circles Interlocked"- from Kuklos, the Greek word for circle- insured re-election. I didn't know he was a guest at Hobcaw Barony- as was the late Tar Heel Stater Robert C. Ruark, who also shot "buuurds" with Mr. Baruch--

In Ruark's story about that, he mentions Baruch shooting a well worn but fine grade 16 bore double- George, do you have any idea what make a grade double might have been Baruch's pet quail gun??

Just as FDR's Veep- James N. Garner once said, when asked what it was like to be a V-P, and gave a straight-forward reply alluding to a bucket full of lukewarm spit, a reporter once asked Harry Truman for some advice, and Harry said "Never kick a fresh dog turd on a hot summer's day"-- Our Country needs straight talking politicos and elected officials instead of a "Disney on the Potomac Chiefed by the Double-Tongued"!

[George Lander]

Francis: My favorite quotation from the man my dad called "Jimmy", James F. Byrnes, is:
"Too many people these days are concerned with SECURITY instead of OPPORTUNITY. It seems folks are woried more about LIVING than the are of DYING". I don't know what the gun was that he hunted with, but I know that he Bird Hunted (bob white quail) with Havilah Babcock and ducks & marsh hens with Bernard Baruch. If I had to guess I would say that it was either a Parker or a Fox.

[Kevin McCormack]

The Parker automatic ejector is a needlessly complicated system with way too many parts that need to be in precise adjustment to funcion properly. (No wonder it added over 25% to the price of a new gun!). If you want to see a really ingenious and simple, also utterly reliable auto ejector design, examine the drawings of the Holland & Holland and Boss ejector systems. The H&H system is rediculously simple with very few moving parts, and the Boss system is a masterpiece of gun engineering, inclluding a mid-position detent that elevates unfired cartridges way out of the gun for easy removal if desired. The H&H system is to the Parker system what Elmer Miller's single trigger design is to the first generation Parker single trigger design. Owning and trying to shoot a Parker with a bad ejector train (or a malfunctioning single trigger) is like owning and trying to drive a bad-running vintage Jaguar - the worst is yet to come.

[Robert Delk]

I like the analogy.My buddy just inherited a 54 Jag.

[David Hamilton]

I owned a 54 jag XK120M Fixed Head Coupe back in the 50's and the need for a good Jag mechanic was always in my mind. However there were good Jag mechanics and they kept mine running very well. There are good Parker mechanics who can keep an ejector running well, in spite of Kevin's skepticism. David

[Bill Murphy]

A hunting friend built a 1954 XK120 for his son who was approaching driving age several years ago. He had obtained it from an old gal who had installed real leopard skin seat covers and a few other sacrilegious modifications. My friend tossed the Jag engine and installed a hot 289 Ford engine and transmission. I have no idea where that car is today, but I bet it is still running.

[George Lander]

Austin: I see your point. There are two types of two barrel sets. Those originally ordered with the second barrel and those sent back to Parker for an additional set. Both types are mentioned in Mark Conrad's letters. I have a couple of each kind.

I had an XJ12 and always thought I need another one. One to drive while the other was in the shop. Bill, a friend of mine did the same with his XK 120 but with an engine out of a wrecked corvette (his uncle owned the junkyard) That one was a real bomb. Nothing around here could come close to touching it.

Best Regards, George

[David Hamilton]

They were cars with there own strengths and faults. One large fault shared with many other sports cars of the era was that they were front end heavy. A lighter weight engine would be a boon. David

[Autumn Daze]

Actually George there is alway's the third option...Barrels added by a gunsmith along the way. Not really a two barrel set just a gun with an extra set of barrels.

A Jag with a Corvette motor...that sounds like fun...here we go again..