I inherited this from my Grandmother 1902 Parker Brothers

[Fergi_B_Good]

Some of you Shotgunners maybe interested to see this (actually anybody who appreciates finely made firearms). This is a Vulcan Parker Brothers I inherited about 10 years back from my grandmother. It belonged to her father...my Great Grandfather. According to the serial number this particular piece was manufactured in 1902. Unfortunately the original stock has been modified with a recoil pad and the barrel has been re-blued...regardless it is a very fine piece of work. My grandmother passed it on to me after it sat under her bed for 50 some odd years.

As the story goes (and we all know how stories often get exaggerated) my great grandfather and his best friend each bought one of these shotguns with consecutive serial numbers. They then promised each other that whoever died first would bestow the sister gun to the other. Obviously that never happened, but somewhere out there is a sister shotgun with a SN either one number higher, or one number lower...If I ever come across that gun...

[Garv]

I am not much of a true shotgunner but: Nice!

[Hammertime]

Very nice,
This is a good resource for confirmation on the DOM and so forth, the letters and wood checking is brilliant, u may have a museum piece.
Cheers
HT

[Hammertime]

Sorry didn't paste http://www.lcsmith.org/shotguns/manufacture.html

[johnthomas]

The work done is first rate. That is beautiful.

[audiction]

very nice...congrats!

[Dano3467]

That is sweet looking

[Fergi_B_Good]

Hammertime Thanks for the resource!

I'll try to get a picture in better light one of these days.

[sovereign2b]

Sweet! That is one beautiful gun!

[MeatyMac]

Post a pic of the water table (the inside flats of the receiver) and I can tell you what grade it is. The top rib of the barrel has a pattern rolled into it to cut glare, does the pattern extend all the way to the front of the rib in front of the bead or does the pattern stop for about 3/32" and go flat, no pattern, at the very end? Also, what's the barrel length and what gauge is it?

Be nice to see a couple of pics of the sides and bottom of the receiver, especially if it's a GH or better grade.

Mac

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[Fergi_B_Good]

Thanks MeatyMac! Here's some more detailed pictures...some are better than others..the cellphone can only do so much.

[Fergi_B_Good]

And a few more pictures. For those who may have trouble reading the SN because of my crappy pictures it is 131511. 12 Gauge, 28" barrel.

[Fergi_B_Good]

MeatyMac PM sent

[JS41989]

Gorgeous gun!

[M1NM]

Beautiful - and I thought Parker Brother only made games.

They were in business 75 years and produced less than 250,000 guns.
Parker guns were often seen as the gun of choice by celebrities including Annie Oakley, Frank Butler, Clark Gable, as well as the top ranked competition shooters of the day.

[MeatyMac]

Fergi_B,

I just had a chance to look up your VH-grade Parker Gun and look at the pictures, in the last linked picture above I can see the end of the matting terminates on the barrel's rib, they are uncut. What else I notice in the same picture is the fillet cut into the butt stock's top heal, it's a V shape cut into the wood with a filler piece, this and the gold shield on the bottom make me wonder if it is the factory butt stock it came with, why do you think it's a replacement? The black cap on the bottom of the grip, is it a Parker Brother's cap?

Parker Brother's kept stock books on all their guns and they went in order of serial number and were not separated by grade, the most expensive AAHE-grade could sit next to a field grade VH-grade in the stock book; each stock book held apx. 2811 entries, the stock book that held the data on your shotgun's build is number 47, it covers serial numbers 130976 to 133787 spanning 1904 and 1905 years, stock book number 48 begins in November of 1905. Total production in 1905 was 4,336 guns beginning with serial number 130112 and ending at 134448, so your VH-grade Parker Gun was made in 1905 in probably the first quarter of that year. Total production of hammerless VH-grade guns with Vulcan Steel barrels is 78,659 guns for all years, out of those 51,901 were 12ga. guns and out of those 13,660 had 28" barrel, 30" barrel were the most sold in 12ga VH-grade Parker Guns.

The stock books are held by the The Parker Gun Collectors Association (PGCA) today, but not all of them have survived the years, unfortunately the whereabouts of stock book number 47 is unknown, this does not mean you cannot have your Parker Gun authenticated by the PGCA, you can still get a letter from them with the basic information about your Parker gun, it just won't include a photocopy of the stock book entry.

The Vulcan Steel barrels are a good thing, you can shoot some modern ammunition, you're generally safe to shoot low base trap loads and even some upland game loads, I wouldn't shoot anything bigger than #6 lead shot in it myself, you may want to look at the Heavi Shot Classic Doubles line of ammunition for hunting if it requires non-lead shot.

I have a VH 12ga with 30" uncut barrels made in 1910 and a VHE (the E is for ejectors) 16ga. with 28" uncut barrels made in 1918, the VH-grade Parker Guns were utility guns back then, mine sold new for about $66-$70 dollars, yours was probably about $55 new in 1905, the VH-grade Parker Guns were their best selling grade but it was not the lowest grade, that was the Trojan.

Can you give me one last picture, one of the end of the barrels face on just to double verify they are uncut. And one last question, measure the length of pull from the trigger to the end of the rubber pad and from the trigger to the end of the wood, what are these measurements?

Mac

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[Fergi_B_Good]

MeatyMac Thanks for all the information! I felt like the stock had been modified because that's what the insurance appraiser told me when I had the gun looked at back in 2005 when I received it from my grandmother. If not all the better.

The black cap on the bottom of the grip is a Parker Bros. cap.

I will get a picture of the barrel face for you and measure the LOP later today and post it up for you.

Thanks for all the interest and the help!

[Fergi_B_Good]

MeatyMac and all other who are interested here is a decent picture of the barrel face.

The LOP from the forward trigger is right about 14.5". From the rear trigger it's about 13.75"

Thanks

F

[LowThudd]

Very nice!

[BigPimping]

Hot damn.....

[MeatyMac]

Fergi_B,

Great news, I think your butt stock is the original stock it came with, the original black hard rubber pad had that V-notch that was inletted into the wood of the stock, the factory standard LOP on VH-garde Parker's was 14", the hard black rubber pads were 1/4" thick, 13-3/4" + 1/4" = 14"...The shield and the Parker Brother grip cap add to my assumption that it's the original stock and it hasn't been cut short, a good SxS smith could fit a reproduction Parker Brother's hard rubber pad to it and it would be good as new. If you want to verify it 100% the serial number is stamped into the wood below the lower pistol grip metal tang, you'll need to remove the tang but if it's the original butt stock the SN will be there.

Now the not so great news, the last picture you posted today shows the matting of the rib extends all the way to the end of the barrels, I'm sorry to say my first thought was incorrect, the barrels have been cut down and are probably Cylinder bore now, but whatever, it's your Great Grandpa's and it's a Parker Brothers, it's still awesome to have and hand down someday. Cut barrels are quite common actually, maybe 60% of the Parker Guns I look at have cut barrels, especially so on the entry level grades, like I said above, they were utility guns and people didn't think twice about cutting the barrels.

I hope my information is useful to you, if you have any other questions please let me know.

Happy shooting,

Mac


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[BBShot]

Wow, what a beautiful piece of history.

[Fergi_B_Good]

Mac,

Thanks for all the info. Also thank you for PM'ing me the picture of the barrel faces.

I'm very happy to have it regardless of the alterations it's really the last link back to my Great grandfather and I feel lucky to have inherited it. My grandmother passed it on to me because I'm the only person in the family who regularly engages in shooting sports and had any interest in the gun other than selling it. I'm just glad that it has a good place in my safe where it can be brought out and admired and used occasionally. Most importantly I'm glad it's not stashed under a bed any more!

I appreciate all the positive responses and I'm glad I could at least share pictures with the Calguns community!

Thanks MeatyMac for sharing such an in depth analysis of the gun! I learned more about it's legacy just in this post than I ever knew!

[MeatyMac]

My pleasure, Parker Brother's shotguns have become a love of mine, every one I see I want to research and see if I can find it in a Parker Brother's stock book, doesn't matter if they are for sale or not, it's like a shotgun treasure hunt to me and I'm always happy to help owners discover something new about their Parker Gun.

Enjoy and cherish it in good health, Fergi, and when the time comes to pass it on I hope you find someone who will appreciate it as much as you do.

Mac

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