Parker Bros. 12 ga. Double Barrel Shotgun

[Lex]

Any Parker fans?

My Father recently gave me his dad's custom fitted Parker (side-by-side) 12ga. shotgun.

I ran across the Parker owners site but never really established how much these old guns are worth.

The wood and most of the metal are in excellent shape. I need to work on a little bit of tarnish.

Any ideas on the value???


Lex in NC

 

[Jim Watson]

Parkers were made in a wide range of grades from A-1 Special to Trojan.
Dollar value depends on grade, orginality, and condition. Runs from hundreds to tens of thousands.
Why, you gonna sell Grandpa's shotgun?

Pictures and a very detailed description of gun and markings - CHE on the barrel flats or water table means grade C, hammerless, ejector - would be necessary to identify and price. The higher the grade the more expert opinion you need. I ain't it.

Be very cautious about "work on a little bit of tarnish." If it isn't active rust, that tarnish is known as "patina" and it is better to leave it alone than to scour it down to bare metal. You can cut the value of a nice old gun in half with one wad of steel wool or sandpaper.

 

[Lex]

I don't want to sell the gun. It has a "special" meaning for me. I hope to pass it on to my son.

I'm hoping to shoot the shotty very soon.

I did notice a "V" stamped on the gun's internals (this is a grade?).


Thanks!

Lex

 

[Jim Watson]

The V is likely the grade. Is it hammerless? Then it is a VH.
The Parker VH was their most popular gun; Blue Book says about 60% of their sales. It was of plain finish and was the least expensive model that had the distinctive Parker contour around the hinge pin. Still worth many hundreds to thousands of dollars these days depending on conditon. If a VHE with automatic ejectors it is even more desirable.

It is fine to shoot if it does not have Damascus barrels. Which are identified by a swirling spiral pattern around the barrels, where the strips of iron and steel were forged into a tube. Those are not considered strong enough for smokeless shells and there is a risk of flaws and near-invisible corrosion penetration that would make them too weak for black.

 

[Lex]

Jim-

Thanks so much for the 411.

It is hammerless. Not Damascus barrels.
It has a single trigger with a "sliding apparatus behind the trigger"...not the safety. Any idea what that does? Fires both barrels or single?

Auto ejector is what? I think it's supposed to eject the shells when you break open the barrels, right?

Thanks again!

Lex in NC

 

[Jim Watson]

A single trigger with a sliding apparatus, eh?.
It is a single selective trigger. The sliding apparatus selects which barrel fires first when you pull the trigger. If it is working right, the changeover to the other barrel is automatic, no need to move the slide, just pull the trigger again. Many single triggers are recoil operated, they will not shift when dryfired, only when actually shot.
Parker had their own design of single trigger but a lot of shotguns in those days got them aftermarket. The Miller Single Trigger is kind of famous in its own right. Doug Turnbull will put one in, for a lot of money.
A Parker single trigger will add to the gun's value and make it easier to shoot for somebody used to a repeater. I don't know about the dollar value of a gun with added Miller trigger. I do recall an advertisement once, a box of double triggers had turned up in an old shop that had once installed Millers and they were being sold to return guns to original configuration. You could even get your gun's original triggers, if lucky, they were serialized.

An automatic ejector on a double gun ejects only the fired shell when the action is opened. Shoot one, eject one; shoot both, eject both; shoot neither, they are extracted a bit and you pluck them out to put your gun across a fence safely, etc.

 

[Lex]

Jim-

Your help has been great! I'm now more excited about this Shotty than the day my Dad gave it to me. Nice to know what I have! I understand that my grandfather was quite a bird hunter. Guess this was a good setup for that type thing.

I'll try to get some pics posted over the next week or so.

Thanks again!

Happy Holidays!


Lex

 

[Jim Watson]

Is it marked for choke? A bird hunter would surely specify open chokes on a gun special ordered instead of off the shelf.
Does it have straight or pistol grip, splinter or beavertail foreend? (I have seen it said that the Parker beavertail was the only one ever put on a SXS that looked worth a hoot.