doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Parkers are they truely...............?

Yeah, they are. All the best American makers were capable of putting out impressive guns at the high end, but compare the fit and finish of a base grade Parker to any other base grade gun and you will see the difference. To my mind, the internals of a Parker are the only ones you could run across your wife's stockings without risking a snag.

I love the Smiths, really do, but the design always seemed to me to need a little tweaking to let the gun realize its full potential. As lovely as the Lefevers are, I am often shocked at the poor finish on working surfaces; I am inherently suspicious of a gun built with so many wear adjustments. Though they finally got it right, Ithaca had a hard time designing a gun that could survive into the smokeless powder era.

Jon, is it possible the often ebullient, extremely-extravagant-with-words Americans tend to downrate themselves when it comes to shotguns? I'm common as a user but handled great guns here and overseas.

How much of "best" is embellishment, prestige and means to own one? For purpose, balance and looks I'd pull out my 16ga Parker1889 hammer (and maybe my 1925 "benchmark" 12ga Sterly) before an overseas best.

Didn't Michael McIntosh say so!

There is far more to a Best gun than just embellishments, and a best gun can still be a best gun without engraving. No American made double I�m aware of should be considered alongside a Best quality gun.

Bolt guns...some Americans rival the best.

That wasn't a part of my query but you got me thinking now, So what you are saying is there are no "Best" Quality American made guns? So where would higher end American makers fall? Would there be a "Best" gun maker out of the the American manufacturers? One that was of higher quality than the others, similar to Purdey in rep, but not in exacts.

I think Miller and few others are the only ones to actually read the post!

Just one comment ........... I'd ten times rather have a nice condition Sterlingworth than a nice condition Trojan.

SRH

Sterlingworth vs. Trojan? My answer:



...Geo

This discussion may be better asked if we use Rocketman's Brand Value category. As with the English guns there is an cache to certain names. Parker for some reason is a high brand name. Is a Fox and LC Smith at the same brand value?

Ken

Perhaps reading comprehension is not well established here. I stated you cannot compare a working class gun with a best of any manufacturer. Nuff said.

If you simply compare quality of manufacturing, you usually run into the opinion problem. Personal preference also enters. I prefer light guns. That usually means smaller gauges when it comes to American guns. Parker did make a variety of light 12's which had to convince many to prefer that maker. I don't believe Colt made light guns and only 12 & 10 were made. But their quality was exceptional. Only made in Damascus, but it was as strong as fluid steel until the 1930's when the Superposed and 21 came along.

As far as working guns are concerned, I don't believe the quality of the German Lindner has ever been matched. I believe the actions were by Sauer but the finish is all Lindner. They even left strengthenings of thin walls of wood other manufacturers simply cut out. Mine is a featherweight 12. No better in my mind.

I have a lot to say about this subject, but not a lot of time to say it. So, here goes for tonight.

American guns were factory manufactured for Americans whereas Brit/Continental guns were trade made for Brits/Europeans. There is a rather considerable gap in social attitudes and economic situation between the two groups. Each system worked well for its customers.

The Brits tended to use entirely different guns for different levels of quality. Americans tended to use the same gun design across their range of quality grades. There is no Purdey SLE counterpart to, say, the Sterlingworth. There are, however, Purdey boxlock counterpartsm to the Sterlingworth. This does muddy the water in Original Quality grade comparisons.

Stay tuned. More to follow.

DDA

[quote=Pete]Perhaps reading comprehension is not well established here. I stated you cannot compare a working class gun with a best of any manufacturer. Nuff said.

I dont think there is a comprehension problem, I think the post may have gone in a different direction, or maybe I failed to explain what I was thinking. Here is the original query:

"Would they (Parkers) be considered the AMERICAN VERSION of Purdey for the time period?"

There is no physical comparing a Parker to a Purdey together, thats obvious. But asking for American guns, as in only in American manufacturer's would the Parker (with a curve, as in going from a B to an A due to everyone else doing bad on a test, curve) be the American equivalent of what Purdey is to the UK. I understand Colt made some fantastic guns, but they were short lived, and you dont see many these days. As with Parker, yes they had lower grade guns, but the design, fit and finish was very high and comparable to higher grade custom guns they made, which makes them a unique American manufacturer. I hope this explains my thought process a little better, and I love the responses, so thanks guys!