doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Parker Trojan Questions

I am considering purchasing a Parker Trojan as a project gun. I have a friend that has wanted one for a long time so I will be doing the work for him. I am going to be purchasing the gun from another friend.

This gun is in good condition. It's tight on face with only surface blemishes on the barrels. I will be rust blueing the 30" barrels. A couple of very small pits in the barrels, but nothing to worry about. No case color remaining. Wood is good but it has a crack on the left side near the receiver and a few other small chips and some scratches. I'll be refinishing the wood. The checkering is all sharp and clean so I know the gun was used only lightly. It should be a fairly easy gun to spruce up.

The serial number is 196297 which dates it to 1921.

Here's the questions I have:
1) What's a fair price range to offer the friend I will be purchasing it from?
2) What is the chamber length for a Parker this age?
3) What does it typically cost for case coloring?

Any other comments?

Thanks.

Your answers are at the Parker Gun Collectors Asssociation site. If you can post a picture for them, it would move things along. Without seeing the Trojan, it could be worth $600-$800, at a guess.

Your answers are at the Parker Gun Collectors Asssociation site. If you can post a picture for them, it would move things along. Without seeing the Trojan, it could be worth $600-$800, at a guess.

Your answers are at the Parker Gun Collectors Asssociation site. If you can post a picture for them, it would move things along. Without seeing the Trojan, it could be worth $600-$800, at a guess.

Your answers are at the Parker Gun Collectors Asssociation site. If you can post a picture for them, it would move things along. Without seeing the Trojan, it could be worth $600-$800, at a guess.

Tom, I can't say what others charge but I charge $375 to CC a boxlock assuming normal prep.

I ran across a Trojan 12-bore ca.1921 at the 2007 Vintage Cup and bought it for my son in VA, so he's shooting a gun at his home, identical to my Trojan he uses when he come home to the farm in IL for pheasants. I paid $850.

The Trojan seemed to be a "closet gun" with virtually no shell-head markings on the standing breech; the fore-end is as tight as the NIB Trojan I used to own; in other words, mechanically sound and close to new inside, BUT...the bolsters have pitting and there's no case colors; the barrels have been rust blackened not quite to a Parker collector's taste (more like some British guns), yet the wood finish is all original and the wood completely sound with no marks worth mentioning; the checking is sharp, evidencing slight wear.

I wondered how many Parker guys saw the slightly off color barrels, zero case colors, and pitting and didn't investigate further. As a shooter this gun was a steal at $850. I would never incur the expense of re-case coloring. It serves no useful purpose on a shooter (and there is some distortion risk); besides, all Trojans that are not in 90% and higher original condition are shooters, not collector's items.

If you can rust blue your own barrels, why not? Wood repairs and varnish are within the skills of almost anyone. At $600 to $800 a mechanically sound Parker shooter is a fair deal. EDM

Thanks for all the info. I did post this at the Parker site also and got just about the same price range so I'm confident that the figures posted are pretty fair.

The cost and risk of case coloring are going to be up to the friend I am doing the project for. This will be a shooter for him. Maybe we'll see how it looks with the new rust blue job and the refinished wood first before we make that decision.

I rust blued a Stevens 5100 last year. My first and I am still amazed at how well it turned out. A nice, smooth uniform blue / grey color. The only blemished areas were very small and near the rib where it looked like some of the brazing ran over onto the rib and the blueing did not take.

Thanks again.

The chances of the wood refinish and very professional rust blue of the barrels increasing the value of the gun beyond the total cost are about fifty percent. Once you add in the cost of the case color, the chance of increasing your total value above total investment is about one in a thousand. A field used Trojan with a fresh coat of case color is similar in appearance to a "turd on a collard leaf". Just my opinion.

Point taken. However, I don't purchase or put my own labor into these guns as an investment. I do it as a hobby. I consider it a mental health exercise. I also purchase these guns to use. One lower end, working shooter that is in fair to good condition and that doesn't take a huge investment for repairs per winter is my goal. I agree that putting the cost of case coloring into this gun will most likely not return the investment. If it is done, it would be for personal preference only rather than to increase the value of the gun. The cost of refinishing the wood and rust blueing the barrels is minimal since I do it myself. I know the friend of mine that is getting this gun will use it for many years. Thanks for your input.

Tom, I resently sold a properly totaly restored Trojan for $1695. In my opinion a gun with a brown action or buffed to look like chrome does not look properly restored. The risk of warping is minimal if the proper craftsman is used. I have done many and have yet to have one warped.

Post deleted by Run With The Fox

Thanks Mark. I may be giving you a call in the future. Nice pictures. I'd like to stop up an see your wares anyways.

Beautiful work Mark. I've added those pics to the 'Repairs and Restorations' album with an attribution
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/15127852

My thanks for so diplomatically correcting my miscue on the keyboard. I stand by my recommendation to rust blue barrels and gently redo the stock on a field used Trojan and leave the receiver alone except for repairing any damaged screws. Mark's pictures of original Parkers are very nice, especially the little D Grade with checkered cheeks, probably factory and quite scarce. I liked both of them before refinishing, but to each his own. Odd that Mark does not mention case hardening on his list of gunsmithing services on his website. Probably an oversight, or maybe he sends them out.

The restored Parkers shown by Mark don't look bad - I've seen far worse. But the colors don't look 'properly restored' either.

I would also consider 'properly restored' Parkers to have 'properly timed' screws. In fact, the screws looked better before being 'properly restored'.

The V grade especially never shoulda been touched.

True, true we like our food full of fat and our man deeply religious plus a lil' . Proly why women fall for preachers. You should subscribe to Gun & Garden magazine.
Those guns look to be tastefully restored. All the screws don't align, but metal to wood seems better.

GregSY: could you please post a pic of what is in your judgment a faithful reproduction of original Parker case colors? Any here? http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/12588446 Thanks.

Case colors are kinda like obscenity - I can't tell you what it is but we all know it when we see it.

I have seen a lot of Turnbull colors that look very good - not all Turnbull jobs, but many.

The murky, light brown tones on the examples shown above don't ring my bell.