I went to a gunshow recently, saw and got to handle a decent number of Parkers, most in 12, in the G grade and below. This followed on a friend showing me his 16ga VH. All fine guns.
This has gotten me interested. Something like the siren song of jazz wafting out of a bar a young man knows he shouldn't go into, but where there's too much of a promise of fun to pass up taking the chance.
So. Beyond the usual stuff of lockup, bore quality, dents, reblueing jobs, buggered screws, mismatched serials and the like that one would look at when buying any other double, what should I look out for when shopping for Parkers? I know the darned things are all old enough to have been collecting Social Security for a while, but I'm looking for a shooter grade and not a collector's item. I know the heads of their stocks are susceptible to breakage but forget exactly how and need a refresher on that and how to spot it. I figure, any deal I'm going to make will be contingent on running it by a barrel man to give it a good once-over and if the seller won't go for that, he won't sell to me.
I know. This is a bad path I'm following. But, the company seems good. And the drop in those old stocks seems to be "right" for me.
And then there were the Sterlys, but that's another story.
