Chrome
Firefox
Edge
If I could only own one antique American shotgun, it'd be one made by Parker Brothers in Meriden, Connecticut. You'll notice that this particular gun has exposed hammers, and they're absolutely beautiful.
Hammers serve two purposes. One, they fire the cartridge, but two, they add a touch of elegance to any gun. Now, double triggers were standard in the 19th century. Straight grip stocks from that era are fairly scarce; most of the guns in the 19th century would have pistol grips.
This gun has a metal buttplate, which was standard in the early years of production.
The barrels on this gun are Damascus steel. Most of the guns made during the 19th century were either twist or Damascus, with Damascus being reserved for the higher-grade guns.
Now, Parker made exposed hammer doubles from the late 1860s until 1917--over 50,000 in total. This particular gun has a serial number in the 2500 range, which puts it made about 1874. This gun is an early lifter model: you push up on the lifter in front of the trigger guard to open the barrels.
The front trigger fires the right barrel and the back trigger fires the left barrel.
Early Parkers had a keyed forend--this is a carryover from the muzzleloading days.
Notice the solid hinge pin on the early model as compared to the distinctive hinge pin on the later model:
There you have it; the Parker Brothers Lifter model from about 1874, one of the earliest shotguns produced by the Parker Brothers in Meriden, Connecticut.
--Larry Potterfield
