Parker Shotgun

Parker shotguns were made with the end user in mind. Most of the guns were customized to meet the individual customer requirement and as such every gun has some distinct features that could be slightly different from those of the other guns. For ease of identification, the parker shotguns were put together into grades beginning at zero and ascending to higher values. At first, it was only numeric that were used in the grading system but later on some alphabet letters were introduced to combine with the numeric.

Invincible
This is a grade 9 parker shotgun that was produced in the 1923. It was not catalogued until 1926 and over time the invincible has been fantasized by people as a superior gun that has the decorum of a traditional hunting weapon.
This shotgun is lavishly engraved but lacks the characteristic hinge pin that is present in other grades of the parker shotguns. At the bottom of the frame and on the sides of the gun, gold birds are inlayed. One noticeable feature with the invincible parker gun is that the frame has barrel side clips located on the bolsters.

Parker A-1 Special
This is grade 8 parker shotgun and was manufactured for the first time in the 1907. This gun is extensively checkered and engraved and also has a gold grip cap and a gold shield that complement the gold plated triggers. The bolsters on the frame have around 3 to 4 beads. Many of the A1 Special guns have an engine turning finish display on the inside surfaces of the water table, the barrel flats and standing breach. The stocks of these guns are made of Circassian walnut which is dense and allows fine checkering.

Parker AAH
This parker gun is a grade 7 also referred to as the AA grade. Many of these guns were hammerless hence the H that is added to their name. Where the gun has ejectors, an E is added to the name. The first of these guns were made in 1895. The gun was engraved in deep chisel style but later the engraving became more light with reference to style. The stocks were made of Circassian walnut and were lined with a gold shield as well as fitted with a gold pistol grip cap.

Parker AH
This is a gun that was introduced in 1875 and during its time, it was the highest grade ever produced. The barrels of this grade 6 gun were made of Damascus steel but others also came in Acme fluid steel barrels. The hammer gun barrel bolsters had the typical teardrops sculpture and for the hammerless gun they had a single bead positioned around the barrel bolsters. The stock was made of Circassian or English walnut and featured a gold pistol cap and a gold shield. The stock also has fleur-de-lis carved panels.

Parker BH
The parker grade 5 gun was manufactured in 1875 with a stock that was curved from the finest Circassian walnut and finely checkered. The stocks were usually fitted with butt plates and in some cases recoil pads were added as an option. The barrels of the parker BH were made of Extra Fine Damascus steel but later Acme and Titanic barrels started becoming common.

There are many other types of parker guns in addition to the ones discussed above such as parker CH - Grade 4, parker DH - Grade 3, parker GH - Grade 2, parker Grade 1, parker Grade 0, parker Trojan among many others.