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| Meriden firearms company
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Posted By:
Bob
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| Does anyone have any info on a
Meriden Firearms company? The
company prospered in the early
1900's |
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Posted by:
Lee Laliberte
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1/8/2005 6:30:04 PM |
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I purchased a beautiful Demascus double barrel shotgun recently at a gun show. It is marked ’MF’D BY THR MERIDEN FIREARMS CO. MERIDEN, CT. PAT’D. JULY 9, 1907. The serial number is 66192. I would like to have as much information and/or copies of records of this shotgun if possible.
Thank You
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Posted by:
John Keefe
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11/28/2004 |
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Here is an article for you
pertaining to the history of this
company.
THE PARKER GUN BY RON KIRBY
The story of the Parker gun began
well before the American Civil
War. This brief history chronicles
the development of the Parker
shotgun from 1866 to 1942.
Charles Parker started his gun
company with his younger brother,
but Parker was certainly not new
to the manufacturing business. He
had apprenticed as a button maker,
and had owned a small company that
made coffee mills, spoons,
eyeglass cases, door knockers,
tableware, waffle irons and other
household items. By 1832, with a
capital outlay of $70.00, he
opened his first factory. It was
powered by a blind horse hitched
to a sweep pole. By 1844 the
success of his efforts yielded the
factory’s first steam engine, the
first such engine in the
Connecticut area.
In order to remain competitive,
Parker’s company merged several
times, and manufactured a wide
variety of products ‚ ranging from
steam engines, train wheels and
printing presses to piano stools.
Charles Parker and Snow, Hotchkiss
and Company merged in 1854 to
create the Meriden Machine
Company. They employed 120 men,
and operated a foundry and machine
shop. At this point the company
expanded because of an infusion of
capital by Mr. Brooks, and thus
became Parker, Snow‚ Brooks and
Company. During the Civil War,
Parker was not only a stockholder,
but the superintendent of the
Parker, Snow, Brooks and Company.
This company was under Union
contracts to produce 10,000
repeating rifles and 15,000
Springfield rifles during the war.
This probably sparked Parker’s
interest in the firearms industry.
By 1869, this jointly owned
company was under the sole
ownership and control of Charles
Parker. This company was called
the Meriden Manufacturing Company.
The shotguns produced by this firm
were marked “Made by the Meriden
Man’f Co. for Charles Parker”. It
is estimated that there were only
about 700 guns produced. In an
early Parker advertisement it was
referred to as “The Gun of 1866”.
See The Double Gun Journal, Vol.
9, Issue 2 for complete article.
It is commonly referred to as the
T-latch. The name comes from the T
shaped barrel release located on
the top tang of the receiver.
Pressing the lever at the bottom
of the receiver just in front of
the trigger guard, released the T-
latch causing the barrels to pivot
open.
In 1868, Charles and his sons,
Wilbur, Charles and Dexter started
the company called Parker
Brothers. The Parker Brothers Gun
Company continued as an
independent company until 1934
when it was purchased by the
Remington Arms Company. Including
the guns made during the Remington
Era, just over 242,000 Parker
shotguns were produced.
The first Parker Bros. design was
called the Lifter action. It used
a similar barrel release lever as
the T-latch. This was an
improvement on the William Miller
design. A back-action type lock
was first used, but later, it was
changed to the front-action type
of lock. The back action went into
production in 1868 and the front
action in 1870. Around 1,000 back
actions were produced. Another
improvement was made by Wilbur
Parker in the lifter action in
1874 and again in 1875. In 1875, a
new design for the main
barrel/receiver hinge joint called
the pintle joint was implemented,
as well as the final improvement
of the lifter mechanism. This
improvement and a forend latch
design were made by Charles King,
who had recently left Smith and
Wesson. By 1878 the gun’s form was
such, that major changes would not
be made until the top lever design
of the early 1880’s. The last
major change was the hammerless
design which appeared around 1888.
During the time that all of the
opening mechanisms were being
perfected, the science of barrel
production seemed to lag,
especially in America. The
simplest solution was to purchase
barrel tubes from England and
Europe. Although the grade of the
early Parkers were not marked
either in the catalogs or on the
guns, the type of barrel steel was
the main determining factor. The
lowest grade used English Twist
steel, and ascended to the highest
six-blade Damascus at the top
grade. Belgium Damascus is thought
to be Parker’s largest supplier,
but research is underway to shed
light on the importation of barrel
steel. French Damascus steel,
trade name, Bernard Steel, was
used later on one specific grade.
English made Whitworth Fluid Steel
was an option near the end of the
century for Parker’s two highest
grades. Experiments were conducted
on different types of steel during
the period 1868-1878, and some
actually made it to market. These
were not successful because of
both weight and strength. They
were designated as plain steel
(gun iron), decarbonized steel and
laminated steel. All three were
discontinued by 1878. So the
imported Damascus steel became the
barrels of choice of the American
sportsman, and the controversy of
their strength is being debated
even today. In the last years of
the 19th Century high quality
fluid steel became available from
Europe. The American steels
dominate within ten years. By the
end of World War I, Damascus was
no longer available.
The trend of companies during The
Gilded Age may have been toward
becoming large conglomerates;
companies ruthlessly buying-up the
competition. Parker Bros.,
however, remained small. The
Charles Parker Company
(representing 90% of the total
sales) did diversify into many
types of goods, like before the
war. Parker lamps, clocks and
coffee mills were sold throughout
the world But, as far as firearms
production was concerned, it was
decided to produce shotguns only.
A part of this “shotguns only”
strategy was probably due to the
tremendous need for hunting
firearms during the peacetime that
followed the Civil War. Charles
Parker’s experience during the war
made him an expert in the mass
production of firearms with
interchangeable parts. The
shotguns only decision caused his
mass production worries to be
eliminated. To produce the finest
shotgun required hand fitting with
no room for any built in
tolerances. Each part, while cast
and milled like their massed
produced counterparts, required
hand fitting. In 1866, there were
only a few makers of good quality
shotguns, in the world, and none
in America.
Parker Bros. grew with the changes
in technology. The availability of
electricity to power machinery and
lighting cannot be forgotten,
changing Parker Bros. into a
modern factory. Improvements in
the rail system made shipping of
raw materials and finished goods
cheaper. The advances in
communication, the telegraph and
the telephone, also would speed up
production, ordering and delivery.
The advertising strategy of the
company does at times‚take a
romantic approach to the world of
the outdoors. Early factory
promotional literature pictures
large factory complexes with smoke
rising from massive chimneys in an
industrial world. Later, as the
company matured and market
strategies changed, an appeal was
made to the theme of “back to
nature, man and his dog!” The
appeal of a frosty morning hunting
grouse.
The product of the Parker Brothers
Company was utilitarian in nature.
While other goods produced for the
consumer may have reflected some
taste for opulent decorations, the
Parker shotgun did not. The
highest grade had fancy wood in
the stock, and engraved scenes on
the metal surface. The use of gold
inlays was very limited, unlike
high grades of other gun
companies. The “new rich” may have
had their Parkers, but the guns
themselves were not adorned with
the ostentatious trimmings that
were evident in the other facets
of their lives. It was the basic
grade that earned the name, “The
Old reliable”.
Collecting Parker shotguns today
is a challenging hobby. There are
many variations, but they make up
a finite number. The best part is
that most of these guns are not
only collectible, but shootable.
The Parker Gun Collectors
Association is made of 770 Parker
enthusiasts. Our members are
collectors and shooters. We are
fortunate to have the Parker Bros.
factory records available, thanks
to the Remington Arms Company. The
PGCA offers a Gun Research Service
to document individual guns. We
are fortunate to have collectors
who will research and write for
our twenty plus page newsletter,
The Parker Pages. The 51 issues
make up a valuable resource. We
are delighted to be with the OGCA
during the July meeting. Come see
our exhibits.
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