Parker Guns The Old Reliable: A Concise History of the Famous American Shotgun Manufacturing Company [Hardcover]

Ed Muderlak (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 29, 1997

Original research on Ameria's most famous shotgun manufacturer provides an accurate account from the small beginnings, through the golden years and finally to their ultimate decline.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The Parker Gun Co. is a never-ending source of interest for collectors of American shotguns. Unlike most gunwriters, Ed Muderlak has done a remarkable job doing ORIGINAL research instead of repeating the same (and often mistaken) information of others. The interesting results will shock you as they reverse the conventional wisdom that's been followed for years. Muderlak takes a refreshing look at the small beginnings, the golden years, and the ultimate decline of what is no doubt the most famous of all American shotgun manufacturers. Profusely illustrated with dozens of color photos of Parker guns as well as historical photos in black and white, this well-written and concise text also includes a thorough appendix that lists grades, patents, gun weights, serial numbers, and many other specifications for the Parker enthusiast. Again, he did his own research for these appendixes, and came up with some revealing results. A must-have for the American shotgun enthusiast.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 287 pages
• Publisher: Safari Press; 2nd edition (July 29, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571570543
• ISBN-13: 978-1571570543
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,088,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful collection of photos,& text. The best yet!, February 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Parker Guns The Old Reliable: A Concise History of the Famous American Shotgun Manufacturing Company (Hardcover)

Ed Muderlak has produced a book destined to be the authority on Parker shotguns for generations. The research was completed by the author rather than gathering bits and pieces from other publications and the presentation is excellant. The author is a noted collector of vintage Parkers and writes the book in that flavor. He is not terribly impressed with Parker Reproductions or reworked and refurbished guns, so if you are a "Repro" collector, don't expect to find anything here. A quality publication with excellant detailed color photos and reproduced B&W Parker advertizing. If R.L.Wilson was to publish a Parker book, it would look alot like this. A must have for Parker fans!

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nicely done, January 25, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Parker Guns The Old Reliable: A Concise History of the Famous American Shotgun Manufacturing Company (Hardcover)

Mr. Muderlake appears to be a bit more literate than most gun writers (McIntosh excepted), and the book is pleasantly done. Also
the photographs are nicely reproduced. It certainly is a better book than the things currently available on some other supposedly classic shotguns like Winchester and Browning. One thing Muderlake does not do (nor do any other gun writers), is give any convincing explanation as to why so many people think the Parkers were the last word in shotgunning. I've never understood it except to think that since people had to pay more for Parkers than for equivalent grade Foxes or Ithacas, they had to think they had something special...perhaps in the end, this is something impenetrable in me.

One slightly sour, continuing note in the book is that Mr. Muderlake appears to think that scholarship is a competitive sport. Even though he pays lip service to the idea of valuing past writers' work, he several times fairly shouts, "Look at me, I've proved Him (whoever) wrong!" In the world of scholarship there are ways and ways of doing this, and Muderlake's smugness leaves an unpleasant aftertaste.

4.0 out of 5 stars Old Reliable, July 18, 2011

By 

Larry C. Jones "LC Jones" (Fair Oaks TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Parker Guns: The Old Reliable (Hardcover)

If you are looking for in-depth information about the Parker with serial numbers, dates, production history, this book wont cut it. If you just want a nice read about Parker Shotguns, it is a good book.