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Joined: 08 May 2018 Posts: 225

I stopped in a gun shop in Monti Vista Co. today and saw a restored Parker Trojan looked like a brand new gun for 1500 bucks.I noticed it had cast on and I had the gunsmith check the chokes.To my and his surprise the left barrel was mod and the right was full.I did not have him dry fire it.Is it possible that the gun fired the left barrel first?I have never saw a left barrel choked bigger than the right.

Joined: 26 Apr 2010 Posts: 3202 Location: NCWa

I've read that John Olin, owner of Winchester when the Model 21 was designed, preferred the left barrel to fire first (shooting right-handed). The idea being that the torque of the gun pushed it into the shooter, rather than away, making for a firmer hold of the gun for a second shot.

Member Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 1267 Location: Nebraska

Few doubles have triggers that permanently fire one barrel first, most allow for the user to pick which one is fired first. Did it have two triggers, and if so does the front trigger fire the left barrel?

Joined: 08 May 2018 Posts: 225

It did have 2 triggers and I will ask the gunsmith to check to see which one fires first when I go back to pick up my gun being repaired.

Joined: 08 May 2018 Posts: 225

kgb,I will have him check to see if the front trigger shoots the left barrel first which is the more open choke.

Member Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Posts: 1267 Location: Nebraska

I used to have a shotgun with Cylinder in the left and Modified in the right, a previous owner had switched position of the triggers so the front would fire the left, but they hadn't bent the triggers to put them in alignment. The front then was shading to the left of course, and the rear to the right, with the guard being thinner towards the rear, the new position of the rear trigger meant that stuck out a little. Must have worked for someone, I switched them back and just had to remember the front trigger/right barrel was the tighter of the two.

Joined: 12 Sep 2010 Posts: 1984 Location: Maine

It could be a couple things.
1. A previous owner may have had the chokes changed so the left barrel, ordinarily the second to fire, would be choked more open. Best reason for that is that the previous owner used it for decoyed ducks, where the second shot would more likely be closer than the first.
I have a Baltimore Arms 12 ga set up like that. It's really too heavy to carry in the field all day, and that's with 26 inch barrels. Sitting in a blind, OTOH, it would be ideal - relatively short and therefore maneuverable but heavy enough the swing would be uninterrupted. For my Baltimore Arms, the fact that pretty much concludes it was a gun dedicated to decoyed ducks is that the chambers have been opened to 3 inches. In 1904-5 when my gun was made, they didn't have chambers that long.

2. Parker would give a gun buyer pretty much anything they wanted, within engineering limits. It is entirely possible the purchaser told Parker they wanted the barrels choked like this. Trojans came from the factory with certain specified choke combinations and barrel lengths. I don't have the reference material handy, but IIRC Parker did not offer right barrel choked full in the Trojan. So this could have been a special order from the factory. Worth a look at the Parker site and asking one of its denizens if there are any records.

3. Similarly it could be a true left-handed gun. Those would have the left trigger in front and right trigger in the rear - the reverse of the normal alignment. If that's the case, then a trigger guard which would favor the left-handed shooter would be appropriate. It may have the toplever's direction reversed. Instead of pushing the toplever counterclockwise to open, on a true left-handed gun it would rotate clockwise.
Reversing the triggers (left front, right rear) and modifying the trigger guard are things a good gunsmith can do. Changing the direction of the toplever could be done by a real pro. but more likely it would be a factory modification. Again, Parker would do most any customization, for a price.

A friend has a fine English gun that was made as a true left-handed gun. The records and provenance show it was a custom order.

4. Go back and double-check the choke measurements. It's easy to get those wrong.