PARKER HAMMER GUN SN 29983

[George Lander]

I received the Parker Hammer Gun SN 29983 that I recently bought at Ken Farmer's Auction. "The Book" has it as a Grade 3 toplever (not fishtail) 12 bore w/ Damascus 28 inch barrels w/ extra 30 inch barrels. I am ordering a letter today.

I have a couple questions: The stock has a plain, what looks like gutta-percha, buttplate. The frame size is "1" The barrel flats are marked with a "3" over "17555" but the SN "29983" is on the side of the barrel lugs. The barrel flats are also marked with a "4 8" a "D 4" "Pat'd June 25, 1878" & "Pat'd April 11, 1876". I am confused about the other number and the buttplate. Can anyone here help?

Best Regards, George

[Harry Collins]

George,

17555 is the "Order Number". Early Parkers like yours had them. I don't know about the butt plate.

Harry

[Bill Murphy]

George, we know you know how to post pictures, so post a picture of the buttplate. I had gutta percha with my scrapple this morning, enjoyed it very much. Let's see the picture of your gun. By the way, I can just about see the auction house when sitting in my hot tub, but missed the auction. I hope you got a good gun.

[George Lander]

Thanks Harry & Bill. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow. The 28 inch barrels are pretty rusty. I'm hoping that Jim Kelly can clean them up.

Best Regards, George

[calvin humburg]

OK gutta-percha went right through my simple mind. How bought a defanition (yes one of these days i'm going to try to put spell check on this). ch

[Dave Suponski]

Calvin,Gutta Percha is the material Parker used back in the day to make their buttplates and grip cap,s. I was an easily moldable form of rubber.A little softer than bakelite.

Gutta percha is a rubberlike gum obtained from the milky sap of trees of the Sapotaceae family, found in Indonesia and Malaysia. Once of great economic value, gutta percha is now being replaced by plastics in many items, although it is still used in some electrical insulation and dental work. The English natural historian John Tradescant (c. 1570-1638) introduced gutta percha to Europe in the 1620s, and its inherent qualities gave it a slow but growing place in world trade. By the end of World War II, however, many manufacturers switched from gutta percha to plastics, which are more versatile and cheaper to produce.

[Bill Murphy]

Dave, it still tastes good when served with scrapple.

[Dave Suponski]

Ok...Now I have a question....What is scrapple?

[Fred Preston]

Dave, I thought Gutta Percha was the way you New Englanders pronounced gutter perch, a local name for carp.

[Dave Suponski]

:biglaugh: Only if your a New Englander of Italian decent..

[George Lander]

Dave: Scrapple is what you get when you shoot high brass shells in your thin walled pitted Damascus barrels!

Best Regards, George

[John Dallas]

From a package of Rapa Brand Scrapple I had shipped to Michgan (can't buy it in the stores here) INGREDIENTS: Pork Stock, Pork Livers, Pork Fat, Pork Snouts, Corn Meal, Pork Hearts, Wheat Flour, Salt, Spices.

YUM!

[Marc Retallack]

John

Pan-fry it in a cast iron skillet with a little butter until the outside is crispy (leave the center soft), top with maple syrup and DON'T read the ingredients! You can also find beef and venison scrapple at local butcher shops here in PA. Delicious.

Cheers
Marcus

[Jeff Kuss]

Growing up my grandmother made the best scrapple. Probably one of the reasons I'm on a cardiac diet now!

[George Lander]

Some of youse guys from Up Nawth will eat anything!

Best Regards, George

[Jeff Kuss]

George,
It beats grits!

[Harry Collins]

I went to "New York City" for the Worlds Fair in 1964. I ordered breakfast and it arrived with french fries. I asked about the grits and received a blank look. I never did find a dinner menue with pigs tails and homony.

Harry

[calvin humburg]

fried mush butter syurp

[Dave Suponski]

Guy's thanks for the recipe! I wonder if there is anywhere in PA that you can get some?I would like to try it!

I like grits and I love collard greens.....:)

[Bill Murphy]

Any "meat market" in PA pigeon country will have a variety of scrapples. I use Dietrich's off Route 78 when I am travelling to the Allentown Show. dietrichsmeats.com This website is worth a look. Check out the wild game section.

[Dave Suponski]

Thanks Bill...Is this something that could be found in a little town dinner in pigeon country? Dietrich meats website is wonderfull.

[John Dallas]

Should be available in most diners in SE Pennsylvania.

Rapa's website has a store locator:

http://www.rapascrapple.com/

[Linn Matthews]

We used to stop at a place named "Zinns" near Ephatra, Pa

[Bill Murphy]

Rapa scrapple is made in Bridgeville, Delaware, a speed trap town on the way from the DC area to the beaches. For years, we had an International Skeet club in Bridgeville owned by Olympic coach Woody Hunsberger. I spent many happy weekends at the Lower Shore Skeet Club. About four Preliminary Olympic Tryouts were held per year, three days each. I'll take a look at the Rapa website. Rapa is probably the largest selling name brand scrapple in the world.

[John Davis]

I got in a little late on this discussion but feel honor requires that I respond. I've had scrapple and was raised on grits. There's really no comparison. Just add a little butter and salt, you'll be eatin' grits morning, noon and night.

[Marc Retallack]

I was born in Lancaster, PA and grew up with an Amish/Mennonite background. We pretty much were bottle fed scrapple, pudding, souse, etc... I'll take pudding and scrapple any day over souse:shock:.

Dave- pretty much every diner in south-central PA serves scrapple. Some good, some not so good. Rapa is decent but there are better alternatives. Dietz & Watson ( http://www.dietzandwatson.net/go/our-kitchens/breakfast-kitchen/ ) is good for a large company but the best comes from smaller shops. As long as they haven't changed their recipe since I last had it, Groff's ( http://www.groffsmeats.com/index.asp ) is top notch. I see they do mail orders. I'd recommend you start with them. Add a pound or two of their bacon as well. You won't be disappointed.

And for those inclined to read... http://www.amazon.com/Country-Scrapple-William-Woys-Weaver/dp/081170064X

Cheers
Marcus

[Chuck Bishop]

Dave,

If your really serious about trying scrapple, I'll pick you up some from Groff's in Elizabethtown.

Marcus, If you live close to Lancaster, you missed out on a good time at the recent SxS shoot in Harrisburg.

[Marc Retallack]

Hi Chuck

I live near Ski Roundtop now. I had wanted to attend the shoot but I chose to focus on a project that needs completed in the coming week. I need to get caught up so a certain gunsmith's (from Lititz) wife doesn't get too mad at me for not getting to her project sooner. Sometimes self-employment has it's downsides:knowbetter:

Cheers
Marcus

[Dave Suponski]

Guy's thanks for the education! Ya Chuck I really would like to try some...:)

[Chuck Bishop]

OK Dave, bring a cooler. I'll be at Hidden Hollow Saturday.

I bet George Lander is trying to figure out how his questions on his hammer gun got off track, first to the definition of gutta percha, then to a discussion of scrapple:rotf::cuss:

[Dave Suponski]

Murphy started it......:biglaugh:

[George Lander]

Yeah, blame it on ol' Bill. from what I heard about the ingedients os "scrapple" I think I'd rather have gutta-percha. Anyhow even I know about Dietz & Watson's wonderful meats. I'm going to try these other web sites as well. Having been raised on chunk meat, fatback and grits with red eye gravy and country ham, I'll leave the "scrapple" to youse guys. This thread did start out about a Parker hammer gun, didn't it?

Best Regards, George

[Bill Murphy]

Hey, Marc, what kind of work are you doing for that wonderful "wife"? Do you think I could take on a project for her to grease the wheels a bit on my project?

[Marc Retallack]

Hi Bill

I'm supposed to do a partial bathroom remodel for Diane. Not sure how much grease it'll throw on the tracks but that's ok. I don't mind waiting a little longer with Dewey. The results are always worth it.

Cheers
Marcus

[calvin humburg]

So a 1891 nh doghead buttplate would be gutta percha?

[Dean Romig]

That's right Calvin. Dave Suponski's first post on page 1 of this thread explains it. Probably all Parker (and most other makers) "rubber" buttplates, whether "dog's head" or not, right up until sometime in the 1940's were gutta percha. There is a surprising difference in weight between a gutta percha buttplate and one made of plastic - the gutta percha one will be easily twice the weight.

[John Mazza]

Speaking of things made from ground up pig organs...anyone here ever try boudin ?


This here Yankee loves that stuff !!!!!

[Dave Purnell]

Hey George,
Where are those pictures? No, not pics of grits and scrapple, although the combination would make a great breakfast along with a couple fresh fried eggs. Wow, it's easy to get off topic. I have to go cook breakfast.

Dave

[Dave Suponski]

:biglaugh:

[George Lander]

Jim Kelly at Darlington Gun Works has the gun now to put back in shape. I took these pictures just outside his shop. I have never posted pictures here before but I'm going to give it a try. Here goes!.......George

Well, I tried! Could some kind person tell me how to post pictures here?

Thanks, George

[Destry L. Hoffard]

You don't know what you're missing on scrapple. The PA boys got me to eating it and I'm addicted. Fried eggs, toast, and scrapple is a duck hunters breakfast for sure.

DLH

[David Dwyer]

George
I was at Jim Kelly"s shop this week and saw the gun-Very Very nice. Email the pictures and I will post them for you
daviddwyer01@gmail.com
D

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

George, Pinto beans Hot cornbread with home made butter steamed cabbage in bacon grease! It don"t get any better makes the eyesite better when looking at parkers. best gary

[Francis Morin]

As in a 'dielectric' insulator- best choice is Mica-- Ashville NC and the old Diamond Mica Co. My GrandDad made a lot of molds for them in the pre-WW11 years.

Scrapple- my cardiologist would have a big chcukle out of that as a steady diet- like the Four Redneck food groups- Salt- Sugar- Bacon Grease and White Lightin'-- Wow

[Dean Romig]

However unfortunate (or fortunate) it may be that Dave's scrapple came home in my cooler it ceratainly won't go to waste. I sliced it up into 1/4" thick slabs and packaged it and froze it for the next time I see Dave.... but I fried up the two end slabs for myself, nice and crispy brown on each side (remarkable how little grease there really is in this stuff) and it is really good!!

I think a good portion of it should go to grouse camp this fall. Mmm-mm! Vermont maple syrup on Scrapple and a few eggs should give these old legs the necessary endurance for a frosty morning's hunt....

Hey, has anybody noticed that the Summer Solstice is about upon us? - Then, only three months until the Autumnal Equinox and the season of Rejuvination for us all.

[Dave Suponski]

Good idea Dean! Pack it up and off to grouse camp it shall go!....Can,t wait to try it....:) Maybe a new tradition in the making....or sum such..:rolleyes:

[Robert Rambler]

Dean, The Maple syrup sounds great, But I'll have mine Penna. Dutch style, with a smear of APPLE BUTTER on top if you please :)

[Dean Romig]

That sounds good too and fits right in with my Pennsylvania Deutsch ancestry. My Dad came from SW PA, Greensburg to be exact and of good Lutheran stock - one of eight children and the only one to attend and graduate college.

[Chuck Bishop]

Dean, try and save a few slices for Dave.:coffee: You may have already done this but after slicing, separate each slice with wax paper before freezing.

Glad to hear of your Pa German background. Many confuse Pa Dutch with those from Holland when it's actually those who came from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland who initially settled in Pa north of Phila, then migrated west.

Although my last name is Bishop, the name was shortened at the turn of the 19th century from Bishopberger/Bischofsberger. Through genealogy research, I've met 4th and 5th generation cousins who every year have a scrapplefest which has been written up in local newspapers. They were kind enough to invite me a few years ago to partake in a breakfast of scrapple. I guess my gastronomical taste got lost somewhere because I really don't care for scrapple. Go figure!

[Dean Romig]

Yes, I seperated each slice from the next before freezing.

The family stories my Dad used to tell were a great history for me and I remember them all. I have all the photos he left me though none from his home when he was a child. I can't figure why - he was of a very well-to-do family so it's not as if they couldn't afford a camera :confused:

[ed good]

for us new enlanders, market basket in nh carries jones brand scrapple.

[Dean Romig]

I'll be doggoned... I never bothered to look.