D small bore hammer top action and lifter

[Bruce Day]

Here is the chicken coop gun, a 1904 top action hammer 20ga which had sat for many years neglected and rusty in a chicken coop in Nebraska. It was covered by a fine bloom of red rust, had chicken feathers in dirty bores, had a broken stock wrapped with wire and an ugly metal strap welded to the top tang and screwed to the wood. But the barrels were not chopped, the stock not chopped and had the skeleton butt plate.

The result of careful and skilled preservation. One of only a couple known D grade 20 ga hammer guns. It was initially bought for very little, the farmer just wanted to get rid of it for some pocket money, but many more times that was spent in restoration.

[Bruce Day]

And then a 16ga lifter action hammer gun, now owned by a friend on the West Coast.

There are some that believe that there is a substantial and growing demand among collectors for these nice hammer Parkers, and they are concentrating their collecting in them.

[Dean Romig]

Here is the chicken coop gun, a 1904 top action hammer 20ga which had sat for many years neglected and rusty in a chicken coop in Nebraska. It was covered by a fine bloom of red rust, had chicken feathers in dirty bores, had a broken stock wrapped with wire and an ugly metal strap welded to the top tang and screwed to the wood. But the barrels were not chopped, the stock not chopped and had the skeleton butt plate.

The result of careful and skilled preservation. One of only a couple known D grade 20 ga hammer guns. It was initially bought for very little, the farmer just wanted to get rid of it for some pocket money, but many more times that was spent in restoration.


Look how compact those hammers are :coffee:


Come on Bruce... show us the grip cap!! Sheesh... I can't believe he's not showing the best part :whistle:

[Chuck Bishop]

Bruce, your just killin us with beautiful guns:shock:

[Harry Collins]

The beauty of Parker hammers is that when cocked they are invisible. Unlike some of the fine British hammer guns that stick up like rabbit ears even when cocked. Thanks for sharing Bruce.

[Bruce Day]

Dean, the chicken coop gun has the standard Parker Meridan hard rubber grip cap. The 16 ga lifter has the silver quarter moon inletted in the bottom of the half pistol grip. But I want to make it clear that these guns are not mine, but I am indeed fortunate to have that 12ga Bernard top action. My concentration is in damascus C's and I enjoy seeing each and every one, and you have a fine one, Dean.

[Dean Romig]

Dean, the chicken coop gun has the standard Parker Meridan hard rubber grip cap. The 16 ga lifter has the silver quarter moon inletted in the bottom of the half pistol grip.


Oops, it is hard to keep track of your friend's Parkers. I even questioned my memory when I made that post... *Hmmm, am I thinking of the same Parker?* and I truly had confused the two.

[Angel Cruz]

[QUOTE=Bruce Day;51576]And then a 16ga lifter action hammer gun....

WOW!!! I just fell in love!!!!

[Eric Eis]

Bruce, You should post a pic of the before picture of that 20 ga (I think you have it) just to show what can be done (with enought money) to bring back a rare gun.... I think alot of people forgot what that gun looked like before.

[Bruce Day]

Eric. I'll ask CH. My computer crashed last year and I lost all those photos. You also saw at the annual meeting a B grade hammer gun that the frame had been so pitted that several people thought it was lost, but there is a young man in his early 20's who filled in all the pits micro welding like you would do to repair a mold, then he re-engraved over the filled pits. You could never tell now. So you find somebody with real skill and they can do wonders.

[John Truitt]

Mr. Day,

Thank you for posting the pictures. It would be a real treat if CH was able to provide pictures of the before condition.
Also are there any pictures available of the B grade hammer gun you referenced? (before and after)

You are correct there are some very talented people out there. Graded Parker project hammer guns can become an addiction. Fortunatley there are people out there to help us achieve our goals.

Thank you,

John

[Bruce Day]

The 16ga lifter hammer is now owned by a retired dentist in SoCal. John, with the attention to small detail a dentist has and the dexterity with small tools, I'll bet a dentist could do some fine restoration work.

[Bruce Day]

Ok, here is the 16ga lifter action showing details of the ball grip with inlay:

[Dean Romig]

Be still my heart!

Thanks Bruce.

[Bruce Day]

And here are before and after photos of the 20ga D top action.

No new parts were added, it still has the original buttplate and stock.

If anyone is bothered by these photos or think I post too much, let me know and I'll ask John to delete them. My belief is that a person interested in Parkers can see by these photos what might be possible in careful and skilled restoration.

[Dean Romig]

:clap:

[George Lander]

WOW!!!!

George

[calvin humburg]

George took the words out of my mouth!!!

[Bruce Day]

In my opinion, there is a difference between minimally restoring a gun to bring it back to functionality and beauty, and sending it off to get tiger striped case colors, oil and torched, or worse yet, all the metal black blued and polyurethane varnish sprayed on the wood.

But obviously, not everyone feels that way.

[Rick Losey]

IMH (and often worthless) O,


However it was done, a unique piece of Parker history, and a wreck of a gun, that all but a very few people in this country would have thrown away, was saved. Any fix that doesn't meet someone's concours standard can always be righted by a future owner, now that the gun will exist for future owners.

thanks for sharing the story and the pictures (unfortunately all the chicken coops around here were torn down years ago :crying:. )

[John Truitt]

Mr. Day and CH,

Thank you for posting these. That is most impressive. It is nice to see her restore like that.

I have to admit that had I found her, she would have been sent to have the barrels sleeved to 34" 20 or 28 ga and to my stocker for a custom job. That is just my warped/ twisted issues coming to light. :)

Again thank you for your post and sharing with us.

John

[Bruce Day]

I have to admit that had I found her, she would have been sent to have the barrels sleeved to 34" 20 or 28 ga and to my stocker for a custom job.

John


OMG

[charlie cleveland]

you boys gotta dig up some more pictures of them hammer guns espically of them small bores.... charlie