Barrel Flat Marking ?
 

Recently acquired Parker Brothers 16 Ga. Hammer gun ,Serial 14290 , I have been sorting out the markings etc. and have a question about a rather large Capital " M " located on the Barrel flat ,with the barrels off and laying across my lap ,the " M " is located on the bottom left hand corner and on the other Barrel flat is a small O stamped which I assume stands for Twist Steel barrels as the gun in " The Parker Story ,Page 100 Fig. 3/23 ,although the O is stamped right beside the Large letter T on that particular gun ! Has anyone seen this large Capital M before and if so ,do you have any idea of it's meaning ? Thank You ; Russ

I had one recently that had the same marking.

It was a 12g 0 grade in the 12,000 serial range. I found it interesting too, so I snapped a photo at the time. Here it is.

Attachment 37495

Thanks Brian for the reply and the Photo YEP .that's it! My little gun has no barrel weights nor frame size stamped ,which I understand to be normal for this era . Another neat item ,mine has the entire serial # stamped diagonally across the end of the rear barrel lug in very small stamping ,has anyone ever seen this before ? If I have time later ,I willtake some photos ,kind of neat how different some were stamped !

All the serial number stamped on the lug is unusual, usually just the last three numbers are seen, Gary

I have two old lifters with the entire 5 digit serial number stamped diagonally across the rear face of the lug.
I have never seen the "M" that I can recall. That is exactly where the steel type is generally stamped.
A "T" with a crescent stamped above and a crescent stamped below the T is the designation for Twist Steel.
No idea what the "O" represents.

Hello Dean , If you have a minute ,take a look at TPS on page 100 Figure 3/23 and see if I am reading that right ,that the 0 stands for Twist Steel which this gun has for barrels !

Hi Russ... I read that caption for fig. 3.23 differently.

To quote, "The "o" seen in front of the 2 and in front o the "T" (which marks the plain twist steel barrels) is not understood."

I read it as 'The "o" is not understood.' All the other verbiage there is superfluous to the statement that the "o" is not understood.

Maybe Mr. Mullins can come on and enlighten us.

Are they M Grade guns?

Bill ,This gun has no engraving to speak of and really appears to be an O Grade ,here is the letter for all to enjoy :corn: ,no mention of an M Grade ! It is a lightened frame 16 Ga. With 28" Barrels , Pistol Grip Stock and Checkered Stock and forend ! Chokes are as described and it is a real Pheasant Killer !