he said he thought this was the nicest of the guns he had left, he has another baker, and a couple of parkers. I will give you guys more info after I look at guns, this is the last picture he sent I think. I will check.

found one more picture, thanks again for all your input

Nick, I reread your post, the guy told me he thought it was a C grade, he did not mention anything about the barrels. I just purchased my first old shotgun last weekend. I am hoping I like shooting older shotguns well enough to sell my new beretta and just hunt with the older guns. These guns have sentimental value to me, my good friend and his father who owned the guns that passed away both have encouraged me to carve decoys. I have a full bodied duck carving and an old pistol that he has been collecting, so I will go down and see if we can come up with some kind of deal. This gun is so nice, I don't even know if I can shoot it. He has another baker, and a couple of parkers he wants me to look at. I think he said this was the nicest baker he had. I remember looking at the pictures Joe D. had and thinking if this was a C grade and was one of the lesser grades, then I bet the better grades were something else. Thanks for all the help.

Thats why we're all here! As another poster pointed out, when you said C grade I immediately thought of a different model gun Baker made called the Model C. They did not make a grade C sidelock, and yours is likely an A, as was suggested by others.

If you take the forearm off, and then press the top lever while holding the barrels, they will come right off. Then you can see the water table of the frame, and the pertinent information stamped thereon. Also, as someone else pointed out, given its likely production era it's odd that the barrels aren't Damascus. If you take the gun down and inspect the bottom of the barrels for a small hole in the rib, you will likely learn the truth of it.

Very nice gun!! And if the barrels aren't blued over, would be quite a find.

- NDG

I am pretty sure the guy said the gun was 98%, I could of gotten that mixed up with another gun though. If the gun is all original, does anyone have an estimate of its worth? I know thats hard without all the correct info, but I know very little of shotguns in general, especially after a 40 year layoff from hunting. Thanks again, Ed

That gun looks a lot like my A grade engraving wise. My A was Damascus barreled. The forend picture you posted looks exactly like my R grade which, according to the web page, was the Krupp steel version of these earlier A and B guns. My R grade had a pointing dog and bird on each side with scroll accents but was not nearly as ornate as your picture. Are the barrels inscribed with "Krupp Fluid Steel" ? Pretty gun!

Ed,

The previous poster reiterated a question I made earlier. If you look all over the barrels and find the word "Krupp" on them you will know they are fluid steel. Otherwise, you might see scant Damascus details coming through the bluing near the lug where there is wear.

- NDG

Joe D.
I have not been down to look at the gun yet, going this weekend hopefully. I don't even know how much they are asking yet. I don't know if its a 1,000 to 1500 dollar gun, or 1500 to 2000, or more, or less.

Here is a post that will help with a feeling of the value of your prospective gun. The link is for a very nice Paragon which should have sold for the initial askance.
http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthr...=Baker+Paragon

You will have to be objective about the condition of the gun once you have it in hand. Condition of bores, tightness of lockup, originality of finishes, condition of wood, etc., etc. Good luck with your quest.

Joe D.
Thanks for all this help (and everyone else) That paragon looks a bit nicer than the one I am looking at. The paragon also has some of the scrollwork on the end of barrel, no idea of the proper terminology where the one I am looking at does not have that. Would people go out and shoot a gun that nice, or just occasionally? Or not at all, and try to keep the original quality of the gun? I am sure everyone has different ideas about shooting old guns, that one I am looking at just almost looks to nice to shoot a lot. Thanks again, Ed