GH 20 Damascus Question
 

Any idea how many were made? (D2 H O C 20 28)

Not sure how many were made but higher grades it is few.

Well, I would normally say to refer to the tables in TPS. But they only show 3 damascus hammerless 20g guns. 2 in 27” length and 1 in 31” length.

I can safely say that something is messed up with that particular column in the book.

"The Parker Story" in the Grades section under Grade 2 guns, says 439 PSS 20 gauge guns with 28-inch barrels were made. That's about 10% of all PSS barrels in all gauges and barrel lengths made.





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The question was about damascus guns though.

Dean, would you agree that the 20g damascus figures seem out of whack?

I sure would Brian... three Grade 2 Damascus barreled 20 gauge guns of all possible barrel lengths compared to thirty-eight in 28 gauge seems exceptionally odd. Factor in that TPS also lists 2,316 made in 16 gauge.

But in support of only three 20 gauge Damascus GH guns made, there were only ten 20 gauge G grade hammer guns ever made with Damascus barrels. So I guess twenty gauge guns early enough to sport Damascus barrels were quite unpopular, or simply hadn’t attained popularity yet.





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Here we go again. Errata Sheet Version 3, 6/6/01 gives us
"Page 279, Table at lower left -- "GRADE 2 HAMMERLESS GUNS WITH DAMASCUS STEEL BARRELS" -- The column with statistics for the 20 gauge is incorrect. A total of 446 hammerless doubles of 20-gauge were made with barrel lengths as follows: (length/count) - (32/3), (31/1), (30/49), (28/244), (26/145), (24/1). These changes will effect the totals in various summary tables."

More than 3 have been on the market this year

Thanks Dave. How many times were errata sheets published and where can we get them?

I’m sure a lot of people have “The Parker Story” and are not aware of the existence of errata sheets.

I wonder if we can get them from Daniel Cote...



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I checked my set and I do have all 3 of the errata sheets in the front of my Vol.1

When I was looking at that table, I was thinking about seeing if it was on the errata sheet. But I got lazy.

I have two printed on heavy card stock, the one mentioned above and one that was sent with Volume 1 when they were mailed to subscribers. Also two thinner sheets dated 9/27/01 which are folded as if they were mailed in a No. 10 envelope. Three sides are headed The Parker Story - Errata, 1 of 3, 2 of 3 and 3 of 3; while the fourth side is headed The Parker Story - New Stuff, 1 of 1.

Dave - this gets fascinatinger and fascinatinger.....

Not only do I have the Errata (pgs. 1043 & 1044) of Vol. II of TPS which are bound in as part of the book, I also have the two heavy card stock sheets you mention above but I also have two thin copy sheets of Version 3 dated 6/6/01.

Further, my thin sheets are printed on one side only and are side 1 and 2 of the same publication. Additionally, none of mine are 1 of, 2 of or 3 of...anything.

I wonder if this is all the errata that were produced? I wonder if your 9/27/01 has anything that my 6/6/01 version might not include?

Maybe Bill Mullins could come on and shed some light on this Errata conundrum...






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In my Deluxe set, I have :

a white cardstock errata sheet that is undated. - Single Sided

a yellow cardstock that is marked Version 2, 2/14/2001 - Double Sided

a white sheet of lightweight paper. This one is dated July 2006 and specifically addresses the GH 20g. Damascus table. It states that correct totals should be 446 in all barrel lengths.

And the errata page that is bound at the back of Vol 2.

Okay. Not to be outdone. My Czar Edition, Invincible Set, signed and dated by all the authors, has two errata pages. Both on card stock, one double sided. (Volume 1)

Dang it! I have a 26” damascus 20 ga with 26” barrels. I liked it being one of the three.

Hey Mike, I have one too and I have a DH with 28” Damascus barrels.





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i have a dh with damascus barrels with 28 inch barrels....charlie

Do you have a research letter on that one Charlie?





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I have a gh 20 damascus with 26” brought ti the Southern

I wonder how many 20ga Damascus are left. I've got a 30", which I gave to my special snowflake when she turned 18. :)

i have not got a letter on this one dean but the fellow i bought it from got a letter on it...he posted the letter on here it was bought by or for mr robert wood johnson founder of johnson and johnson products...gun not in real good shape but it still shoots ok... charlie

Very interesting, Charlie. I remember when you got that gun and hope it is serving you well

All,

I have a DH 16 gauge Damascus gun on a 20 gauge frame. Now I wondering if I need a research letter on this gun?

I get a Research letter on every Parker I buy that has information available. Make sure you check to see if information is available before sending the request. I often get interesting information

I’ve got a DH Damascus
 

Recently I inherited a 16 gauge DH on the fabled O frame with 28 inch Damascus barrels. The old girl looks at least close to her age but works fine.
Yesterday at the local SC range I went 3 stations before missing a bird the first time I took the gun for a drive. I’m no George Digweed so the gun impressed me.

Now these discussions about how many GH grade Damascus guns lead to my obvious question: how many DH grade Damascus guns?

Many thanks for any answers.

Sounds like a nice one. Got any pics?

16 Gauge DH
 

An 1899 gun and she does look a mite used. But still a good one!

https://flic.kr/p/2hqtkMh

Damascus small bore grade 3, about as nice as it gets. I so much prefer the damascus guns to fluid steel. Thanks for the picture.

Very nice 16 from 1899. Nice indeed.
 

William:

That is VERY nice looking. She looks to have been cherished and carried in the field, with the honest wear that I respect. The crisp small scroll work of that era is marvelous.

One thing that happens for me when I look in on this forum is: I see things I did not even know I wanted, and now wish I had and now I am on the lookout for. This my friend, is an example of that phenomenon.

Congratulations on having a family gun. Any backstory to share about it or who carried it before you inherited (that you feel you can share)?

According to the tables in The Parker Story there were 129 20-gauge Damascus barrel DH-/DHE-Grade guns produced, 69 with 28-inch barrels. Other lengths were 1 24", 1 25", 44 26", 2 27", 3 29", 6 30", 3 31" and 3 32".

Little Known
 

My wife’s uncle wanted me to have the gun. He carried it for years. I have no idea where he got the gun. He wasn’t really much of a bird hunter, but he likes nice guns.

Wow! Many thanks for that.

This is the barrel flat of my 32” Damascus 20 on a#2 frame. Gun was delivered in 1919 as a 12 gauge according to the letter. Sometime after 1920 the Damascus barrels were put on, but whether this was done at the factory cannot be documented. Great dove gun

what i see the barrel weight looks to be 5lb 5 ounceis this correct...if it is thats heavy for a 20 ga....charlie

Yes, that’s correct Charlie. The gun weighs about 9 lbs. The flat, as I see it, is stamped D4. Barrels were apparently meant for a C-Grade.

I really like the engraving on William's DH

Wow!! A full pound heavier than the 32-inch, Vulcan Steel, 3-inch 20-gauge barrels added to my 2-frame 12-gauge GH-Grade of 1889 vintage.

Attachment 76745

In that my barrels are marked CT, U.S.A. but don't have the Overload Proved marking, I date them to the 1919 to 1926 time frame.

I just found one up here in Canada. Grade 2 Damascus 20 gauge with 30" barrels on an 0 frame. Looking forward to the research letter.

I know of two others that were shipped toCanada - a GH 20/30 and a CHE 20/30.





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That gun would look very nice back beside a certain DH 3 frame 12 with 28” barrels I happen to know of :whistle: