10ga TA Grade 3
 

This is my first grade 3 hammer gun. It must have put many meals on the table back in it’s day. It is well used, the serial# on the trigger guard looks like it has about worn off. If only it could talk…there would have to be a lot of great stories. Someone marked Feb 15 1914 on the forend iron, which I thought was neat, maybe that is when it got a new owner.

The gun weighs 9lbs. 2 oz. according to the research letter and is a #30 frame with 30”Damascus barrels choked F/F.

It certainly deserves some TLC, though I am going to get to know it a bit and shoot it as is this weekend.

A few more pictures...

Gosh, the sculpting on those older hammers guns is fine!

Hey, the gun is all there. That is a big plus.

The PGCA letter on that gun may be very fascinating. This is a gun I would not have refinished. What a great Parker.

What a great old war horse of a Parker that one is!!

What I would have given for those hammers a couple of months ago!

That date could also have marked a memorable hunt or a first for a specific gamebird or animal... deer maybe? Unfortunately you'll never know - guns can't talk.

February 15, 1914 was a Sunday

WW I began on 6/28/1914



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This gun was lurking on GB with no bids through several cycles.

I was thinking of you, Dean, and the hammers when i was considering purchase a couple times.

The few photos of the gun on the listing were just not good enough for me to take a chance on it.

I did talk to the seller and he sent me more pictures. I couldn't help myself and I bought it immediately. The story was that the gun had been in the same family since 1949 and had not be shot in all of that time.

I did get a research letter. It didn't mention a specific person, though the gun was shipped to Claybrough Golcher & Co. of San Francisco in 1890 who I believe was a gun dealer/maker.

The gun has nice stock dimensions - 14 1/4 LOP and DAH 2 7/8. I will shoot both black powder and smokeless shells with it this weekend.

Would you clean this gun up at all of leave it as is? I agree that it has a great patina from years of use and I don't want to take that away. There is some tarnish/build up on the lock plates and on top of the bolsters, should that be cleaned? Mechanically it is off face(I put in a metal shim which tightened it up for now) and the lever catch needs a new spring. Barrels are pitted but shootable.

Clean anything that can be cleaned, including the bores, fix the trip spring. Your shim will fix the looseness problem. After this, I would shoot it.

I agree with Bill. What a great Parker. Didn’t most grade 3’s have lightening bolts engraved by the firing pins?

Also, check out the 10 gauge in the For Sale section. It’s serial #58610, hammerless.