DID PARKER BLACKEN SOME DAMASCUS/COMPOSITE BARRELS?
 

I posted pictures of this gun under the hammer gun section. In speaking with Dale Edmonds who did them and before he shipped, I was prepared for something I had not imagined. These barrels have four or more different patterns. The right tube two-thirds of the way up changes. The left barrel changes half way up to a different pattern, possibly twice. The right tube does not even come close to the left's pattern. I have seen posts on this subject before.

Dale said he has even seen a damascus Parker which was a presentation gun with a special inscription on the rib that had rust blued barrels when it came to him. Factory?

This hammer gun was a Grade 2, so there are two grades lower than this. It was known as an $80 gun. If someone paid $80 for a set of barrels with a pattern like this, I don't think Parker would have been very successful. I believe what Dale seems to think but has no proof other than what he has seen, and they could have possibly left the factory blackened. Maybe the gun was discounted because of this. Maybe it was ordered with blackened barrels so it did not matter. Maybe when the pattern became clear during finishing them, they just gave up on them and blued them. Dale did a beautiful job, but had I known the pattern was like this, I would have rust blued them myself. The only thing I can say now, is they are unique.

Thoughts? Dale said he would be interested in opinions on this.

Jerry;
I think your barrels are stunning and would love to own a set like them. Blueing those barrels would have hidden a truly unique pattern which any damascus lover would enjoy owning. Very nice gun. Enjoy.

Jerry, both Dale and I have seen enough Damascus barrels to know that lower grade guns in particular can have mismatched segments. I have seen as many as four different segments in a single tube. The tubes are supposed to be paired with opposite spirals coming together, but I have seen them spiraling the same direction. This has been with G grades. We have seen a couple very much mismatched sets that we believe we are factory blued. I can only speculate about the reasons.

Some English Damascus guns are originally blued, not browned.

I have posted photos of these odd barrels here in the past.

When looking at G grades, Damascus segment matching is a consideration for buyers. A person can find anything from uniform fine Damascus to multiple different segments of large scroll croille.

Bruce,

I remember seeing it in some of your posts. But the grade below it, N and NH and P and PH have Twist that is uniform from what I have seen, and the grade above it D or DH, have uniform Damascus.

Is this "composite composite" only used for Grade 2, E and EH and G and GH when Damascus is used? Did they just try to rid themselves of these tubes for this one grade? This was the lowest grade for Damascus from what I understand; was this grade Parker's red-headed step children that less than uniform tubes was acceptable?

Examples have been found with several oddities in Damascus patterns. I think of some Lefevers that have come up with one tube Damascus and the other twist.

I have seen on some Parkers where the Damascus pattern is stretched for sections of the tube. This is truely curious to me. One might think that it could have something to do with the bulldozing or upsetting process that was used in making the barrels from thick blanks. however, patterns usually appear uniform in most barrel sets.

We have seen a number of grade 2 Parkers with mismatched Damascus barrels.

There has been previous discussion on this topic.

These aren't examples of Parkers but they clearly illustrate that Parker Bros. guns aren't the only guns with mismatched barrel patterns.

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What I am wondering though, is did Parker blacken such barrels at the factory to hide the inconsistent patterns? Over a hundred and twenty years all of the finish could wear off or be removed by the owners, and this may lead us to believe they left the factory with the patterns visible.

Would a buyer in 1883 plop down the additional money for a grade two grades higher than the lowest for a set of barrels that looked like this?

Even in 1883 I would think an aware buyer would see such a set and consider them as seconds (unless covered by the blackening). This gun beside one with matching tubes would be passed over every time is my thinking. This is the basis of my question. Did they cover the patterns in these tubes in order to sell them?

That is the minority of G's, but definitely, some mismatching can be found in G's. I don't think that G's were considered lesser quality guns by Parker, in fact they were very popular and sought by gunners, but there are those odd G barrels that are clearly mismatched. I would not phrase the grade as Parker's disfavored. There is a 16ga G Hammer that I posted, which has extremely even and well matched barrel sets. I can't find segment lines. '

I believe but have no irrefutable proof, that Parker did blue some of these mismatched barrel sets, on the basis of looking at very old blued barrels. I think a reasonable assumption is that it was done to hide mismatching, but I know of nothing in the Parker records that touches upon that. And in relation to another of your questions, I have no idea what a buyer in 1883 would think or pay for. All we know is that the G grade guns were wildly popular and did much to create the appeal of Parker. Beyond that, there is only speculation.

I have seen a couple Ds with some but not extreme mismatching, and never a C or higher.

Again, some people find the variety appealing, others (me) like even-ness and barrel spiral matching.

The explanations I have heard and read is that when the barrel tubes were "married" at the foundry in Belgium or England, the tubes were taken from piles probably separated by direction of twist but they were not finished in any way so the pattern was not visible to them. When the barrels were finished by Parker Bros., or whoever the gunmaker might have been, the mismatch was then discovered. If a customer had a complaint a discount was likely given or the gun taken back and replaced with a gun with matching barrels. The gun with mismatched barrels eventually (obviously) was sold to someone...

This is all hearsay - simply what I've read and heard.

I wonder if there are any records of such discounts given on guns with mismatched barrel patterns. Check your letters, those who might own such a gun.

I have never seen or heard of composit barrels 'blackened' by Parker Bros.

Dean, I think your hypotheses could be correct! Gary