I pulled a Mills today !
 

I was watching a somewhat abused Grade 2 12 gauge top lever on GB today and I ended up buying it . Shortly thereafter I made a guy an offer on another on GB and low and behold I got that one as well . Both 30” both on #2 frames both Grade 2’s . The first one will need a bit of work the second one hopefully not so much .

Good job!

That's the correct method of ringing in the new year. :cheers:

I think I know the two as well. That one with the stock repair sure has beautiful wood, if not for the repair. Maybe someone can undo the repair. The other one looks like a fine gun and I bet will look better than the pictures when you get it.

almost popped on the one with the wrist repair...because of the wood, and the half pistol......About the best 0 grade Parker wood ive seen!

While the repair was done a long time ago I’m quite curious to see the serial number that’s stamped in the wood under the trigger guard because I’m not 100% confident that the woods original . The guns represented as a Grade 2 . The engraving what you can see of it in the pics seems correct , but even for a Grade 2 the wood is highly figured .

Grade 2 wood can vary from plain to quite good, but that is the highest quality I have ever seen on one. People who have been in the field longer than I have might have seen better. I wonder what the records say and if upgraded wood might have been specially ordered?

Generally if the number is stamped under the guard I’m satisfied , but this one even if the number in the wood is correct I may spend the $42 .

I got a letter on my recent 4 frame and it was ordered by Carlos Gove, famous gun maker from Colorado. Was apparently the only Parker he ordered so probably his personal gun.

Now is the time to buy that Parker you always wanted! buying and selling Parker guns is cyclical like every thing else! Gary

I wish wish wish I had bought the Parker Grade 0 top lever 10 gauge two barrel set you had here for sale a year or two ago .

My indescretion knows no bounds at the moment it seems . Number three for 2019 was struck upon today . Seems I’ve acquired a circa 1886 Grade 0 12 gauge on a 2 frame with 28” barrels . Gun also has the fishtail lever which unto itself is no big deal but I also think it’s the first hammer gun I’ve gotten with the fish tail lever .

Well the one with the uh “repaired” stock showed up . Amazingly the number stamped in the stock matches the rest .

Glad this was the original wood . I can live with an honest repair but replaced wood I don’t care for .

Wow! That is some wood!

With the BoreMaster I got 12 points constriction in the right and 15 in the left .

Must have been a grouse gun.

The people it came from are in PA so that's a distinct possibility !

Nice Grade 2. And with a pheasant, (or more likely a sharptail as pheasants probably weren't legal game at the time this one was made.) on the frame. We usually see the Parker woodcock in that vignette, even on a 10 gauge. That must have been a really beautiful gun when it was new. Nice score Craig!





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i like the stock repair.....great gun....charlie

Get that screw replaced and you should be in business

It almost matches your 8 gauge Charlie ;)


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Already shot it half dozen times . The hammer screw doesn’t bother me as much as the lever retainer , sometimes the lever doesn’t want to stay to the right when open . Tried my light 12 #8 handloads and the hammers on each side are okay under recoil . Then tried my 0 buck handloads on paper at 25 and 45 yards .

45 yards with the right barrel wasn’t worth posting . I do not understand why sometimes the pics turn side ways ?

dean you are right i believe the same fellow worked on these two guns....the old 8 gauge is still shooting and staying together.....i like those patterns i would take a shot at a deer at 45 yards with them....i see him on the ground after that last shot....charlie

Defiantly the same (Gunsmith).

Say all you want about Charlie's 8 gauge, but Charlie single handedly put it in shooting condition.

Mills, are you saying you never shot it while it was under your custodianship?





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I took it to a respected gunsmith who declared it beyond repair. Charlie had expressed interest in it, so I pm'ed him and sold it to him that night. Not two weeks later, he had it repaired enough to shoot it. Not a small feat

I've been throwing my Grade 2 up a few times and it felt abnormally good , so I just measured the drop . The comb is 1 3/4" and the heel is 2" . Correct me if I'm wrong but that's not normal for a field gun made in 1884 unless it was special ordered . If it were on a 2 or 3 frame I might speculate pigeon gun , but this things on a 1 frame .:whistle:

Craig I assume we are speaking of a 12 gauge ? Also how's it configured including barrel length ?

Very high dimensions for the period - likely to be ordered that way.





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I just ordered a letter for it and the lifter 10 I got before Xmas !

I "thought" I needed to replace the part that holds the lever back when the guns open , but I spent a bit of time using brake cleaner and a very small pick . Now the lever stays back as it's supposed to .

The other Grade 2 12 is supposed to arrive tomorrow (Friday) and the Grade 0 12 I would hope will arrive next week some time . If they intrest me like this old beat up Grade 2 I'll pay the "letter tax" for them LOL's .

That most recent 4 frame really should migrate north to the Old Dominion , the central part to be more exact :whistle:

At the least it oughtta make the spring trip to Sanford NC !

12 gauge 30 inch Damascus . I originally stated the gun was a 2 frame and that's what I thought it was until it arrived Tuesday but it turned out to be a 1 frame .

Personally I would consider that frame size to be a positive surprise, sounds like you do as well. I'm with you on the fact that it is not a Pigeon configuration
and Dean as well on the special ordered dimensions.

I have letters on all of my guns where info is available and I have all letters organized in a PGCA binder. Worth every penny. It is like being able to admire your guns without getting them all out of the safe.

I have a one frame on the way as we speak. Stay tuned . . . .

Once again the USPS screwed me . The other Grade 2 was supposed to be here Friday and going by their tracking system it’s not arrived in Richmond yet much less Orange . Now if it had a long distance to travel I’d be more understanding but Aberdeen MD to Orange VA is about 160 miles . The USPS has had the damn thing for five days and it was sent Priority no less .

USPS priority is the absolute slowest means of shipping in the country. There's folks that swear by it because it's registered and every step is signed for as I understand it. Personally I despise shipping via USPS. Way to slow for my liking.