Many hours later...
16 Attachment(s)
I have been working in my spare time in the evenings and weekends for the last few months, an hour hear and an hour there, to clean up and "Meriden-ize" a Parker Repro A-1 Special that was "In-the-white".
The Repros were modeled after very late Remington manufactured guns, when frame sculpting got a little less refined than earlier guns. When I really got to studying the lines of the gun, I found a lot of areas to be relatively crudely finished, ie: contour lines that were not true and straight. I set off to re-shaping the frame and refining the lines. My goal was for the gun to look as true to early Meriden manufacture as possible. The shoe filing on the bottom of the frame was deepened and lengthen back towards the trigger plate. The belly of the frame and forend iron were brought up a LOT and then the radius in front of the trigger plate was defined. The sides of the frame around the hinge pin were also thinned up along with the forend iron. I rounded up and better defined the front of the side panels on the frame. Also, the bottom of the side panels was brought up by nearly 1/8" and a very hard line was used to break the bottom of this panel. The radius under the panel was taken in for a better transition into the trigger plate. The trigger plate was converted to accept double triggers vs. the SST that was in it. This process is explained in another thread. The breech end of the barrels were rounded over at the corners a good deal. This was all taken down to make a seamless transition into the breech balls. The triple beaded fences were also cleaned up and taken in tighter on top and bottom sides. A major area of refinement was the top lever and the top of the frame where the sighting plane starts. The Later Parkers, and the Repros had a very thick top lever which allowed the concave sighting plane to come very far back onto the top lever. I took the top lever WAY down in thickness and re-contoured it to move the start of the sight plane up closer to the rib extension. The thumb pad on the top lever was also reduced in size by nearly 50% for a much more streamlined look. Both of these made a world of difference in the side profile of the gun. The top of the frame behind the bolsters was re-contoured and the line between them and the side panels was refined and sharpened up. The top tang bevel was sharpened up at the front, and then extended down the full length of the tang as it was simply left flat previously. Finally a new safety button was made from scratch in the original A-1 style which truly sets the gun apart from the pack. All of this work also removed about 1 oz. of metal from the frame. Another benefit. All of the definition of the frame lines makes things a lot easier when it comes time for engraving, so that the border work can be good and true. Enjoy some photos below of before and after the work above was performed. This work in all was about 20 hours of time. Left Side Before Attachment 69268 Attachment 69256 Left Side After Attachment 69257 Bottom Before Attachment 69261 Attachment 69262 Bottom After Attachment 69263 Attachment 69264 Top Before Attachment 69265 Top After Attachment 69266 Attachment 69267 Safety Button Before Attachment 69269 Safety Button After Attachment 69270 Bottom Quarter Before Attachment 69271 Bottom Quarter After Attachment 69272 A few more afters Attachment 69273 Attachment 69274 |
Brian, very nice work. Who will do the engraving?
|
I would guess GG of course....
. |
Brian, I am always impressed by your quality of work and attention to Parker detail!
All the best, Buddy |
Great file work, Brian.
|
Just blew my mind ! As it passed over my head. Nice work
|
Most have no idea the amount of work and time that kind of detail takes. Well Done Brian!
|
Kudo's to you Brian! The file work on this one is truly outstanding!!! :bowdown:
|
Beautiful work Brian!
|
1 Attachment(s)
This A-1 Special will get restocked and a Meriden SSBP will be used instead of the Repro plate. The photo below will show why. The Reproductions used the same sized ssbp on both 12 and 20g. guns. This results in a butt that is simply too short and way too narrow for a 12g. gun.
An original NOS Meriden plate will be used in the proper size for a 1-1/2 framed 12g. Meriden ssbp on left and the Repro plate on right. Attachment 69590 |
5 Attachment(s)
The final piece of metal alteration for this A-1 Special is the trigger guard bow.
This gun started as a straight grip, but the preferred configuration for the build is a pistol grip. On Meriden built high grade guns (B and higher), the trigger guard bows taper quite a bit as they come into the guard strap/tang. A Repro DHE PG guard was reshaped in this original high grade style. These photos show the altered guard next to an unaltered Repro guard. This is something that Parker Reproductions did not do to any of the B grades or A-1 Speicals. Attachment 69591 Attachment 69592 Attachment 69593 Attachment 69594 Attachment 69595 |
Quote:
|
6 Attachment(s)
The last bit of metal work that needed to be addressed on this A-1 Repro was, well... the Address.
What is the point in "Meridenizing" a Repro if it still has a Japanese makers mark on the barrel rib. I sent the barrels to Glenn Fewless to have him laser weld up the whole makers mark. As well as 1" of the center matting so that the length of the legend could be made larger as to fit the new mark. I then cleaned up the welds by hand. I then had them rolled with the original Peerless Steel makers marks but Turnbull. Attachment 71234 Attachment 71235 Attachment 71236 Attachment 71237 Attachment 71238 Attachment 71239 |
Brian,
In 50 years, how will someone know this is a customized repro with the markings removed and restamped with original markings? Ken |
Quote:
Serial numbers and barrel flat markings. |
The real answer to that question is "It just doesn't matter." There are so many fakes out there right now that buying a graded Parker 50 years from now, just like today, demands that the buyer know what he is looking at, or just not care. Brian is creating an exercise in gunsmithing, not an attempt to create an original Parker. As the Cobra driver says to his wife, "Sit down, hold on, and shut up", not neccesarily in that order. Go for it, Brian.
|
In 50 years there will be metallurgical DNA tests just like human tissue matching today - able to distinguish and verify Belgian, German, Japanese and US Steel types. Critical analysis for verification of authenticity will involve fanatics taking micro-thatched files to hidden parts of the steel, then analyzing them for purity. 100 years from now, there will be home kits for the DIYs to authenticate grandpop's old bird guns.
|
Carbon, siliconn, manganese,P, S, Cr, Ni & Mo are elements which do not change when they go on a trip around the world. While these are the basic elements found in steel, the balance of Fe, iron, is still over 95% of the makeup. Regardless the melting method, it is virtually impossible to duplicate the exact chemistry in successive melt batches
|
I think that XRF can be used to determine the elemental composition of steel and provide a fairly accurate "fingerprint" of the steel sample. It is a surface analyses technique and the sample tested needs to be big enough. These days they have hand-held analyzers that can provide almost "instant" results. Sulfur and phosphorous may not be detectable that way.
If only a small sample is available, it could be dissolved in a mineral acid and analyzed using ICP-AES which I think can detect and measure all of the elements Edgar listed. I am not a metallurgist but I would venture a guess that the elemental composition would be the same throughout the test sample except, perhaps, for the carbon content. Again I am guessing but I suspect that the carbon content may vary widely within the sample, i.e. higher at the surface compared to at the center of the test sample. |
1 Attachment(s)
|
Brian, With all the work on this gun how are you coming with your steel barreled 20 gauge. hammer gun, love to see it when it is finished, I know it will be like all your work superb! Gary
|
7 Attachment(s)
Here is a little update on this Repro A-1 Special project in its current state.
I have stocked the gun and finished the checkering on it. Checkering is 24 lpi and 28 lpi on the cheeks. It is now ready for Engraving. I chose a lighter colored piece of circassian for the gun as it was the look I was wanting to go for. I wanted to go a little over the top on the checkering for this one. It is loosely based on the second Invincible. For anyone interested in taking a closer look at the gun, it will be shown at the NE SxS. Attachment 96111 Attachment 96112 Attachment 96113 Attachment 96114 Attachment 96115 Attachment 96116 Attachment 96117 |
With an Invincible checkering pattern! Incredible work Brian!!
That round knob grip is special! Please tell us about the lock screw on the tang screw Brian. When you first showed it there was no explanation. I saw a AAHE dedicated live pigeon gun on Steve Barnett's table at Ernie's 4 or 5 years ago with that lock screw. It would be the ideal thing on a single trigger gun to prevent anyone overtightening it and throwing off the way the single trigger needs to work properly... but you converted this gun to double triggers. . |
Beautiful job on the checkering
|
Wonderful job! Bobby
|
Quote:
|
Absolutely stunning!
|
Just looking at this design makes my index finger stiff and my eyes squint. Brian, I will bet you'll get ask 100 times how long it took to complete. A lot of dulled cutters lead to being able to pull this together, years and years. Great job!
|
Quote:
You saw it at the southern, uncheckered. Now it is checkered. |
Oh, and by the way, as a huge Reproduction fan, I think the work is fantastic!
|
Phenomenal work Brian!
|
1 Attachment(s)
Update time on this one.
Here is a photo that I got from Gournet today on the engraving progress. The detail on the central bouquet is not done yet. Attachment 104548 |
Geoffroy is the master!
. |
I like where he put his signature. Does Geoffroy sign all his work?
|
Quote:
|
1 Attachment(s)
|
Geoffroy just keeps getting better and better.
. |
Oh my word... there's a signature there???????
|
Seen it on FB ,beautiful job !
|
3 Attachment(s)
As noted earlier in this thread, an important part of this deal was the making of a new safety button in the Metiden high grade style. Geoffroy did a great job engraving the button and tang.
Attachment 105631 Attachment 105632 Attachment 105633 |
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 09:13 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © 1998 - 2023, Parkerguns.org