Those are the A grade guns. The barrels are all the same on those guns. They are the finest Damascus offered by Parker at that time.
The names you refer to are the rib legends. In the Parker catalogs, the A grade was referred to as the “Premier” grade. And that is how 7 of the 8 guns in the conservative Meachum order have their ribs marked, “Premier quality”. But for some odd reason the first of the 8 guns is marked “Finest Quality”. Why? Who knows. It is a curiosity.
Just like why did the 4th one have an engravers signature, and the others not? Why did that one have a solid steel buttplate and the others skeleton steel buttplates?
Along with other oddities as the hammers on two of the guns being mixed up at the factory in assembly. That is right. They were made by Men.
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B. Dudley
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