Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Harlow
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?
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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.