Grade 0 10ga No. 38598, ca. 1885

[John E. Williams]

I've been searching for an 8 gauge Parker for way too long. The few I've found were either absurdly-priced rattle traps or priced on up into five figures with the condition fully justifying it. With that bit of info laid out, I ran across this boomer on gunbroker awhile back. There was an interesting story tied to it, although I thought it was priced too high for the condition shown in the listing's photos. It idled on the watch list for several renewals of the ad and I kept thinking about it. I've got a modern 10 gauge that I don't reload for, so coming up with hulls for reloading wouldn't be a problem...

Finally weakening after seeing this auction renew over and over, I sent the seller an email and asked if $XXX would buy this old gun. He replied back that yes, it would, and a deal was struck. Just like that. I have a bad habit of gambling on Parkers and not asking nearly enough questions before buying. I also have a good track record of making out very well with this strategy, but I'm not a "collector" in any sense beyond having a number of them in hand. You collector types are surely laughing at this old gun, but it should suit my wants just fine. Instead, I tend to base my purchases on what use I'll get out of the gun versus the relative condition of it as represented in the photos and whatever information the seller offers in the description. Most people know practically nothing about these guns and it's just annoying for them to try getting up to speed and answering all the many questions I could ask from a somewhat informed standpoint. I'm just gonna use it for hunting, recreational shooting, or cleaning and looking at late at night when I can't sleep, anyway.

After jumping through all the hoops, #38598 finally arrived at my local gun shop. After we unpackaged it, two things were glaringly evident. First, this thing genuinely qualified as the "Big Parker" I'd been lusting for. Second, it didn't appear to have been cleaned since the Big War, and I ain't talking about WWII. It's not often you find one this filthy, as most people will at least give 'em a swipe with an oily rag before putting them on the market. It's built on the #3 frame and the 32" barrels are marked 5/14 in weight, which I laughed at because that's almost as much as my little Parker bird gun weighs altogether! Aside from all the crud, the action locked up tight and there didn't appear to be any considerable damage anywhere on either the wood or metal. There were hints of rudimentary engraving here and there, but I thought it was mostly worn away from handling. The checkering looked pretty weak, as well.

As the story goes, this gun has been in the same family since new. It was handed down from father to son, father to son over the years before finally arriving in the hands of a youngster who had no use for hunting, or apparently even having a gun in his house. What a shame, right? I guess if he's not interested in an heirloom like that, my kids can either fight over it or sell it on consignment whenever I move along out of this old life.

Getting it home, I began some gentle soaking and tooth brushing on the barrels in plain old kerosene to start loosening the decades of filth. Choosing not to disassemble the action, I did some spot cleaning there under a 10x microscope just to determine what I was working with. The 'scope showed corrosion's minor frosting on the action but all in all, not nearly as bad as I'd expected. The engraving turned out to have been well protected by the oily gum that covered the gun and was much deeper and cleaner than it initially appeared. Under magnification, I could gently lift the bulk of it from the cuts using a fine metal stylus. The real surprise for me came when lifting the gum from the lockplates and seeing blue and red patches start to appear. There were original case colors under there! Faded of course, but still there and quite visible. Seeing what was happening, I moved on to the wood. I did nothing more than spray some WD-40 on a paper towel and wipe it on the wood. After a few minutes, I hit the checkering with a toothbrush and lo, the checkering began yielding a slurry of residue just like the engraving. In about ten minutes I found the checkering was actually quite deep and pronounced, so finished wiping the wood dry.

The barrels cleaned up pretty well, too. It's going to take more than a toothbrush and some kerosene to get them in order, but they show great promise. The twist pattern is nicely pronounced for a gun of this age and condition, and I'm pleased with how things seem to be turning out so far. I haven't done any more work to the gun but will try setting aside some time to begin getting serious in the next several weeks. Here's some "before" pics from the seller that do a fair job of showing the gun's condition before coming to live with me:

[Dean Romig]

That should clean up pretty nicely.





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[OH Osthaus]

Cool

I remember seeing that one on GB. Nice catch

I have found it never hurts to make an offer if they have not sold in a few rounds

Keep us up to date on the project

[Mills]

Look at the remaining case color! You should consider getting Dale Edmonds or Brad Bachelder or someone to refinish the barrels. Brian D. or someone could redo the wood. It would look really good then.

[John E. Williams]

Originally Posted by Mills Morrison

LYou should consider getting Dale Edmonds or Brad Bachelder or someone to refinish the barrels. Brian D. or someone could redo the wood.

You know, Mills, I was already thinking this one may be a candidate for a serious reconditioning like you suggest. It appeared terribly rough at first, but I think it really has a lot going for it after the initial, superficial work I've done.

[William Davis]

All that crud probably protected it over the years. You will like that 10

William

[StubTwist]

Nice find. To clean up the barrels, soak Kano Kroil on the barrels and some 000 fine steel wool to clean up the brown / rust on the exterior. I bet you will get some black / white finish when you're done.

Looking at the pictures, it looks like some deep pitting near the breech to the exterior of the barrels. If you ever decide to restore the Damascus, Brad Balchelder is your man. He can fix that and you will never know there was ever a repair there. Call him and he will explain how he does it. The man is a Master.

[John E. Williams]

Originally Posted by Frank Cronin

Looking at the pictures, it looks like some deep pitting near the breech to the exterior of the barrels. If you ever decide to restore the Damascus, Brad Balchelder is your man.

Yep, Brad's reputation precedes him. If I launch with this project in a big way, it's fairly certain Brad will get the barrels and Brian will get the wood. I'm currently toying with who will end up with the action. The engraving on this particular gun is amateurish, at best. Wonder if the kid who scratched this one out went on to be one of the greats or if he drifted off after a year or two and wandered back to the farm? Then again, it's important to remember that engraving during this period was done mostly by the naked eye and in front of a large window. I've read that early engravers were often sent home or re-purposed on cloudy days, generally only working in periods of full sunlight.

In a case like this, what say the collective about the ethics of re-cutting original engraving? The work on this gun features lines of radically varying depths, choppy curves, and disconnected stop/start points. Should it be cleaned up in a period-correct fashion or left as-is? Here's one shot I managed to capture of the forend escutcheon through the microscope, although it looks nowhere nearly as magnified or crisp as when viewed through the eyepieces:

[B. Dudley]

I too saw that gun several times on GB. I liked the condition of the gun except for the barrels. They looked a little farther gone that I was willing to take the chance with. At least not as a fix it up to turn to someone else type of gun.

It really depends on what you want to do to the gun, but I would not recommend recutting the engraving that you are talking about. It is original and is not worn away or anything. The irregularities of it are one of the traits of hand cut engraving. And given the grade, the engraving was pretty basic and likely cut by joe-blow journeyman that was just working away hoping that one day Parker would buy him a new tool. Many hands could have touched any given gun when it comes to engravers. I have seen DH grade guns where a different hand clearly cut the frame than the one that cut the trigger plate.

Anyway... if you are looking to have the engraving restored, the parts would have to be annealed, polished, re-cut and then re-hardened. If you want to have it done right. Yes, there are carbide power cutters that could recut the hardened surface, but... do you want it done right or just done?

[John E. Williams]

I'm inclined to agree with all you said there, Brian. The apprentice who engraved this gun may well have gone on to do an A1 Special or Invincible late in his career, although there's absolutely no way to ever connect those dots. I've seen examples of Trojans and similar lower-grade guns where the owner set out to "freshen" the engraving and it ended up covered with tight English scroll and a Bulino rhinoceros or some such on the trigger plate. I'm definitely not interested in being involved in one of those train wrecks.

I'm familiar with the process required to engrave one of these case-hardened receivers and it would take a very special set of circumstances to lead me down that road. My little sixteen is an example that may end up going that route, as it'll never be sold while I'm still living and previous owners have mostly ruined any collector value. I'm of the mind this engraving could be equalized with the proper graver, some fine cutting oil, and a lot of patience but like you imply, there's a certain character to be found in the irregular engraving as it currently stands. The young man who cut this has long since returned to dust and it would be more than a bit arrogant on my part (for lack of a better term) to apply 21st century technology to the work he left behind and call it improved.

I'll send you some detailed, hi-res photos of the wood when I get a little more cleaning done. Hopefully, you'll be willing to take on the job and we can make this old girl shine once again. In addition, the barrels are nowhere nearly as bad as the seller's photos represented, either inside or out. A few minutes with a Flex-Hone should work wonders on this set. If the gunk on the inside is consistent with the gunk on the outside, it'll be easy work and not much of it.

One thing for certain is that I'm gonna have to grind up a whole set of screwdrivers just to fit this particular gun! Almost every screw head on it features one of those razor-thin English slots filed into it. I own several pocketknives whose blades won't fit into those little narrow openings.