New Lifter

[ArtS]

As I noted in the question about springs, I received the lifter I bought on GB advertised as a 12 ga because "12 gauge snap caps fit in the chamber". It turned out to be kind of an interesting gun.

Serial number is 4009 made in 1874. I got the letter already. There were stock book records but no order book due to the date. It is a Damascus gun with 30" 10 ga barrels. round knob grip and nicely grained American walnut stock. With no order book, there was no record of the Dollar grade. I read the section on the Dollar grades in the Parker Story and believe it to be the level equivalent to a 3 grade implemented the next year. The Parker Story in that section makes a strong case that the seven levels of guns priced in the catalog (ignoring the 10 ga added fee) became the equivalent grades 0-6 in 1875. The last Dollar descriptions listed started at plain twist, no checkering and no engraving and was the equivalent of the 0 grade.

The fourth Dollar grade had engraving and checkering, good wood and Damascus barrels (the lowest grade for which they were listed as standard).

The gun I recieved hit every checkbox as to the description. It is Damascus with 9 gauge barrels. No rust anywhere and smooth metal. Chambers are 10A as near as I can tell. The fences are sculpted on the top and bottom but not the sides. The topside has good engraving with sunbursts which are a duplicate of the ones on my 1880 grade 3 lifter. The locks are engraved similar to the ones on the 1880 with the exception that their is no dog in the center of the lockplate.

The stocks are original (numbered to the gun) and in good shape overall but very dirty. There is a little repaired chip out of the toe which I will re-repair. When I removed the stock their was a small closed crack inside below one lock. I will pin and glue this. The forend checkering is odd in that it is a 4 point design which is more than the future grade 3 carried. Checkering on both ends is filled with dirt, worn and compressed but should be able to be recut to the original flat top style. One barrel had been honed or bored out about 5-6 thousandths and was smooth and polished. Barrel wall thickness was good with over .050 left around the forearm and 30 to 40 all the way to the front.

The other barrel had never been touched and looked like a plowed field. I bored out the back 6 inches to the same level as the other barrel and it looks to be removing all the pitting. The remainder of the barrel is pitted but not as badly, so should clean up completely.

The gun is built on a 2 frame weighs about 8-1/2 pounds. One real oddity is that it has been converted to the newer lifter design. Parker did this on some guns, but this serial number is way before the earliest known conversion. The other thing is that instead of plugging the hole with a rod, the top hole was drilled and tapped for a set screw that is flush and timed to the other screws.

I have the gun completely apart and soaking (wood and metal) due to the grime. When I get it cleaned up, I will post some pictures before I start on the stocks.