General Question

[tommacmillan]

Hello All,
I am new to this forum/site, so I appreciate your patience. I have a Parker 12 gauge with damascus steel barrels, serial number 66542. There is a 2 and a G above and below the stamped serial number. There is also a D, 3, and 15 stamped on the flat. Can anyone tell me about this gun, along with a ballpark value?
thanks!

[Brush Buster]

Hello Tom ,If you have your serial# Typed in correctly ,The Serialization book shows your gun as being a PT , Plain Twist Barrels ,H ,Hammerless ,with a Capped Pistol Grip Stock in 16 Ga. with 28" Barrels ! Built in 1891 ! As for Grade we refer to this as a GH or a # 2 Grade . The stampings are D for Damascus and the 3 ,15 is the Unstruck Barrel weight ! As for price it all depends on condition ,in the pictures ,it looks as most others of its age but All things have to be considered before pricing ,Barrel Wall Thickness especially ,pitting in the Bores especially from the middle to the ends of the barrels, if the gun is still tight and on face ,very hard to give a true value without quite a bit more info ! Best ; Russ

[OH Osthaus]

interesting - according to the book 66542 should be a 16 gauge grade 0 with 28 inch twist barrels- the book is occasionally wrong

edit --->yeah -like Russ said

[B. Dudley]

Yeah, this gun is not a PH grade, nor does it have twist barrels. Deffinately a GH with Damacusus. And I am sure the owner knows what guage it is.

Tom,

What length are those barrels? They look very long in the photo. 32"?
Is this a No. 1 or No. 2 frame gun? This will be marked on the bottom of the barrel locking lug.

The GH grade is a very nice one that a lot of Parker collectors start out with since they are readily available at fair prices. Especially for Damascus guns.
The value of the gun will be more determined by the overall condition as well as other details like shottable condition. How is the lockup? Are the bores nice? Wall thickness along with bore condition will determine if it is a shooter.
It is hard to tell for sure bt your photos, but it looks like your GH is in good condition overall, but with very little original metal finish left. Looks like the gun was well used, but cared for. Straight and non buggarded screws are always a big plus. Yours are pretty good. I can say that if this gun is shootable, a value of around $1,500 might be good given what we see here.

[Bill Murphy]

Tom, recheck that serial number and get back to us.

[Brush Buster]

Brian ,I was thinking with the Barrel weight ,it may in fact be a 16 Ga. # 1 Frame Gun or possibly a # 1 Frame 12 ?? As for the owner knowing ,Maybe/ Probably ,but I just recently purchased a Miller @ Val Greiss Drilling and thought I was buying a 28 Ga. Ends up it is a 24 Ga.! And like a Dummy ,I even admit to it on the internet !

[Fishtail]

If that is in fact a 12 there's little chance it would break $1000.

[Bill Murphy]

I agree with Greg. The forearm shows some serious field use. Heavy G Grade Damascus guns are great shooters, but only have collector value when in fairly high condition.

[tommacmillan]

thanks for the response. It is a #1 frame gun with 32" tubes. There does not appear to be any pitting, and the action is very "tight"

[OH Osthaus]

Originally Posted by tommacmillan

thanks for the response. It is a #1 frame gun with 32" tubes. There does not appear to be any pitting, and the action is very "tight"

Did you verify the serial number?