Should I buy this? 12 gauge Parker.

[Dean Romig]

I don’t know in what year Parker Bros. adopted the use of DD (6-iron crolle) Damascus barrels but as I posted earlier, it is EXTERMELY unusual, even unlikely, that PB would have put them on grades lower than 5 (B) and even less likely that they would have been the primary barrel set on a Grade 2 gun.... but anything’s possible I suppose.

To know if those barrels are truly 6-iron crolle they would need to be refinished, at least in part, in order to count the ribbands.





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[Drew Hause]

Very interesting Jerry. I tried to enhance the contrast of your image without much success, but there is definitely a crolle pattern with smallish scrolls; it could be 6 Iron. Could you post an image of a section of barrel with more contrast?

This is a 1878 Grade 2 with a 'D' and difficult to see large scrolls; likely 3 Iron "Oxford"



Another Grade 2 with 3 Iron



A 1874 $250 grade with 3 Iron "Oxford"



Another 1874 $250 grade with 4 Iron "Turkish"



$250 grade with 6 Iron "Turkish"



Unfortunately, I don't know if the flats had nothing, 'D', or 'DD'.
For what it's worth (not much) I believe the D3, D4, B, and DD or D6 marks started with the hammerless guns.