"New" 10 Gauge/ More Photos

[Patrick Butler]

Here are a few more photos of the 10. I tried to get the oiled surface of the stock, without much luck

It is, as you can see a grade two, but it has some nice engraving. The stock has some fairly good dimensions for a 1884 production Parker, LP from the middle of the front trigger is 14" and the drop is, by my inexperienced eye, 2 and 2 7/8.

[Mills Morrison]

Very nice. I have a similar one which I love as well. Yours seems to be in better shape than mine

[wayne goerres]

That looks like the twin to mine. Nice one.

[David Hamilton]

That could be one great shooting gun. David

[charlie cleveland]

mighty nice...charlie

[Patrick Butler]

Update on my 10 (#40,966):

After using some snap caps, I ordered a mixed case of RST loads and stopped by a local gunsmith to have the barrel thickness checked before I lugged this 3 frame to the range.
A new guy there took the barrels into the back and came out after a few minutes with the bad news that he found the minimum thickness to be .015 (groan). This was long after the three day inspection period and I drove home kicking myself for not investing the $600 for a decent thickness gauge. I now had a $1720 wall hanger, and just planned to clean it myself.

A few months later I took a look at those fantastic photos posted here by Gary Carmichael Sr. in "Just another C grade" and called up the gun builder (Brad) who did the work. Brad was very nice on the phone, asked me several questions re this old Parker and finished with the suggestion that the measurements made might be incorrect and that I should try another gunsmith who worked a lot with doubles.

Finding a decent double smith in N California is no small job as most of the best have retired. I finally asked the folks at my local sporting clays range who worked on the 30+ over and under they had for rental and they referred me to a gunsmith in San Jose.
I watched, waiting for more bad news as he spent about thirty minutes checking out the full length of the barrels just making an occasional "hmm". At the end he said that the minimum thickness, and that was way out at just before the chokes, was .058 ! In addition, the barrels rang well, and the face was very tight and the bores looked great.

I called Brad up that day and mailed this old boy to him. Brad called me back the next week and confirmed all of the gunsmith's measurements, saying that the minimum thickness was over.058, he could find no cracks in the stock, and that what I thought were scratches on the bottom of the receiver were casting marks. He mentioned that this was one of the best condition hammer guns he had inspected that was of this age and that it looked like it had had very little use. I quickly agreed to his reasonable offer for a complete restoration and should have this old duck-killer back by December.

I'll post photos when it returns. This hammer forum saved my old Parker from the wall and it will be back in the field late this year. Thank you all for this great web site.

[Dave Noreen]

I'm thinking you mean .058" :)

[Patrick Butler]

I'm thinking you mean .058" :)

Opps. Yes, thank you, it was .058". .I wonder what .58 barrels on a 10 would weigh?

[Mills Morrison]

You should feel lucky to have such a nice gun. These old hammer guns are hard to find in as good a condition as yours.

[Rich Anderson]

I have been shooting more hammer guns lately and have just received a grade 2 lifter from 1880. She could use to have the barrels refinished but I'll check wall thickness and chokes tomorrow. Also there is a grade 1 top lever on it's way....damn I'm hopeless:rolleyes:

You have a very nice gun there and I'm sure the waterfowl in your area will not be happy about it.

[David Hamilton]

My experience with an old 10 ga Parker which came to me in wall hanger condition, i.e.. it had not been cleaned since black powder went out, was similar to yours. The gun in #6100
serial number range turned out to be a great gun and I shoot it ofter. David

[wayne goerres]

You have the incurable disease (I have to many guns and I ain't buying any more). Where have I heard this before. I am pretty sure I said exactly the same thing just last week.

[Mills Morrison]

My two working hammer guns are 10 gauges. I have two in the shop (one with Brian Dudley and one with Darlington Gun Works) that are 12 gauges and am looking forward to having some 12's to shoot. Then I need a 16 . . .

[Rich Anderson]

16ga hammer guns are a slippery slope...I know all to well:corn:

[Mills Morrison]

At least 16 gauge hammer guns are harder to find. If it is not there, it is hard to get tempted.

[Dean Romig]

Are 16 gauge hammer guns on the 0-Frame really that hard to find....?

Jeez, I feel like such a hoarder... :o

[Rick Losey]

Are 16 gauge hammer guns on the 0-Frame really that hard to find....?

Jeez, I feel like such a hoarder... :o

well there's a reason they are hard to find

now

[Mills Morrison]

They don't show up on the gun websites very much, while 12 and 10 gauges are a dime a dozen

[jim garrett]

Patrick, I have had some experience trying to remove oil from an oil soaked stock. You may have seen my references to the "boathouse gun" and it was a prime example fo an oil soaked stock. When I first received the gun, someone had spray painted the entire gun black...good paint job as there were no runs. After I remove the black paint with an aircraft paint stripper I found that the stock had quite a bit of soaked in oil. I tried many of the conventional methods...acetone soaking, paint thinner soaking, more paint remover, acetone mixed with whiteing compound. ...no good results. I was working on the stock one day and stopped to do another chore and as I passed by my truck, I placed the stock in the bed of my truck. When I came back 30-45 minutes later the stock was soaking wet with the oil that had leached out of the stock. I immediately wiped it down with an acetone soaked rag and put it back in the bed of my truck. I was able to remove all of the oil from the stock in one afternoon by this method. Now, bear in mind that I live in the Tampa, Florida area and it was rather warm that day but, the heat process works and I have had no problem with the finish on the stock. By the way, the "boat" shot a 25 in the Parker-Smith hammergun challenge at the Southern this year so the oil removal method did not hamper the functions of the shotgun.. Jim Garrett

[Mills Morrison]

I am going to try that. That is a good idea.

[Richard Flanders]

Brushing with acetone and gingerly using a heat gun or hair dryer works very well and doesn't take long. I cleaned up an LCSmith that way last year. Just brush on acetone until it won't take any more than hit it with the heat and the oil just oozes out and can be wiped off with paper towel or a rag of cotton Tshirt. Repeat until happy.

[jim garrett]

If you really want to get happy fast, try M.E.K. in a closed room. You will get so happy that you'll forget why you are there! Jim Garrett

[Bill Zachow]

Patrick, I am a little confused about Brad stating that the marks on the receiver were "casting" marks. I was/am under the impression that Parker forged and machined their receivers. Not criticizing, just really wondering.

[Patrick Butler]

Patrick, I am a little confused about Brad stating that the marks on the receiver were "casting" marks. I was/am under the impression that Parker forged and machined their receivers. Not criticizing, just really wondering.

You are, of course, right re the Parker production process. Perhaps I misunderstood Brad's remarks as they were made to my cell as I was walking down the street and I was focused on the good news re the lack of cracks (so far) in that old Linseed oil-covered stock. I'll ask him about the marks when he checks in after the 10 is broken down.

I do remember pictures of another hammer gun posted on this site some time back that had similar marks in the same area. Perhaps they are both just scratches and it was a coincidence...

[Noel McCormack]

Beautiful Parker Patrick!

It looks just like the 1884 10 gauge grade 2 hammer gun SN 41762 I got last Fall. You can roll your own loads - check out the Ballistic Products web page.
I used the "Perfect Duck" reduced pressure load recipe I found on the L.C. Smith collector's page. It worked well on Canada geese.

[Kevin McCormack]

If you really want to get happy fast, try M.E.K. in a closed room. You will get so happy that you'll forget why you are there! Jim Garrett

Be especially wary of MORE than adequate ventilation when working with MEK - it is a devastating nephrotoxicant, meaning it is especially harmful to the kidneys. Also affects liver function adversely, as does any solvent with a very high Reed vapor pressure such as acetone. Work with these outdoors or in an open garage with cross ventilation if the weather's crappy.

[Patrick Butler]

I just received the letter for this 10 (my thanks to Chuck for his fast response) and it reflects the present condition of this old hammer gun.

What was interesting was that the letter indicates that this "Quality 2" 10 was listed by Parker at $85 but was sold for only $42 to John P. Lovell and Sons in Boston, MA. The order date was October 26, 1985 and it was shipped on October 29 of the same year. How would you like to order a few at that price?

Anyway, I figured that there must have been a real drop in the economy for Parker to give such a large discount and Googled the dates of major US recessions. Sure enough, there was a very bad recession here that lasted from 1882 through 1985 which included "the panic of 1884" that put several big banks under.

I have read that Parker gave discounts to retailers, but 51% sounds a bit high.

[Dean Romig]

I know of a pair of A Grade 10 gauge guns that went to a Boston dealer in the same time frame as part of a 30 gun order and both consecutively numbered A's were sold to the dealer for $50 each.

[Patrick Butler]

I know of a pair of A Grade 10 gauge guns that went to a Boston dealer in the same time frame as part of a 30 gun order and both consecutively numbered A's were sold to the dealer for $50 each.

Dean:

I would guess that there was quite a large mark-up on the A's price when they hit the showroom. Do you know the date of that sale?

Thank you very much for your many comments on this site, as they have really helped me in the long process of learning about Parkers.

Patrick

[Dean Romig]

I do not remember the exact date. I do know that the business went up in flames a short time after and many of the guns in this order went back to Parker Bros for credit but the two A's were not among those that went back.

We continue to learn more almost every day about Parkers. As long as we all keep an open mind the learning will go on for a long, long time to come.