20 gauge parker

[charlie cleveland]

i recieved the gun today it is a parker d grade 20 ga with damascus barrels 28 inch...i ve been cleaning on it and it dont look to bad..in fact i cleaned the barrels out hardly any pitting most was at theforceing cones..gun has a coupla dents in barrel really have to look close on the inside of barrels to see the one that shows on the inside..i demed the gun to be safe so i took and shot it 4 times at the dr pepper can at 70 steps i first shot the right barrel which is bored factory cly.did not put a shot in the can..shot left barrel which is full choke put 5 shot in the can have never had a 20 ga to put over 2 shot in the can.shot left barrel again only put 1 shot in can.this is more like a twenty at that distance..moved up to 40 step line and shot right barrel again it put lots of shot in the can..i never counted them but it was full of holes... i am vert pleased with this gun this gun does not kick much like my other russ jackson 20 ga does for some reason also have 20 lc smith that kicks and a lefever that kicks and i shoot same loads in all these gun and the lefever is a straight stock like this d grade parker is..i once read that a damascus barrel gun did not kick as bad as steel barrel guns..i just know that this gun s kick is a lot lighter than those 3 other guns..theres a lot of history already known about this gunwe know that the gun was ordered for a mister robert wood johnson of the johnson and johnson fame he was founder of this company we know it was ordered in 1902 and the stock was changed from pistol grip tp straight stock. we know it was sent back and right barrel was bored to cly..stock is nice on the gun but is not a fancy stock.probably not a parker stock it could be only you experts will be able to figure this out for me.. this is the gun i bought on the for sale site from jeff bonidier sorry bout the last name spelling jeff..i m well pleased with the gun..serial no of this gun was102433 one thing i noticed the trigger guard has been broken and repaired but a nice job in my opinion... will take pictures and send them to somebody to post for me...charlie

[Dennis V. Nix]

Congratulations on the new Parker, Charlie. I wish you much luck on future hunts with it.
Can't wait to see the photos.

Dennis

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

Charlie: I can,t wait to hear the story on your first kill with this nice 20 Parker. Thomas

[charlie cleveland]

will posts pictures as soon as possible its not a classey gun but the engraving is still sharp no case colors except under forearm and on the flats of the breech.. but it is a damascus barrel..mite get some of the boys who redo damascus to renew the colors someday..gun shoots fine will take out the one dent and keep cleaning on it.i will have to get me some of that majic heck cannot remember name of the stuff like still wool the boys all talk about... thomas i think i mite shoot this gun first day of squirl season it really handles well and that left barrel thats full choke really hammered that can... i still aint found out much on mr johnson..dont know if he shot this gun a lot or if some one else did...charlie

[wayne goerres]

Nice to hear you are pleased with it. Hope you kill more than just Dr Pepper cans with it.

[Eldon Goddard]

shot left barrel which is full choke put 5 shot in the can have never had a 20 ga to put over 2 shot in the can.

So much for my guess of 1 hole. Hope you have fun with the gun Mr. Cleveland.

[Daryl Corona]

Welcome to the dark side Charlie, the addictive world of smallbore Parkers. (and a damascus one to boot!)

[Mills Morrison]

Congratulations on a fine new gun! Would be perfect for dove hunting

[charlie cleveland]

i have a question on this 20 ga..there is a 0 stamped on the barrel lug which i know means 0 frame size but next to it is the number 8.. theres also a d and a 4 on the barrel flat i know the d stands for damascus but what does the 4 stand for..does it stand for4 grade damascus... charlie

[Russ Jackson]

Hi Charlie ,Congrats on your new Parker ,She's a beauty !!:bowdown: I have one similar ,I should be getting mine back from Jerry Andrews shortly ,he is removing some dings and dents for me and refinishing the Dam. Barrels ! Well this adds another twenty to the Collection for you ,enjoy Her Charlie and Good Shooting to You ! Russ

[Dean Romig]

Hello Charlie,

I have a DH 20 with 28" Damascus barrels and the barrel flat of the right barrel also has a D with a 4 immediately above it. I believe it must stand for '4 iron crolle'. I know most Grade 2 (G) guns have '3 iron crolle' so it would make sense to me that the higher Grade 3 gun would have a higher grade of Damascus.
my barrel weight is 3 lbs., 2 oz. and at the rear of the flat is a 3 which stands for Grade 3. There is also a C and I don't know the significance of that.
On the flat of the left barrel is only W.K. in an oval which is the stamp of Walter King and an ampersand (&) and I don't know the significance of that either.

I couldn't guess at the 8 on your lug so I'll leave that alone.

Dean

[Rich Anderson]

Charlie congrats on the 20. I recently got a damascuss 16 choked the same way as your 20. I haven't shot it yet but will use spreaders in the left barrel. I don't understand why a gun for the uplands would be choked IC/F, it makes no sense to me but what do I know, I don't even have a Dr Pepper can!:rotf:

[Dean Romig]

Rich, mine is choked Cyl and Full according to my research letter. I'm not going to argue with Admiral Perry. He knew his stuff when it came to bird dogs and upland guns.

[edgarspencer]

I have a DH 20 with 28" Damascus barrels and the barrel flat of the right barrel also has a D with a 4 immediately above it. I believe it must stand for '4 iron crolle'. I know most Grade 2 (G) guns have '3 iron crolle' so it would make sense to me that the higher Grade 3 gun would have a higher grade of Damascus.

Dean, I have a 16 gauge GH two barrel set and both barrels have a D with a 4 above it. Since it is possible the gun was a special order, I wonder if a higher grade barrel was requested.

[Rich Anderson]

Dean my CHE 16 was ordered CYL/F but for Grouse, Woodcock and Pheasants I would much rather have IC/M at the tightest but they are what they are and spreaders will help.

I have a GHE damascuss 20 I'll look at the barrel flats and see what the markings are.

[Russ Jackson]

Okay Fellas ,I'll chime in here also ,My G Grade 20 Has a D with a 4 above it same as Edgar's with a barrel weight of 3 LB. even ,it also has an 0 on the Barrel Lug with a small number 9 ? I am sorry ,I can't comment on my D Grade 20 as it is not home ,if Jerry reads this maybe he will post what is on the Flats and lug of that gun also !

[Dean Romig]

I just took a very close look at mine and the barrels are in fact 4 iron crolle. This is defined as having between the weld lines three full Damascus rosettes bordered by a half rosette on each side.
Three iron crolle (or croile as some spell it) has two full rosettes bordered by a half rosette on each side between the weld lines. I have three G's with three iron crolle.

I have seen Grade 4 (C) guns with 4 iron crolle but the Grade 5 (B) began the DD (Finest Damascus) barrels but I don't remember if that was 5 iron crolle or 6. Drew would know for sure.

[Justin Julian]

Charlie, that sure sounds like a nice one...how about some photos?

[Daryl Corona]

My GHE 20 Dam, 28" also has D4 on the flats with a barrel weight of 3-1 and a small K stamped on the lug next to the O. It is also choked IC/Full.

[Rich Anderson]

My GHE 20 damascuss also has the D4 on the flats. It's 26 inch bbl weight was 2lb 14oz. i have no idea of the chokes.

[charlie cleveland]

took the 20 ga hunting this morning when i drove up to the field there was about 25 canadian honkers at about a 100 yards in the field..goose season is in here...i waited till they fed over a little rise they could not see me..so i decided to try and sneak up on them every thing was going as to plan except about 4 doves and 6 kildees got up and so did the geese..yep needed the old 10 or 8 ga ... i then set up my shooting chair by a powerline post in come a doveyes sir winged with the cly barrel and finished up with full choke..little guns first bird in quite a while iamagine..in about 15 minutes here comes another dove bang bang a clear miss but here comes what looks to be a small deer yes it was a deer it grazed for a few moments and went its way..no more doves seen so went to the house a real good morning by any standards... charlie

[Dennis V. Nix]

Charlie, that sounds like a great start for a great gun. Congratulations.

Dennis