Acquired my earliest Parker

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

I picked this up from a nice fella and he has to go home and look for some more of the accessories that came with it but says they are somewhere and will find them. The ser. no. is 1968. Thomas

[paul stafford jr]

way cool , how long do I have to wait for you to sell it to me

[Bill Murphy]

I can't really tell what is missing, but the wooden wad seater should not be hard to find, or make. By the way, what is going on with the condition of this gun? Is it as good as it looks? I guess we need more pictures of the gun out of the case.

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

I will post some more photo's on Sunday and the gun is real tight and for its age I would say decent condition. I sent off for a letter and will wait for that before I get too excited. Thomas

[todd allen]

Wow, that is quite a find! More pictures would be great, as well as specs and dimensions.

[Dean Romig]

You're a very lucky fella Thomas.

[Rick Losey]

be still my heart :shock:

that early of a gun case with accessories - what a find

looks like a spot for a wad cutter and a wooden rammer/loading tube - they will both show up for 12 ga on ebay almost any time you look

do a search for vintage reloading tools

[Rick Losey]

way cool , how long do I have to wait for you to sell it to me

not for sale ---he never used the parasol handle in the pictures :rotf:

[Eric Eis]

What a find....!

[Chuck Bishop]

Thomas, you won't get much info from a letter. It's too early for the order books and it's in the stock book but about all I can read is weight, stock dimensions, and patterning info. I can't read the gauge or barrel steel. There is what looks like either a 0 or D written in red pen in the left hand column. It could either mean it's a 0 grade or has Damascus barrels. What is the barrel steel?

[Brian Dudley]

Thomas,
Great find! The gun looks to be in great condition.
I had the chance to inspect and make an offer on a similar gun about a year ago in Syracuse. It was a serial number right around 1,000 if I remember correctly. It was an open ended offer and I never heard back from the seller. It would not be too hard to get all the accessories to complete what is missing. The most expensive part would be getting all the missing shells.
But the value may be diminished since the shells would not be original to the set. :rotf:

[wayne goerres]

It is a great find. It should make the parker pages. The earliest and latest survivors list.

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

Chuck: I would be interested in who purchased the gun originally and what ever is available. It is decarbonited Steel. The check is in the mail. Thomas

[Mills Morrison]

Very nice! I love the accessories and case. That is a real find

[Chuck Bishop]

Only the order books list the purchaser. Sorry

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

Chuck: It has a B above the ser. no. on the water table and I found a name wrote in pencil on the stock under the butt plate. The Ser. no. is the same on all parts except the trigger guard is 1969 and the rest is 1968. I notices in the book that 1969 was optioned the same and I wonder if the person that had 1969 doesn't have the trigger guard with ser. no. 1968. The gun looks like it came from a town in New York which I will have to investigate further. Thomas

[Chuck Bishop]

Good luck with the gun Tom. The real early lifters in the range of 1500 to about 8000 are only in the stock books. The real early ones like yours have very faded pencil entries and many columns are not readable such as the gauge of your gun and the stock grip. At least I know yours is a straight grip as are many of those old guns in your S/N range. Please include the gauge it is in your letter. If the barrels appear uncut, include the length. Hope it's not one of those 11 gauges!

[Rick Losey]

its a 12 ga with 30" by the book

switched trigger guard, wonder if that was an oops at the factory or it someone owned both

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

The Parker spent some time in Oneida New York because that was wrote in pencil on stock butt. I bet they put the wrong trigger guard on this gun. Thomas

[Rick Losey]

Onieda was a well to do factory town at the point that gun was made. And home to the Onieda silver company, likely would have been good grouse hunting locally and in the nearby Adirondacks, as well as waterfowling on Onieda Lake and the nearby Mohawk river.

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

Rick: Sorry but I thought it was spelled Oneida.This getting to be interesting,.Thomas

[Rick Losey]

Rick: Sorry but I thought it was spelled Oneida.This getting to be interesting,.Thomas

it is - eye kant tipe

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

Photo's I said I would post on Sunday.It needs a good cleaning and should be ready to go. Thomas

[Daryl Corona]

Thomas, you really hit the jackpot on this one. Very, very nice!

[Rick Losey]

beautiful - really

I don't know that I have seen worm in a cleaning kit for a breech loader before

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

I'm just guessing it came as a accessory with the cleaning rod and it would work for whatever type of shotgun you had. Thomas

[Larry Mason]

What a great find, Thomas. Thank you for the pictures.

[Jeff Bonadurer]

Thomas,

Congrats on the great gun. Looks in beautiful condition.
The case served its purpose well.

Best regards,

Jeff

[Dean Freeman]

Thomas,
What a beauty. I'm sure we can look forward to more eye candy. My congrats for your find. Forget the fact that i'm consumed with envy, I'm beside myself with abject lust for that case and the acoutrements which are sure to follow. Good on ya'.
I respectfully ask for some photos and dimensions of the case, acessories, and of course, the gun, in my thread... "Parker takedown case project", currently on page two of the general discussions page. Please know that i'm thankful for whatever you post here and will in no way be put out if you don't have the time. You've already made my day!
Best,
Dean

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

Dean: I was not aware of request but now I am and will send you anything that you need to complete your project. I will take some measurements in a couple days and wish you luck in your endeavor. Thomas

[David Noble]

Thomas, do you plan to shoot this gun? The reason I'm asking is I have a Parker back action gun from the same period with decarbonized steel barrels.
If you shoot yours, please post your results and what shell/load you used.
Congrats on your new find. It is indeed a dandy!

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

David: I don't know when but will shoot it probably just to take some type of upland game and then put it away and use my hunting Parkers after that. Thomas

[Carl Erickson Jr]

Thomas: when you measure the dimensions of the case please post them so I can try to make a similar case.

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

Carl: I will do my best to post them in a couple days. Thanks Thomas

[Mills Morrison]

I have been advised to not shoot Decarbonize and Steel barrels. I have a back action too and that was the advice I heard from Drew Hause who should know.

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

Mills: I would think that this gun has been shot before. What was the reason he gave. Thomas

[Dean Romig]

Decarbonized Steel are likely the weakest steel used on Parker shotguns.

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

Has anyone on this forum ever blew up a set of barrels with Decarbonated steel and if so I would like to see the pictures. I believe you but I just would like to see the proof. Thanks Thomas

[Dean Romig]

I think an equally appropriate question would be "Has anyone on this forum ever fired a Parker with Decarbonated Steel barrels?"

[Dean Romig]

Don't get me wrong Thomas - you have a super nice Parker there that a lot of people would love to have in their collections. I'm not criticizing the gun at all.

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

Dean: No problem,I didnt take it that way. I remember as a kid everyone told me not to shoot the model 97 winchester with the ammo of that time and I probably shot hundreds of shells through it. I just can,t believe that a gun manufacturer would sell barrels that were that vulnerable to the public. Thomas

[Mills Morrison]

Check out post no. 15:

http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthread.php?t=12019&page=2

[Erick Dorr]

I can't answer the question about safety of shooting decarbonized steel. I have a back action with these barrels. The barrels are good but the gun is a project in pieces. If I ever get it back together again I won't personally be in a hurry to shoot it. Getting my ear pierced gave me one to many holes in my head.
If these are indeed musket barrels, there are certainly a lot more muzzleloaders out there still stuffing powder and ball down these barrels. So I ask those more experienced what are the barrel wall thicknesses and pressures in these muzzleloaders compared to a lite shotgun charge and load?
This is another approach to the question of safety of these barrels.
For a long time shooting Damascus in all its forms was heretical. Now we have a growing group who appreciate shooting Damascus with proper loads.
By the way that is one fine gun and case with accessories. A beautiful find.
Best,
Erick

[Thomas L. Benson Sr.]

This is for anyone that is interested in the measurements of my Parker case. Please PM me and can send photo's like these which total I believe 21 photo's. Thomas