New member from Knoxville

[Christopher Hall]

Hello all. I joined this forum several years ago and posted some pictures of my inherited Parker, but it appears my thread was lost when the forum moved servers.

I live in Knoxville, TN and have inherited a Parker G grade 12 gauge from my grandfather. Based on the serial number it was made in 1906, and it also has Damascus barrels. I recall that some one mentioned the stock was not original in my previous thread. I have not requested a letter yet, but it is on my todo list.

My main question is whether there is a knowledgable Damascus gunsmith in East Tennessee who could evaluate my shotgun and let me know the soundness of it.

Since we all love photos, I have attached several below. If anyone would like to fill me in on the barrel markings or any other details, I would very much appreciate it. I know the 3-15 means 3 lb, 15 oz barrels, and the 1 1/2 indicates frame size, but I am not sure about the others. Sorry if any of the photos are unclear, I am not a photographer.

Thanks!

[Bruce Day]

xxx

[Brian Dudley]

In my opinion, the buttstock on your GH is not original. Certain things like the shape of the grip, cheek panels and comb are hints to this. Also, the butt does not look to have enough curve to it for an original unaltered Dogs Head Buttplate. One thing is for sure... the checkering on the wrist is no where near correct for the grade or any Parker for that matter.

I would not recommend just shooting the barrels with modern over the counter shells without getting the wall thickness and bores checked out. Chances are there are no issues with them, but the only way to know for sure is to have them checked out with the proper equipment.

I can also say that your barrels have been blued at one time long ago.

[Christopher Hall]

Thanks Brian. You are correct, the butt plate is just plain, without the dogs head or any markings at all.

Will the reblued barrels have any effect on the strength of the metal? To be honest, I am much more interested in being able to hunt with it versus having a perfect condition gun.

My grandfather used this gun to hunt ducks in the marshes just south of Boston. He told me he used it with nitro for a quite a while but eventually the Damascus rumors got to him. He would get nervous and turn his head and close his eyes every time he fired so he switched to his "newer" (mid-1940s) shotguns to keep hunting. He told me all this in the mid 2000s but I don't know when he stopped hunting, which is why I would like to get the barrels checked out.

[Brian Dudley]

Based on what I see on the barrel flats and lugs, it looks to me like it was either rust blued or cold blued. So, there would not have been any compromising of the solder joints. All that would have been done is polishing. So, as long as they were not over polished, there should be no issues. That is where checking out the wall thickness is important.

[Bob Hardison]

Brian: Thanks for your input. It's amazing to me that you are able to see these details and describe your observations so well. Bob

[Christopher Hall]

Thanks for the info Brian. I agree with Bob, it is incredible the details you can ascertain from small and bad pictures.

Any one know what the 3 over D and the C on the barrel flats indicate?

[Dean Romig]

The D represents Damascus and the 3 represents 3-iron crolle.

We don't know for certain what the C represents, though there have been many speculative suggestions.

[charlie cleveland]

you ve got a nice shooter there it lookjs to me...please get barrels checked out...your lucky to have your grandpa s gun and also him getting to tell you what he hunted with it...i shoot damascus all time...charlie

[Christopher Hall]

Thanks Dean. I did some searching but only found a mention of the C being a possible inspectors mark. Are there other ideas?

Charlie, I am excited about getting this all checked out and taking it out in the woods. Just seems a shame to let it sit in safe when it looks like it wants to be working. Like having a Ferrari and leaving it parked in the garage all the time.

[charlie cleveland]

your old parker is something special especially being your grandfathers gun...all my parkers are shooters but each one is priceless..when you take your gun hunting you will not forget the 1 st hunt with it...most of the time while hunting i catch myself just looking and admiring the old parker..you ll do the same i m sure....charlie

[Christopher Hall]

Can't believe I forgot to ask - my s/n is 139228. Anything in the book about it?

I ask, because it has 28" barrels, they appear uncut, but there is no "smooth" part on the rib in front of the bead. The wavy pattern continues right up until the end. I thought there should have been a smooth part on uncut barrels?

[Steve Huffman]

book has it at 28

[Christopher Hall]

Thanks. Are the wavy lines supposed to go all the way to the end? Here is how mine look.

[Bob Hardison]

Christopher: The barrels do not look cut to me. The barrels touch and wedge appears intact. Also, the lines appear to stop just short of the muzzle. Could be that someone milled the muzzle slightly to correct an "ouch". Others here will be able to tell for sure. Bob

[Dean Romig]

For whatever reason, the matting ends correctly and there is no line marking the end of the matting... however, the end of the rib has been engraved with the 'zig-zag' border similar, but longer than, the border engraving or "graver walk" on the V-grade frames. I've only seen this on a very few Parkers.

The "wavy lines" are called 'rib matting' and this was done on Parker Bros. matting machine.
Parker Pages published a two-part article on Parker Bros. various machining processes in manufacturing the Parker Gun. Rib matting was fully described in the articles.

Bob refers to the "wedge" appearing to be intact - I agree. The "wedge" however, is called the "keel" and there several of these spaced strategically beneath the top and bottom ribs that were used to properly align and space the ribs for the soldering process.

[Christopher Hall]

Thanks Bob. I guess I was expecting to see a distinct area without the lines at the end of the rib.

Interesting Dean. Does it look like Parker original work or possibly added when the barrels were reblued? Would a letter tell me anything about this?

[Brian Dudley]

The zig zag engraving on the end is very interesting. First time I have seen that. Everything else looks legit to me. Well... Except for the screw for a sight bead.

[Dean Romig]

Well... Except for the screw for a sight bead.


I have a Stevens 20 ga. pump that had a crummy adjustable choke on it when I bought it new in '64. I cut the barrel just behind that thing and drilled and tapped it and installed a brass screw and filed it to a nice ball.

Don't knock it til you've tried it :biglaugh:

[Dean Romig]

Thanks Bob. I guess I was expecting to see a distinct area without the lines at the end of the rib.

Interesting Dean. Does it look like Parker original work or possibly added when the barrels were reblued? Would a letter tell me anything about this?

The few other Parkers I've seen with this feature all looked original to me, as does yours.... but we'll never know for sure because I'll bet a nickel a research letter wouldn't mention it.

Dean