Actual vs. Book - Barrel Length

[Jay Oliver]

I apologize in advance as I seem to have seen an answer to this question before, but I couldn't find it any of my forum searches.

Didn't some of the Parker barrels actually measure longer than they were listed in the serialization or record books? If so how much longer? Seems like I remember some posts mentioning 1/4" longer, but could they be 1/2" longer?

I put this in the hammer section as it concerns a hammer gun(lifter) I am considering buying. The barrel measurement is 1/2" longer than the serialization book and the seller is claiming full chokes. I will verify this in the morning as well, but seller claims it is a #'s matching gun.

Thank you,

Jay

[Dave Suponski]

Jay, Early on in the hammergun era we find several guns that measure 1/8"to 1/4" over /under the nominal length. 1/2" I,m sure is possible but I personally have not seen one.

[Jay Oliver]

Thanks Dave, that's what I thought I had read at some point, though I didn't realize they could also be shorter as well. I'll get to find out for myself as I bought the gun.

I really should know better by now but I couldn't help myself on this one. The gun was advertised as a 12 gauge. When I asked about barrel length and choke, I got 29.5" and "appears to be full choke". I don't know how they measured the barrels/chokes.

The serialization book shows it to be a: 1877 Grade 0, straight stock 10 gauge with 29" barrels. From the pictures it looked in a decent(but worn) original shape. The stock does not have checkering, which makes sense for a grade 0. The forearm has a crack though I don't know how serious. The screws I could see looked much nicer than I usually see on a grade 0 gun. I guess the serialization book could have the gauge wrong? All the serial numbers matched. I didn't see many 29" barrels in the serialization book. I guess part of me was thinking that they did know what the gun really was.

We'll see what I get. Either way(a 12 or a 10) I wanted this for some reason. I'll post some pictures when I get it next week. Jay

[Dean Romig]

When an order called for barrels of a particular length, to the best of my knowledge, those barrels would have been cut to exactly that length and on earlier guns sometimes a fraction or two longer. I have not seen evidence of barrels originally cut by the factory shorter than the ordered length.
But Dave's been at this longer than I have so I'll defer to him. :cool:





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[edgarspencer]

Barrels which measure under the book length by a fraction might be because of damage done to the muzzle.

[Craig Larter]

Here is a hammerless gun that letters with 32" BBls. It measures 31 3/4" but looks legit to me what say you?

[Dean Romig]

Bizarre... but as you say, it does look legit.





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[Jay Oliver]

I don't have any good examples of this myself and who knows what the deal is with this lifter I just bought. I was just curious.

The seller didn't seem too knowledgeable in my case, and it would be interesting if the gun really is a 10 gauge(instead of a 12). I was thinking the person measured the barrels the way a friend of mind would measure borderline keeper fish....with a slide across the ruler.

I does look like there are good examples of both fractionally longer/shorter barrels.

Thanks for the feedback, Jay

[wayne goerres]

What is the screw for in the middle of the dolls head.

[Dean Romig]

The screw holds the ejector stop plate in place in the 'dove-tailed' mortise in the end of the doll's head.






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[Jay Oliver]

I got the gun today and it is a 10 Gauge Serial# 10931 and the barrels measure 29 11/16” and are choked CYL/IC. The gun is actually a bit better than I expected. It is missing the front bead as you can see in the picture as well as the forearm tip iron/metal. I did have some fun(even without a front bead) and shot 40 black powder rounds though it, and hit few clays in the process. I’ll post some more pictures/info in another thread.

So the barrels are listed in the Serialization Book as 29 inches. Do you think Parker called them “29” because they started out as 30 at the factory and for whatever reason ended up more than a ¼” short? I posted a picture of the muzzle, the barrels are touching and where the bead should be looks right. Though I may be wrong.

[charlie cleveland]

nice gun cut or not..the old 10 s are lots of fun to shoot..there was a forearm on ebaymay still be there...charlie

[Jay Oliver]

Hi Charlie,

I think I missed the forearm you are talking about. I saw one last week that had the wood and the tip( and was the same grade), but I didn't know the frame size of the gun so I didn't bid. I believe I have a tip now and will keep the existing forearm wood, which isn't the best, but will work for my purposes. I did have alot of fun this afternoon shooting black powder shells through this "new" gun!

[Jay Oliver]

I got my answer through in the research letter today. Looks like barrels are correct.

[Dean Romig]

Wow! Those are TIGHT chokes! A great turkey gun you have there!





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[Jay Oliver]

I know this is an older thread.

However, I was looking through the Parker Story at some production numbers and noticed not many 10 gauge lifter guns were made with 29" barrels(only 2). The ones on this grade 0 lifter are Stub Twist. What would this do to the collectibility of a grade 0 gun? This gun is a well used shooter, but I did buy it because of the 29 inch barrels. By the way, I am assuming they(Parker) rounded down from the 29 1/2 in my letter, which may be wrong on my part(but the Serialization book has the barrels at 29).

Do I have something special? If not I still have the black powder shooter I wanted...

Thanks,

Jay

[Chuck Bishop]

I would guess that who ever compiled that list missed that entry in the stock book. If we could find the other 29" guns I could see if they just rounded down. 1/2" increments are rare and I would think inclusion in the chart would be important. Does it add value? In my opinion, little if anything but that's just my thinking.

[Jay Oliver]

Thanks Chuck, I should have added that there were also 21 10 gauge lifters with 29" plain twist barrels. I was just curious and maybe just a little hopeful/optimistic.