New guy ,just found a Parker

[chris dawe]

http://s951.photobucket.com/albums/ad357/_heiko/parker/ It's a 12 gauge 30 inch bbl ,the barrel's are marked Parker Bros Makers.Meridian Conn.Bernard steel there is still quite alot of figure showing ,the left bbl however has a few small dent's,also there is a sling stud installed and a teeny brass rear sight just ahead of the doll's head.The only marking on the barrel flat's are a faint A on the left side and a B then 3 1/4 then C then 4 on the right
The forend is origional with matching ser#.
The receiver is coverd in a fine scroll,with no finish left, the side's depict pointing dog's the underside depict's a running deer,the water table has a patent Jan 18,Aug 16 1887 then May 7.Oct 8 1889 on the right side on the left there the serial #84762 with a 4 above it and a C below.
The buttstock is broken at the wrist and crudely repaired the checkering seem's to be about 18 lpi ,much coarser than the forend,it also has a cheekrest and a plain butt plate ...so I'm thinking they're not origional.
The gun lock's up real tight ,the lever right of center and the bore's are quite good....I picked the gun up for a pennance imo ,just thinking of it as a project to add to the pile:banghead: so any help would be appreciated,the bbl dent's I will remove myself, I'm also capeable of the restock...any help or advice with the other stuff greately appreciated

[Robin Lewis]

You have a 'C' grade Parker. And that's a good one to have! Congratulations on your find.

If you restock it you can see other C grade Parkers if you follow the Parker Grades link on the left side of the Parkerguns.org page. Ask questions here and I'm sure you will get the best knowledge on checkering patterns and lines per inch, butt finish , etc.

Great find!

[Dean Romig]

Hi Chris and welcome! I responded to your post on the other forum and I'm glad to see you coming to the PGCA forum for opinions.
84762 is shown as a Grade 4 or CH with Damascus barrels - however, it is either a misprint or the gun went back to Parker Bros. for replacement Bernard barrels. My opinion is that the "book" is wrong and the gun was most probably made with the Bernard barrels. It is shown to have a capped pistol grip and 30" barrels. Of course the book says nothing about the unusual stock or the sling attachments. Those things might be addressed in a letter which we would urge you to send for. A Parker of that quality was not ordered by any ordinary chicken farmer for predator control and whoever he was, he may well have been a shooter or businessman of some fame and notoriety. Please send for a letter before you do anything to that rare Parker.

Dean

[chris dawe]

Wow guy's ...thank's so much for your help thus far,I geuss the letter is the next step thank's again

[chris dawe]

I'm sending for the reasearch letter tomorrow,do anyone else have any thought's on this gun ?.........seem's like everyone left the building:whistle:

[Dave Suponski]

Please share the content's of the letter with us when it arrives. Can you post some pictures of the gun?

[Dean Romig]

Nope, haven't left the building - just sitting around waiting for the pictures of your Parker.

[chris dawe]

There are some pic's in the top left corner of my first post,they seem to take a while to open ,and again I apoligize for the quality it's the only camera I own .

Thank's for the interest fella's

[chris dawe]

O.K fella's ,I just got the letter.....the gun was ordered by Buhl & sons and company in Detroit on April the 17 ,1896 and shipped on June 9 of the same year the barrel's were 30 inch damascus (bernard ) choke's were full and full the order specified a stock sheild engraved BM ,length of pull was specified at 14 1/4 drop at 3 and a weight of 7 lb's at a price of $150.00 ....basically that's all I have.The gun has sling swivel's installed (unfortunately ) the stock is not origional and broken at the wrist and there was a rear sight installed about an inch ahead of the doll's head (very unsightly) damascus is quite visible with a couple dent's (wich I've removed) the bore's are quite good,and the receiver has no color left......So basically ,what have I got here ?...personally I would like to keep it, restocked of course to my dimension's the sling swivel and sight would be plugged for now untill a better repair can be made.

Any advice greatly apprciated,thank-you in advance

[Pat Dugan]

To view pictures, right click on the red X, then select open link and the pictures will show


PDD

[Larry Frey]

Hi Chris,
Somhow I missed your original post. Please tell me how you determined the buttstock to be non-original. Did you look under the trigger guard to see if the serial number was stamped there? If it is the original stock then you should keep it even if you restock to your diamensions as that gun with the original stock would retain more value. Relativly few C grade guns were produced and Bernard barreld C grade guns are highly sought after. To aquire this gun for a mear pennance was fortunate on your part. Good luck with it and please do post some pictures when you can.

[chris dawe]

Hi Larry,I'm pretty sure it's not original, the checkering is poor ,it has a cheekpeice,plain buttplate and no there is no matching serial #......the people I got it from aquire most of their stock from europe,so I figure it found it's way over there somehow and someone installed the swivel stud's,cheekpeice stock ,and the awful rear bead as is customary with most european sxs gun's.
thank-you for your time
Chris

[chris dawe]

Hi fella's ,there's more pic's if you would like to take a look .....let me know what you guy's think .

Thank's again

[chris dawe]

It's been a few day's,I was wondering if any of you guy's had a chance to take a look....if so please let me know what you guy's think .

Thank's in advance.

[Harry Collins]

Chris,

I could not open the attachment to see the pictures. I have looked at the original and I must say you are very fortunate to have found a CH with Bernard barrels. If it were my Parker I would leave the sling swivels for the time being and just shoot the gun. I lived in Europe for five years and became almost dependent on a sling. I wish I had had swivels this past winter hunting duck all day in waist deep water. That #4 framed Parker got a little tiresom. I too would get rid of the "rear sight". There are some stockers out there that can make a duplicate of Parker work. You may be one of them. I would sure think about adding all that I could to bring this old girl back.

Kindest, Harry

[chris dawe]

Thank-you Harry,if you right click they should open .......I would love to get it up and running ,as I said earlier the bore's are nice and mechanically the gun is excellent...so really all is left is to get some low pressure stuff and have a go! the stock I will most likely start next year...I have too much on my plate right now.

All the best

[Dean Romig]

A PGCA Research Letter may show it to have been ordered with a hinged front trigger.

[chris dawe]

Jent you're right about the trigger's the front one is close(too close for my fat finger's;)),up close they both look identical in shape and patina....perhap's when I get the stock off I'll see more.
Dean, the letter mentioned nothing about a hinged front trigger,although alot could happen in 114 year's !!!

All the best.

[Dean Romig]

Chris, if it was a hinged front trigger you would know it by the way it would be easily pushed forward to allow plenty of room to access the rear trigger.

[chris dawe]

So fella's ....should this gun be insured?....I don't want to sound green ,but when it come's to Parker's I geuss I am (this is my first)I paid very little for it,and for now I plan on just leaving it the way it is.(except maybe the buttstock)

Thank's again

[chris dawe]

No one ?...I geuss I sounded pretty green:).

Thank-you all the same

[Jay Gardner]

So fella's ....should this gun be insured?....I don't want to sound green ,but when it come's to Parker's I geuss I am (this is my first)I paid very little for it,and for now I plan on just leaving it the way it is.(except maybe the buttstock)

Thank's again

Call an agent for your homeowners insurance. I suspect you will find that it will be covered.

[chris dawe]

Sorry fella's ,I meant how much should it be insured for....also do anyone know where I could get a correct used stock for this gun,or perhap's some thing pre-inletted ? I would love to get it out grouse hunting this season ......with so much LIFE on the go one get's very little time for hobby's these day's.

Thank's again for the time.

Chris

[Bill Murphy]

You didn't send pictures that show the break in the stock. If the stock can be rerepaired, that would be my choice before spending the big buck on the restock. It is a great gun and no less interesting with the cheekpiece stock than in would be if restocked in the Parker style. If you feel it neccesary to insure it, you could probably get a professional appraisal for $2500 in its present condition.