Restore, refinish, or leave it alone?

[Troy Marsh]

16 gauge. Thanks for your thoughts/opinions.

[Troy Marsh]

Here's one more.

[Jack Cronkhite]

Troy: Not being aware of your skills or bank account, the first response to such a question is, "What do you want to do with it ?" - decoration? occasional sporting clays? Hunting? If decoration only, just hang it up and you are done. If you want to shoot it, then determine it's shootabilty first. After that "do the least harm possible". Your gun might look very nice with just a complete tear down, clean up and reassembly. Assuming the barrels are in good condition and the action tight, you could enjoy using it at the range or in the field. If you are a do it yourself guy, check out the FAQ's regarding screwdrivers before you do anything. From the pictures, the gun has been dismantled some time in it's past history. If you leave the work to a gunsmith, have the cheque book handy. If you want to do a complete restoration, there are folks that can be recommended - again, have your cheque book handy.

So where do you want to go with this?

Cheers,
Jack

[Bruce Day]

Its a very early( 1890) O frame 16ga GH damascus, so early that at least initially it would likely have been shot with black powder and corrosive primers,. Unless the gun was cleaned after every use, black powder residue attracts moisture, creates acid ( sulphuric acid) and can corrode the barrels. This is a fairly common Parker.

What's the barrel wall thickness?

Condition of the bores?

Ribs tight?

Loose on the face?

Barrels cut?

Stock cracked? I see that the head, at least on the right side, has some oil soaking.

I see somebody cut off the original dog's head butt plate and added a later Hawkins pad, probably in the 1920's or early 30's.

Family heirloom or something you just picked up?

Want to keep it and use it or just looking to fix it up, turn it and make some money?

FYI, this gun was intended by Parker to be shot with 7/8oz , 2 1/2 dram loads, per Parker Small Bore Shot Gun tables.

[Dave Suponski]

Nice O frame 16.....I agree with Jack. What are your plans for this old girl?

[Troy Marsh]

Thanks for the quick replies. I just picked it up recently and would like to keep it in the family. I do not want, or plan, to shoot it. The stock does not appear to be cracked. If the oil soaking is the blackened area on the stock, I would like to have that removed, if at all possible. The gun closes and locks extremely tight, and the ribs are tight. Don't know the barrel wall thickness. One bore has an ever so slight bulge, barely perceptible by touch, about midway, otherwise bright and shiny inside.

That said, could a professional remove/reduce the oil soaking so as to restore the wood grain? The photos don't do the wood grain justice. Up close, I can tell the wood is really beautiful underneath the years of buildup and oil. If so, then I would probably leave the barrels alone.

Thanks again for your help.

[Bruce Day]

Most G's particularly early G's, had great wood. To take out the oil soaking, the stock has to come off and be soaked in a degreasing fluid such as acetone. It will take off the finish, so the stock will need to be at least partially refinished, and partial refinishing will show against the rest of the unrefinished stock. You can pull some of it out yourself by heating with a hair dryer and wiping repeatedly, but if there is a lot, the stock needs to come off.

The barrel bulge is likely from somebody shooting a too heavy load in a light barrelled 16. Bulges are hard to fix but can be done. Barrel bulges often cause loose ribs. The fun part of these old guns is shooting them but to be most comfortable in doingthat you need to know at least the bore ID and preferably the wall thickness.

If an old gun that old is unusually bright and shiny inside, suspect honing, which decreases wall thickness.

The barrels need external refinishing to bring out the beauty of the damascus pattern.

Here's typical G wood and what refinished G damascus barrels look like.

[Russ Jackson]

Hello Troy ,I recently had Brad Bachelder ," Bachelders Guns ,Ph. # 616 459 3636 " redo a set of Damascus barrels for me ,and they turned out beautiful by the way ,we talked about some of the work that he does ,and he explained to me he has a unique way to remove all of the old soaked in oil out of the heads of these old gun stocks , Just my two cents worth but if it were me ,I would contact Brad ,send the gun out to him to be checked for any safety issues and discuss any work you would like to do at that point ,Brad is very easy and personable to talk with and very pleasant to deal with ,this is his business and I feel sure he would be happy to discuss this with you ! You can do as little as giving the gun a looking over ,or a complete redo ,or anything in between ! Good luck with your new Parker ! Russ

[Bruce Day]

Don't spend any money redoing a gun without knowing your barrels.

[Troy Marsh]

Good point Bruce. Can you recommend someone to check the barrels? Also, can you recommend an appraiser, as I need to know the value of the gun "AS IS" and the anticipated value after the work is done. Thanks again.

[Jack Cronkhite]

Troy: Your gun can be made to look beautiful regardless of shootability. I think many here would not go to the expense to create a pretty wall hanger, as shooting these guns is a part of the pleasure they can provide. Have a look through the pictures in the "Parker Grades" tab on the opening page. The damascus barrels are truly beautiful when in original condition or restored to original. Should you go that route, those who have had this type of work done can provide their experiences. Same goes for the wood. There are skilled crafstmen out there who can do all of this for you for a price. Turn around time can be in the "months" when the gun is entrusted to those who know what they are doing.

If I were to expend the funds necessary to make wood and metal "pretty", I would also add the extra to make it a safe shooting gun. It could then grace the wall and; if, along the way, you or someone in the family wanted to give the gun some exercise, all would be good.

If you go the do-it-yourself route, there is much that can be done to "prettify" it but it's kind of like the old English saying "In for a penny, in for a pound" Once you start, there is no going back when things get difficult. Some of the craftsmen also fix up the DIY attempts - not to say DIY cannot be done, just that most of us are not set up with what is needed to ensure the desired outcome is achieved. This is where the "least harm" approach is useful. For example, in FAQ's there is a short entry regarding the use of nothing but Formby's Tung Oil rubbed on the damascus barrels with a soft lint free cloth. Time and patience may see a nice change in look without having done any harm whatsoever. The oil soaked stock head may benefit from acetone, but as Bruce said, the finish will need touch up, so the match to the rest of the wood becomes difficult. There is another process that has been discussed but I have not tried, so do not know what might occur with the finish. It involves dipping the stock head in alcohol and gently warming the wood and then gently dabbing/wiping to remove the liquid. The liquid will include oil brought to the surface with the alcohol that entered the wood grain along the same channels as the oil.

Good luck with your decision making.

Cheers,
Jack

[Bruce Day]

I sold a decent enough, original condition circa 1900 GH 16ga O frame 28" damascus for $1800 eighteen months ago to a member here. Was a public sale at the Tulsa Gun Show. The barrels were starting to be a little loose on the face,the stock could benefit from refinishing which could be amateur done, dogs head butt plate, the barrels had decent pattern and could be redone or not depending on the purchaser. Could be shot as is and after a couple more thousand rounds, would need to be brought on face. The gun had good barrels and original tight chokes.

Yes I could recommend somebody to check the barrels but you are down in Georgia and none of them that I know are around there. Maybe some Georgians have people or if you want to get into Parkers, take it to a PGCA event, someone there will have gauges and can look at it. Or take it to the Southern Side by Side in NC in April and bring your checkbook.

[Troy Marsh]

Thanks so much Jack. I have no desire to try to do any of this myself. I've already spoken to Brad Bachelder, who gave me an estimate of 2-4 months turnaround time. Pricey, but you get what you pay for. If the wood turns out like I hope, maybe I'll invest some more in the barrels. We'll have to wait and see...

And I agree that shooting them is fun. I still remember killing my first deer, a 7 point, in October, 1974, with my 20 gauge DHE.

[charlie cleveland]

im glad you got that buck with your 20 ga parker....i like to here stories about deer hunting with the double barrels... i killed a doe last year with a 8 ga hammer gun parker o grade...used 00 buck 24 pellets to the load....range estmated 50 yards 7 hits in deer...clean kill...what load did you use to get that buck... charlie

[Troy Marsh]

#1 buckshot at 10 steps. I was 10 years old, first time on a stand by myself. There was no such thing as "still hunting," only running them with dogs. I heard the dogs bringing him and didn't appreciate how close they were until the old boy popped out of the woods right in front of me. We were so close that our eyes locked and he froze for a split second, broad sided, just long enough for me to get off a shot. I can still see his eyes like it was yesterday. My second shot missed as he wheeled around and headed back the way he came from. We found him about 20 yards inside the woods.