10ga TA Grade 3

[Jay Oliver]

This is my first grade 3 hammer gun. It must have put many meals on the table back in it’s day. It is well used, the serial# on the trigger guard looks like it has about worn off. If only it could talk…there would have to be a lot of great stories. Someone marked Feb 15 1914 on the forend iron, which I thought was neat, maybe that is when it got a new owner.

The gun weighs 9lbs. 2 oz. according to the research letter and is a #30 frame with 30”Damascus barrels choked F/F.

It certainly deserves some TLC, though I am going to get to know it a bit and shoot it as is this weekend.

[Jay Oliver]

A few more pictures...

[Garry L Gordon]

Gosh, the sculpting on those older hammers guns is fine!

[Brian Dudley]

Hey, the gun is all there. That is a big plus.

[Bill Murphy]

The PGCA letter on that gun may be very fascinating. This is a gun I would not have refinished. What a great Parker.

[Dean Romig]

What a great old war horse of a Parker that one is!!

What I would have given for those hammers a couple of months ago!

That date could also have marked a memorable hunt or a first for a specific gamebird or animal... deer maybe? Unfortunately you'll never know - guns can't talk.

February 15, 1914 was a Sunday

WW I began on 6/28/1914



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[Brian Dudley]

This gun was lurking on GB with no bids through several cycles.

I was thinking of you, Dean, and the hammers when i was considering purchase a couple times.

The few photos of the gun on the listing were just not good enough for me to take a chance on it.

[Jay Oliver]

I did talk to the seller and he sent me more pictures. I couldn't help myself and I bought it immediately. The story was that the gun had been in the same family since 1949 and had not be shot in all of that time.

I did get a research letter. It didn't mention a specific person, though the gun was shipped to Claybrough Golcher & Co. of San Francisco in 1890 who I believe was a gun dealer/maker.

The gun has nice stock dimensions - 14 1/4 LOP and DAH 2 7/8. I will shoot both black powder and smokeless shells with it this weekend.

Would you clean this gun up at all of leave it as is? I agree that it has a great patina from years of use and I don't want to take that away. There is some tarnish/build up on the lock plates and on top of the bolsters, should that be cleaned? Mechanically it is off face(I put in a metal shim which tightened it up for now) and the lever catch needs a new spring. Barrels are pitted but shootable.

[Bill Murphy]

Clean anything that can be cleaned, including the bores, fix the trip spring. Your shim will fix the looseness problem. After this, I would shoot it.

[Mike Franzen]

This is a gun I would not have refinished. What a great Parker.

I agree with Bill. What a great Parker. Didn’t most grade 3’s have lightening bolts engraved by the firing pins?

Also, check out the 10 gauge in the For Sale section. It’s serial #58610, hammerless.

[Dean Romig]

Didn’t most grade 3’s have lightening bolts engraved by the firing pins?

In fact, most grade 2 and higher Parkers had those "lightning bolts" which I believe were engraved to represent ignition sparks or flashes.






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[Jay Oliver]

I appreciate the advice. I did see that the serial# of the 10 gauge in the for sale section was close. Just 52 guns before this one.

How can I clean this(and other Parkers) so I am not scratching the metal. I have used frontier pads to clean barrels inside and outside, which works well. How should I clean the frame? I tried Hoppes #9 and 0000 steel wool on small spot of a different gun and didn't like the results. Given my growing Parker collection. I was thinking of getting an ultra-sonic cleaner. I have several guns with that have this type of tarnish or dirt build up.

I'll bring this gun to Addeiville next weekend.

[Rick Losey]

frontier pads work on all the metal parts

but protect the wood from them

[Brian Dudley]

I agree with Bill. What a great Parker. Didn’t most grade 3’s have lightening bolts engraved by the firing pins.



They are there, under the patina.

[Dean Romig]

frontier pads work on all the metal parts

but protect the wood from them

I would recommend removing the wood before using solvents and Frontier pads to clean the locks and frame.





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[Garry L Gordon]

Mechanically it is off face(I put in a metal shim which tightened it up for now) and the lever catch needs a new spring. Barrels are pitted but shootable.

Could someone give a bit more detail about using a shim to help tighten an action, please?

[Jay Oliver]

Garry, this is a quick/temporary fix to let you tighten up the action and use the gun. Basically you cut a small rectangle of metal that goes between the hook on the barrels and the receiver. A lot of people will use a soda can, I bought a set of metal shim stock that came with several different thicknesses from Midway. I put mine on the receiver end and then attach the barrels.

A Parker deserves a better repair than this, but it lets me use the gun until I send it to get properly fixed and put back on face.

[Garry L Gordon]

Thanks, Jay! I appreciate your taking the time to respond. I have a gun that's slightly loose that I'd like to shoot a time or two before I take it in for work. I will try your temporary shim idea.

[Mark Ray]

I bought this gun from Jay a while back primarily to "mine" the hammers for a freshening up of my $125 Grade Lifter 10 bore, which appears to be the first known exposed hinge pin gun.

I took this D grade, that I got from Jay to Kirk Merrington this past Sunday to evaluate the barrels, remove a couple of really minor dings, and to have the gun put back on face. The barrels were pretty crusty n the inside, but actually looked much better just from running the pig through them in the dent raising process. Kirk deemed that there was plenty (.045) barrel to tolerate a moderate honing.

So the gun is being rejointed, stripped and cleaned. Just now trying to decide to just re do the barrels, or keep the guns appearance in survivor mode.

The more I look at the gun, it seems to have a consistent "honest" appearance.

The only detraction are the Grade two hammers.

[Jay Oliver]

Mark, I am glad you are rescuing that gun! I know at first you just wanted the hammers. Not to spend your money for you...but maybe an engraver could improve the Grade 2 replacement hammers you used?

I love shooting brass black powder shells in my hammer 10s. When you get the gun back let's go on an old school hunt. 4 drams of 2ff and 1 1/2oz. of shot would bring down a few ducks and geese...or a turkey. That gun probably hasn't been shot for close to 100 years!