Please help identify this for us

[Allen Reed]

I would appreciate as much information as I can get on this shotgun please. It’s been in the family for a few generations now. I’m sure you get posts like this often so I apologize about my lack of knowledge. Thought you all would have the knowledge and expertise. It’s a 12 gauge with a 30 inch barrel. Frame size says 02. Says Parker Bros Makers Meriden Conn Twist on the rib. Serial number is 35801. I removed the barrels and stamped on the receiver is the letter T with a circle around it. Then to the top right of it is a letter J. Any information for my family would be awesome! Any thoughts on what these sold for back in the day? Thank you for your time!! I’m an avid hunter but I know little about older guns like this.
83358

83359

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83361

[Joe Dreisch]

Allen,
Welcome to the PGCA website. Your gun is not listed in the Identification and Serialization book, however, according to the PGCA serial number database there are surviving Parker Factory records available for a research letter. Please see the home page for instructions.
The best deal going is to join the PGCA as an annual member and receive all member benefits (Parker Pages quarterly journal, access to members only section of the forums to include classified ads for guns and accessories, and more) as well as discounted price for a research letter. All this at a cost of less than a research letter for non-PGCA members!
Good luck on your quest for insight into this fine family heirloom.

[Chuck Bishop]

Allen, your gun was made in 1884 and is a Quality T, Top Action Hammer gun, 12ga. with 30" Plain Twist barrels. The Quality T was the lowest grade hammer gun Parker made. It sold for $55.00.

[Allen Reed]

Allen, your gun was made in 1884 and is a Quality T, Top Action Hammer gun, 12ga. with 30" Plain Twist barrels. The Quality T was the lowest grade hammer gun Parker made. It sold for $55.00.

Thank you for the information! I’m going to try and find some low powered black powder loads online for it.

[Bill Murphy]

You can go to rstshells.com and select the lightest loads in smokeless powder and they would be as unlikely to blow your gun up as black powder loads. Prior to using either, you should measure the barrel wall thickness and make sure it doesn't deviate much from factory original. Most sellers of black powder loads don't test them for pressure or at least they don't say so. RST does test for pressure and it is very low in their lightest loads. They will tell you what the pressure is on specific loads if you call them.

[Allen Reed]

You can go to rstshells.com and select the lightest loads in smokeless powder and they would be as unlikely to blow your gun up as black powder loads. Prior to using either, you should measure the barrel wall thickness and make sure it doesn't deviate much from factory original. Most sellers of black powder loads don't test them for pressure or at least they don't say so. RST does test for pressure and it is very low in their lightest loads. They will tell you what the pressure is on specific loads if you call them.

Thank you Bill! About have my work done for the day so I can sit down and take a look at their website here in a bit. Now that i have the SxS bug I may or may not be checking out what’s available for sale online. Lol!

[Barry owens]

I have 35790. Identical except it’s a straight grip. My Parker letter traced it back to at least 1899 when a family member sent it back to the factory for some touch ups. Originally shipped to a hardware store in St. Louis, not too far from where they lived so, who knows?

[Allen Reed]

I have 35790. Identical except it’s a straight grip. My Parker letter traced it back to at least 1899 when a family member sent it back to the factory for some touch ups. Originally shipped to a hardware store in St. Louis, not too far from where they lived so, who knows?

Very cool that you have that information! I ordered a couple of boxes of very light loads today from rstshells today. Figure might as well shoot it a few times and enjoy it.

[Barry owens]

Yes it was cool to get a family connection. You should get a letter, it should at least say where it shipped. That would be interesting since the SN range is so close. I ordered some RST’s as well, but I am repairing the stock, it was oil soaked and had several cracks in the head. You should inspect your gun before you shoot. There is a lot of good information here to read through. Best of luck!

[edgarspencer]

Allen, in the first picture, showing right lock plate, and barrel, it appears to be off face. I would encourage you to have it looked at by a proper gun smith before shooting it.

[Harry Collins]

The stock has been broken on the left side behind the lock. You might address that before you shoot it. And I second having someone look at the barrel to action fit.

[todd allen]

Allen, your gun was made in 1884 and is a Quality T, Top Action Hammer gun, 12ga. with 30" Plain Twist barrels. The Quality T was the lowest grade hammer gun Parker made. It sold for $55.00.

Just to put that in perspective, here are the average wages in America back then;
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/bulletin-united-states-bureau-labor-3943/september-1898-477571/wages-united-states-europe-1870-1898-498267?start_page=10

[Allen Reed]

Just to put that in perspective, here are the average wages in America back then;
https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/bulletin-united-states-bureau-labor-3943/september-1898-477571/wages-united-states-europe-1870-1898-498267?start_page=10

Thanks for that! So it basically comes out to more than a full month’s pay. As far as I know they were farmers. Man, not a small amount of money by any means back then. Wow

[Rick Rappe]

My first post just a few weeks ago, was basically the same Q as this poster including the same model with an 1886 SN although I had some basic knowledge having a hobby business helping old doubles recuperate 4 decades ago before moving on. I was depressed that I could no longer just know the SN of any better quality gun, regardless of it's brand, like I once could and so know when it was built, but also surprised over how much MORE has been documented in the last 40-50 years. One surprise to learn was that Parker kept building damascus, err composite barreled guns for decades after nitro powder came to be and black loaded ammo was the economy load while the good stuff was nitro. The point being that never shoot damascus regardless of condition does not apply to Parkers...that anyone able to afford $55 for a shotgun when one that would go bang for a few lifetimes of typical use could be had for $10 in the Sears catalog, would also be buying the best shells. Ergo, there are damascus Parkers that never fired anything other than smokeless loads including the heaviest of them. And that most of the current shooters of composite barreled Parkers STILL shoot store-bought light target modern ammo. That raised my confidence enough that the black substitute loads I'll continue to use will be with no worries.

PS. mine has chambers smooth out to about 2 7/8" and such a short and barely visible forcing cone to a standard oversize bore (evidently most older Parker bores were larger than other 12 bores) that a 3" shell would fire and open up just fine. In fact I kept getting 3" with my depth gauge because the step up from chamber to bore was too minimal for the gauge to stop at the forcing cone.) I mention this because I don't recall the suggestions given mentioning the need to check chamber length, likely because they already know they came with longer chambers already, but best to double check before using a 2 3/4 shell.

[Allen Reed]

My first post just a few weeks ago, was basically the same Q as this poster including the same model with an 1886 SN although I had some basic knowledge having a hobby business helping old doubles recuperate 4 decades ago before moving on. I was depressed that I could no longer just know the SN of any better quality gun, regardless of it's brand, like I once could and so know when it was built, but also surprised over how much MORE has been documented in the last 40-50 years. One surprise to learn was that Parker kept building damascus, err composite barreled guns for decades after nitro powder came to be and black loaded ammo was the economy load while the good stuff was nitro. The point being that never shoot damascus regardless of condition does not apply to Parkers...that anyone able to afford $55 for a shotgun when one that would go bang for a few lifetimes of typical use could be had for $10 in the Sears catalog, would also be buying the best shells. Ergo, there are damascus Parkers that never fired anything other than smokeless loads including the heaviest of them. And that most of the current shooters of composite barreled Parkers STILL shoot store-bought light target modern ammo. That raised my confidence enough that the black substitute loads I'll continue to use will be with no worries.

PS. mine has chambers smooth out to about 2 7/8" and such a short and barely visible forcing cone to a standard oversize bore (evidently most older Parker bores were larger than other 12 bores) that a 3" shell would fire and open up just fine. In fact I kept getting 3" with my depth gauge because the step up from chamber to bore was too minimal for the gauge to stop at the forcing cone.) I mention this because I don't recall the suggestions given mentioning the need to check chamber length, likely because they already know they came with longer chambers already, but best to double check before using a 2 3/4 shell.

Thank you for taking the time to reply with all of this information. I have some light 2 1/2 inch loads on the way. I’m thinking about that old saying, “If only this thing could talk.” Lol!

[Rick Roemer]

RST shells definitely the way to go when it is deemed safe to shoot. The only way to feel "safe" about shooting is to have the barrel wall thickness measured and make sure it is within specs. Also as others have noted - the barrels have to be "on face" to the frame for safety. These are competent gunsmith questions. If the gunsmith you find doesn't know how to measure Barrel wall thickness - keep looking. You could end up hurt (or worse) and could destroy your family heirloom. I'd have it checked out and then enjoy it. I shoot Damascus barrels all the time. But I never shoot any store bought "cheap" shells. Not worth it. IMHO

[Allen Reed]

RST shells definitely the way to go when it is deemed safe to shoot. The only way to feel "safe" about shooting is to have the barrel wall thickness measured and make sure it is within specs. Also as others have noted - the barrels have to be "on face" to the frame for safety. These are competent gunsmith questions. If the gunsmith you find doesn't know how to measure Barrel wall thickness - keep looking. You could end up hurt (or worse) and could destroy your family heirloom. I'd have it checked out and then enjoy it. I shoot Damascus barrels all the time. But I never shoot any store bought "cheap" shells. Not worth it. IMHO

Thank you for your response. Glad you enjoy shooting yours!