Help Grading and ballpark value

[Devon Dwinnell]

Hello I have a Parker Brothers lifter made in 1875 according to the serial number however I am having trouble grading it and valuing it. It has checkered wood on the stock and extractors. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

[Brian Dudley]

It is very high condition. The gun would be equivalent to a grade 1. Where are you located?

[Devon Dwinnell]

I am located in Ontario Canada. Thank you she is quite beautiful I am just trying to put a ballpark value on it as I have no idea what it would be worth. I believe I purchased it for $900 Canadian.

[Dean Romig]

The barrels appear to have some exterrior pitting and this concerns me as the inside of them could be as bad or worse. This condition greatly affects the gun’s overall value.
Have the barrels examined by an expert gunsmith.





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[Bill Murphy]

"As good as it gets" would be the grade I would give it. The only grade above "As good as it gets" is "Never been hunting".

[Devon Dwinnell]

The inner barrels are in very good shape! I will attach pictures although it is hard to get a picture.

[David Noble]

The guns of that era weren’t given model grades. They were called dollar grades, based on the amount they sold for. That was determined by the type of barrel steel, checkering and engraving. But your gun does look like it would be the equivalent of the later called grade 1.
A lower grade but still a very nice gun. As with Parker’s of any time period the remaining original condition plays a big a factor in todays value. Your gun could be worth more than a bit higher grade that has less condition. Someone here with greater knowledge of these early guns will be able to give you an estimate range of value, but that really needs to be done with a hands on evaluation. After being checked out by a competent gunsmith and shown to be a good shooting condition it will make a nice gun to shoot and collect. You’ll want to start with correct length and velocity/pressure ammunition.

[Dean Romig]

Your early Parker was made to be used with metallic shells in conjunction with black powder of a specific length as the chambers do not terminate with a 'forcing cone' but rather have a 'stepped' chamber termination. However, the use of dirty black powder is not necessary as long as the 'modern' shells used in your gun not exceded a certain low pressure... but first, have the wall thicknesses measured with a digital wall thickness gauge.





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[Steve Huffman]

Dean, Who is making a digital wall thickness gauge?

[Dean Romig]

Good question Steve - I don’t know. I guess the dial type is the way to go.





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[Russell E. Cleary]

Pardon me if you are well aware of this, but when you say, “The inner barrels are in good shape!”, I have some concern that you may be looking at shiny-smooth inner barrel walls that may have been aggressively honed to remove superficial corrosion and/or deeper pitting.

Add my voice to those who advise that you have a qualified person measure the minimum barrel wall thickness of that very appealing and high-condition vintage gun before anyone shoots it.

[Devon Dwinnell]

I’m not planning on shooting it any time soon and I have inspected and had a gun smith inspect the inner barrel and they are in quite good condition as is the rest of the gun. The smith informed me that there would not be any issue firing it with the proper pressure loads. My concern is grading and valuing the firearm.

[Dean Romig]

You can order a research letter through this forum if you wish. The letters are priced at $100 each for Forum Associates but only $40 each for PGCA Members who pay $40 annually.

A letter will tell you the ‘dollar quality’ of your gun but you have already been told that it is the equivalent of the Grade 1, however the numerical and letter grading system had yet to be developed.





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[Devon Dwinnell]

Indeed and I appreciate the help in grading it from all of you.

[Drew Hause]

It is a high condition gun. I believe with the straight stock, checkering, border engraving and Twist barrels it would be a $75 grade.
1874 Price List

https://photos.smugmug.com/US-Makers/Parker/i-kc68dLK/0/8f65a87e/L/1874_parker_price_list%20%282%29-L.jpg (https://drewhause.smugmug.com/US-Makers/Parker/i-kc68dLK/A)

This is another Plain Twist lifter in much lower condition
https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/shotguns/parker-shotguns-antique/c1876-12-gauge-parker-brothers-underlifter-grade-0-hammer-shotgun-antique-12-gauge-side-by-side-hammer-gun-made-in-1876.cfm?gun_id=102415781

Value is significantly related to whether the gun can be used, which requires answers to these questions:
1. What are the chamber lengths?
2. Does the gun have step chambers as Dean suggested, or short forcing cones?
3. What do the bores measure?
4. What are the end of chamber, 9" and minimum wall thicknesses (and location thereof)
5. Does the gun have chokes and if so what are the constrictions?
Please check with your gunsmith and we could be of much more help with that information.
BTW: what shell pressure did the gunsmith say would be appropriate?

[Devon Dwinnell]

Thank you very much! I will look into getting these answers.

[Bill Murphy]

Devon, about one in a hundred people who call themselves "gunsmiths" own the measuring tools that are necessary to proclaim your gun safe to fire. It sounds like your gunsmith looked down your barrels, saw a shiny surface, and proclaimed it safe to fire. That is about all most gunsmiths can do. It is not enough.