New Back Action

[Arthur Shaffer]

I finally found a decent Back Action for the collection. It is a 12 gauge, 30" Decarbonized barrels. I just unpacked it and shot a few pictures. It really is better than the pictures look on my cell phone. There is some CC faint on the outside and higher inside. Stockmis great and has some really nice wood. One small pea size chunk out right under the firing pin corner and hard to see because of the hammer. Some staining but the only corrosion is a couple of spots toward the front of the right barrel. I truly believe it is all original. Numbers all match and engraving on rib is razor sharp. Checkering is worn more on one spot on front and rear; looks due to holding in the same spot. Lock up is tight on face and works easily and very smoothly. Down side is some barrel pitting but no corrosion. Slight in left barrel and more in right barrel. Barrels have no choke and are .729-.730 everywhere. RCC 12A brass shell fits perfectly. Serialsnumber is 1036 with and "O" preceding.

Nice score I think for the $800 price.

I also have a set of brand new Briley 28 Ga tubes I found in a Damascus English boxlock 2-1/2" I bought and it didn't need them. (Just scared of damascus, I guess). I dug them out and they fit perfectly, being 29" tubes.

[Stan Hoover]

Congratulations Art,

You beat me to it, I had in mind to buy my first back action Parker:bowdown:

Stan

[David Noble]

Art, it's possible the right hammer may be a replacement. How does it compare to the left hammer? The hammers should be numbered on the inner side but you'd have to remove them to see. Regardless, it was a good buy!

[Brian Dudley]

The hammer pictured is not original. Just so that you know.

I really like the back action guns.

[charlie cleveland]

yep you made a good buy...the back action guns are lot s of fun to shoot if worthy...i have 3 back actions 2 ten ga. and one 11 ga....they all shoot fine no chokes but at reasonable range they get the job done...have fun with yours and i see it s a low serial no...........charlie

[Arthur Shaffer]

I wasn't sure about the hammers. I did notice that the right one was a little out of line with the left.

I hope when I am 150 that I still have two hammers.

[Mills Morrison]

Non matching hammers is a common issue with early guns. Very nice example regardless

[Jay Oliver]

That is a nice back action Art! I find a lot of the back actions have cut barrels. So that fact that you have the 30" barrels is a win. Like others have said there something about a Parker Back Action...they just have nice lines.

I have a few, but I have struggled to find one with full length barrels in a 12 gauge. I have a 12 with 26" barrels I have 2 in 12b that have full length barrels. A few 14 gauges as well and 1 10 gauge. I have shot most of them, but it's a production with the odd gauges(though still fun and worth it). A nice original 12 Back Action is certainly on my list.

I am glad you found one, let us know how she shoots. I think you will really enjoy it. Several of mine have decarbonized barrels as well and although that is likely the "weakest" barrel steel, I have enjoyed mine with light smokeless and black powder.

I just recently got a case for my back actions, here is a quick pic...

Thanks for sharing, you got me looking for a 12...

[Arthur Shaffer]

Thanks Jay. I am going to have to get my old macro setup out and start taking better pictures. I, like everyone else, try to get by with a high quality phone camera but it just doesn't cut the mustard. This gun, as I stated, is in really pretty nice shape. What looks to be rough and corroded areas on the metal are really just dark and stained areas that are really in quite a smooth and polished condition with some faint smooth CC left and more on the interior metal. The bores as I noted have some mild to moderate pitting, and my experience with other old doubles and wall thickness measurements lead me to think I could remove the pitting and still have safe barrels, but I won't do that unless I am comfortable that safe mwt readings for damascus would apply to decarbonized steel. As noted, I luckily have a set of new custom Briley tubes in 28 Ga made for a 12 ga 2-1/2" chamber. I will likely leave the barrels as-is and shoot RST 2-1/2" Lite loads in it.

Your picture picture brought to mind that I have a circa 1870 mahogany case very similar to yours for one gun. It came with a high grade 12 gauge Belgium percussion double from that period that I bought at auction. My case is a single gun model for 30" and this gun may well fit in it. I just a few minutes ago realised I didn't check the online list, but surprisingly they show info available in the records for this gun. I have ordered a letter. I also ordered a letter for another early Parker being shipped today. It is an 1879 Lifter model that I think of as a transitional 3rd style. It is a third style lifter with a wedge fore end. TPS refers to it as a 3a style in the picture of all the hammer styles shown in TPS and the serialization book. I bought it because it is a style I didn't have and it is a LAM2 grade. While the pictures show no barrel finish left, it is a LAM2 in the serialization book and has a laminated marked barrel with a circle P on the barrel flats, so I will likely get them refinished. That also gives me 5 of the 6 iterations of hammer guns in my gun room. I will be looking for a representative top lever hammer gun to complete the set (I have an 1882 type 4 already). For some reason the front action first model guns were never delineated as a separate type or subtype. I suppose that was because they were not a sequential change but made concurrently. The set which duplicates the photo in TPS would make a good display set. especially since two of the six will have Parker Laminate barrels.

[Jay Oliver]

Art, I don't have that top lever iteration either. My favorite Parker hammer gun model is the later lifters with the longer receiver and check hook barrels. I have a 3 frame 12 in that configuration made in 1893 I just love...

On the back actions, let's put a shoot/event together. I think that would be a lot of fun and get these guns out for others to see and learn. I would be happy to help with that.

[CraigThompson]

We had a back action 10 gauge at the shop a few years back. The gun seemed in pretty decent shape as well as all original , but the guy who owned saw fit to remove the firing pins so it couldn’t be fired and after he passed his heirs didn’t know where they were . We sold it on GB and if memory serves Brian purchased it . I kinda had thoughts of acquiring it but I’d already bought two or three out of that collection :whistle: