Engraving

[Steve Huffman]

Was all the engraving on receivers done by hand if so how long would it take back in the day?

[Dean Romig]

Yes it was all done by hand on Parkers.

The length of time it took depended entirely on the grade of the gun / level of engraving.

I suspect a Grade 1 or 2 might take roughly three to four hours whereas a Grade 6 could take several days, IMO.





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[Brian Dudley]

I am surprised that Dean did not mention that Parker did do some rolled “engraving” on low grade lifters for a short period of time.

[Dean Romig]

I never thought of mentioning that Brian. I guess because I don’t consider rolled or stamped embellishments to even compare to the art of true hand-engraving any more than I consider press-back chairs to be any form of true woodworking… but yes, some of the lowest grades, like the 0 and 1 grades of hammer guns.





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[Bruce P Bruner]

Ever since getting this $85 Grade Lifter from 1880 I just assumed it had “rolled” engraving. I took some closeup photos just now to illustrate, but upon closer inspection I can see the chisel marks, some with overrun. This gun had me fooled, though the engraving pattern is very basic.

[Dean Romig]

Yes Bruce, I can see on the lock plate that the graver was tapped with a hammer.





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