Has anyone ever seen anything like this?

[Elvin Ehrhardt]

Has anyone ever seen anything like this? I found this advertised on an auction as a Parker Brothers 410 shotgun, with Damascus barrels and it says lifter action which is obviously not correct. Looking closely it does have the reminisce of Damascus barrels for the first 3 or so inches from the breach, but installed ahead of those are clearly rifle barrels and sights. They don’t provide pictures of the water table or barrel flats. I’ve never seen anything like this before!

[John Allen]

A really bad sleeving job where someone tried to make a 410 or double rifle out of a larger gauge gun. It is junk now unless someone has a set of barrels that could be fitted properly to the action. Even then it is not worth much.

[Andrew Sacco]

That's gonna give me night terrors

[Dean Romig]

I wonder what caliber it is now chambered and barreled for?





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[Paul Ehlers]

Someone's attempt at making a Parker into a double rifle. The picture of the muzzle end shows the rifling grooves. I wonder what caliber it is?

I would call this a run, don't walk gun. Run away from it as fast as you can, unless it's free and you want it as a conversation piece in your gatherings.

[Elvin Ehrhardt]

Yes I agree with you all. I assume the chamber of the Damascus sleeves were bored out to accept the fluid steel rifle chamber. I wouldn’t think someone would be foolish enough to try to handle rifle chamber pressures in an unsleeved Damascus chamber. Anyway the thing caught my attention as very unusual. I also meant to include that the serial number was 64503 which dates to 1891.

[Jerry Harlow]

It appears to be a GH grade. If the owner thinks it is a .410 it may shoot .410 slugs very well. If cheap enough, it would be an interesting gun to shoot slugs. Or it may have been chambered for .45 Long Colt. The barrels sleeved to the large chambers are probably ok to handle anything you could shoot in it. I find it interesting, and refinished it would be a unique Parker.

[Brian Dudley]

.410 Parkers are hot right now.

[edgarspencer]

A while back, there was a shop in Maine doing double rifle conversions. As I recall it was either 32-40, 38-55 or 45-70.
My initial thought was that a Parker wouldn't be my choice because of only one lockup. Those cartridges originated as black powder cartridges, and most factory ammo was very mild because of their possible use in older BP guns.
I've never seen one of these conversions in the flesh, but more than one (Including Bill Jr.)have told me they were first class, and one I know was a Parker that had hundreds of rounds through it, and still on face. Walter Eiserer is a close friend, and he was G&H principal 'smith for many years. He grew up and apprenticed in Austria, and knows his way around guns more so than anyone I know. He explained once when we were talking about double rifles and combo guns, that the lock up was second to how robust the hinge was.
I'm somewhat at a loss how one can say it's a terrible sleeving job from one picture. I'd sure like to see what the chamber area looked like. Is the rim in the original monoblock, or new barrel?
Personally, I'd love to have another DR in 9.3x72.

[Reggie Bishop]

Edgar you are a fountain of knowledge my friend.

[Dean Romig]

64503 started life as a 30” 12 gauge.





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[Jim DiSpagno]

I would like to know the frame sizee

[Bill Murphy]

I would like to know where the gun is offered, so I can bid on it and report back.

[Jim DiSpagno]

You'll have to sniff it out Bill as a quick scan of auctions does not show it at all. It already could have been completed

[Don Anderson]

My guess is it's chambered in 45-70. A .410 shell will drop right in and fire. The breech face should have be bushed to use smaller, centerfire rifle style firing pins. An interesting frankenparker IMHO.

[Dave Noreen]

The first time I visited Cody in the summer of 1980, in one of the displays in the Buffalo Bill wing they had a Parker Bros. hammer Cape Gun. As I recall the signage stated it was made for some high-ranking Army officer. Anyone know any more about such a gun?

Back in their "Lifter" era, E. Remington & Sons offered cape gun and double rifle versions of their double shotguns, and I've seen both Colt and Lefever double rifles. This Colt double rifle was at the 2002 MACA show --

140335

[Elvin Ehrhardt]

Bill

Here's a link.
https://hibid.com/lot/289433929/parker-bros-1878-damascus-steel-sxs-rifle

[Elvin Ehrhardt]

Guys I spoke to the auctioneer he has since posted it as a 45 caliber rifle. I asked him to post a picture of the water table and barrel flats but he hasn't done so as of yet. The auction doesn't open until April 3 and it doesn't close until April 19th.

[Arthur Shaffer]

That auction has enough Fox doubles to make up a nice collection.

[todd allen]

A double rifle in .45 Colt would be very cool!

[David C Porter]

You'll need to do a chamber casting to determine the caliber. Or, is it stamped on the bottom of the barrels. Someone put some money into this to do the conversation, eventhough it's not too good. The original barrels could have been damaged & sleeving either for shotgun or double rifle was an option.

[Brett Trimble]

Not sure I would bid on it not knowing how it’s regulated. I have an English 470NE and it was not easy to develop a load that regulates..

[Dean Romig]

…or IF it is regulated at all.





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[edgarspencer]

I can't say that the subject gun was or was not made by the fellow in Maine, but what I remember of him and his video, was that he knew what he was doing and had some prior experience.
I have had more than a smattering of experience with double rifles (see my post about Gary Herman) and have had a lot of them. From 5.6 Vierling (metric designation of .22 Hornet) to .577BPE, Gary fed my obsession with what my wife thought was an endless stream of 'another gun?'
The guy in Maine regulated his .45-70 Government with over the counter ammo. My Purdey DR was originally a .400 Light Express (BP) rebored and re-regulated by John Foster. It shot to nearly the same point of impact, with Remington ammo at 50 yards, but when I tried reloading, either crossed, or never came together. All of the German, and Continental DRs shot RWS or DWM ammo the same, with the same difficulties when I reloaded (Usually IMR3031)
Black Powder loads, in guns built for them, were no different; 70grs of 2F, great, 85grs, and they crossed at 50 yards, 65 grs and they shot into almost the same holes at 100 yards. The only gun I remember having no luck with was a Royal H&H 450-400 Nitro, and Kynoch was real expensive.
The guy's video wasn't pretty guns at a range in tweeds, but soft iron wire wrapped around the muzzle with brass wedges, and lots of adjusting before final soldering and rib laying.
It's reasonable to assume any of these guns shooting together at 'some distance, but at a range that's useful?, That's where science, and a lot of work, comes in.
Reflecting back on the more than 3 dozen DRs I've owned a Westley Richards .280FNE, and a Daniel Fraser .500BPE were my all time favorites. I had a few O/U DRs also. A Merkel made for Otto Geiger in 8x60s was so painful to shoot, and a Simson 9.3x74 was a joy. The only ones that haunt me for not buying was an as-new Lancaster .450 Oval bore hammer gun. It was $395, and sat in the rack at Safari for years. The other was the tiniest Westley .300 Sherwood, with no so good bores. Last I heard of that one, someone bored it out to a .410. The horrors.
Gary bought back my H&H back action 360 Rook, that was rechambered to .357 Magnum. Kirby Hoyt couldn't live without that one. I think Kirby also bought my 10.75x76 German double that Ed Spicer had John Warren turn into a masterpiece.
If my dad hadn't gotten me back into Parker, I'd probably still be shooting double rifles.

[Don Anderson]

The front sight would give me reservations regarding the quality of the build. It's obviously contoured to fit on top or a round rifle barrel and yet it's been attached somehow to a concave rib. JB Weld? or similar. Doesn't inspire confidence with how other, non visible details were addressed.