Grade 2 Top Action Restoration

[Rusty Napier]

Hi--

I inherited a Grade 2 top action Parker, serial 43691 which seems to mean a production date during 1884. It has a Damascus steel 30" barrel, 12 gauge. It seems to look in reasonable shape but I would like to brighten it up without impacting its value and while trying to keep it as original as possible. Below are some pics. Any suggestions on how to go about this would appreciated. Thanks!

[Bill Murphy]

That is one fine looking stock on your gun.

[Richard Flanders]

If you could clean up the wood and bring out the grain it would come out as quite a nice piece of wood and dress the gun up quite nicely I'd say. Others on there know better how to do that than I.

[Mike Poindexter]

That is a real nice grade 2 in worn but undamaged shape (except for the buggered floorplate screw). If the bores and wall thickness are OK (have them checked by somebody who knows how to do it), and the lockup is tight and on face (I see what may be a gap in your pictures), you have a real nice shooter.
Other than doing a strip and clean of the action (these guns come apart fairly easily compared to the hammerless guns), the only thing I would do is clean up the wood finish and bring it back with some hand applied french polish (shellac and linseed oil--subject of several archived threads). If there is some finish left, Murphy's oil soap works well. If there is none left, I usually use rubbing alcohol lightly applied with 4/0 steel wool, which takes you down to bare wood and removes any traces of the original finish. Putting on the french polish takes some practice, but is hard to screw up if you take it slowly and work on a little bit at a time. The beauty of it is that you can simply wipe it off with alcohol and start a section over if you need to. The last thing you might want to consider is the checkering. If your pattern is visible and just worn way down, it will cost a few hundred dollars (from 2 to 5 in my experience) to have it recut by a decent stock man. If it's not there at all, it could be more. You might decide just to do without it. The barrels can be redone to like-new damascus pattern by Vicknair, Batchelder, Edmonds, and quite a few others who post here for about 3 to 5 hundred more without affecting the rest of the gun at all. Your choice as to what you like.

Bottom line, I personally would not do a lot to it other than checking it for shootability and cleaning it up carefully. Better less than more, unless you want to spend big bucks for a complete restoration, which I don't think is appropriate here where the gun is in relatively good shape and you want it as a shooter. Leave it as is and enjoy the patina of 130 years. JMHO.

Mike P.

[Rusty Napier]

Guys--

Thanks so much for the comments and advice. Mike P thanks for the detail. Good stuff.

Rusty