New hammer 12 ga

[mike covington]

Just received this gun which is my first Parker. Serial # 50979. 30" twist barrels, both F/F, best I can tell it is an O grade, fishtail top lever, 1 frame.

Twist pattern is still nice but does need some cleaning. Would 4/0 steel wool and oil harm the finish?

Action seems to be stiff and is probably full of 100 year old junk. Any secrets to pulling the locks? Top lever is stiff as are the hammers.

Gun has a 13 1/4" LOP. The widows peak on the butt plate is perfectly inlet so maybe the LOP is original. Wood is not bad for an 1887 gun. Checkering is in nice condition.

I'll take some photos this weekend and post.

Any advice appreciated.

Mike

[Frank Cronin]

OOOO steel wool and Kano Kroil works great to clean the exterior of the Damascus barrels. When you are all done with that, a coat of Forby's Tung oil (I use non glossy) on the exterior of the barrels helps with protecting and enhancing the contrast of the iron / steel in the Damascus pattern.

[Mark Landskov]

Back the lockplate screw out a turn, or two, and tap on the head with the end of a plastic screwdriver handle (for example). This will push the right lockplate out a wee bit. Repeat this process until the lockplates are freed up from the wood. My 1886 toplever was real stiff with dried up oil and crud. I cleaned all the action locking components scrupulously and greased them with Gunslick gun grease. Over the lifetime of a gun, a drop of oil here and there accumulates and eventually gums up and also gets into the wood. Good luck!

[Jack Cronkhite]

Oskar: Congrats on the hammer gun. Be careful with the screws. USE ONLY HOLLOW GROUND TIPS on your driver handle. Take the time to clean out the slots. A drop of penetrating oil and a bunch of toothpicks will eventually clean out the crud. Take your time. Really tough to find original replacement screws. Even if it takes a few hours to ensure you don't bugger the screw head, that's a blip in time considering those screws have likely been in place for 120+ years. Ensure that the tip you use completely fills the screw head slot. Ensure the plate has been tapped out evenly and is clear of the wood before lifting it away. Resist any temptation to pry anything. You don't want to splinter or chip the wood. Just some cautionary words so you don't annoy yourself. Enjoy the clean up campaign. It's not a race. Good luck.

Cheers,
Jack

[mike covington]

Thanks guys. I have a set of the Brownells thin bits. Been in the shop starting the cleanup process.

Got the locks off and they're soaking in mineral spirits overnight. They don't look especially cruddy but there is some rust on the lock parts. We'll see how they look in the AM.

Top lever spring is evidently broken or gunked up as it does not return to center when released unless I manually move the lever left.

Might take the stock off tomorrow for a better look. I'm familiar with working on Foxes but this is unexplored country for me. Any words of caution on this?

Mike

[Mark Landskov]

Like Jack said, take your time. Do you have a mainspring vise? They are handy for easy disassembly of the locks. Vise Grips can be used, but refrain from compressing the spring more than you need to. Knock on wood....I have never broken a 'V' type spring on any of my antiques! CSMC has a few replacement springs for toplevers if you end up needing one.

[Frank Cronin]

Real nice surviving case colors Mark.