Serial Number....

[Mark Landskov]

....help, please! Would someone be kind enough to look in their 'book' for #135735? Thank you!

[Daryl Corona]

P grade, twist steel, 0 options, 10ga. 32" barrels with capped pistol grip.

[Mark Landskov]

Thanks, Daryl! I appreciate it.

[Mark Landskov]

The frame is marked 'N' and has all the patent dates, commensurate with its manufacture date of 1906. The barrels show an unbelievable amount of twist pattern and the bores are free of dents, bulges or pits. the action is goobered up with a hundred years of old oil and dirt. The receiver tangs and stock have been bent to accomodate a right handed shooter that has lost vision in the right eye. It would neat to know if the gun was returned to Parker (or originally ordered) for the modification. With the 3-1/2" DAH, the gun comes up and I am looking straight down the rib without moving my head. It will take some getting used to, but should not be an issue for the occasional 'nostalgia hunt'. It got me into a late model hammerless 10 for a song:). I will post some photos soon. Cheers!

[Dave Suponski]

Interesting...This is a late gun for the N Grade designation. Could this be the latest N Grade found? Could be a great addition to "Parkers Found"

[Mark Landskov]

I saw that reference in TPS, Dave. Here are some photos......

[Mark Landskov]

How 'bout those barrels! The pattern is vivid from the breech clear to the muzzles. Unstruck weight is 5 and 13. Here are two more photos....

[Dave Suponski]

Why do I think I've seen this gun before? Mark I would get a letter on this gun. It could prove interesting.

[Bill Zachow]

No question, the gun was made the way it is by Parker Bros. If a letter is available, it will confirm this fact.

[Mark Landskov]

Dave, if you have been checking out John Puglisi's website, you would have seen the gun there. He had it for a spell at $3895.00 and marked it down to $1750.00. It will be a nice companion to my 1886 Grade 1(I) 10 gauge hammer gun! I really was interested in the NH 10 built on a 6 frame, but my budget was not about to allow that.

Bill, I will certainly request a letter!

[Bruce Day]

Mark, I appreciate that these barrels are marked Twist, but they are not like twist I have seen before, and more like a combination of twist and croille damascus . I think Doc Drew should look at them. Very interesting barrels and an interesting gun.

[Mark Landskov]

Thanks, Bruce. I have nothing to fall back on, in regards to hands-on experience, just what I see from posts on this forum. I also thought they looked odd for 'TWIST'. If the gun was returned to Parker for the mods, would there be a reference in one of the log books?

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

Guys, look on page 674 of TPS, this is a B grade but it shows they did make these stocks for people with eye problems. Avery interesting gun and only the second sinistral Parker I have seen or heard about. Gary

[Bruce Day]

I think so Mark. On many lower grade guns, a research letter is not very informative, but I'd expect this one to be greatly interesting. You know the butt is also interesting as its not the usual pattern for a Parker checkered butt. I can't tell from the photos but it kinda looks like a wood plate mounted on the end of the stock like some European guns today. I would question whether the butt was original Parker, however, I am being nitpicky because it is an interesting gun regardless.

As Gary says, these sinistral guns are rare, rare.

I already have you slotted in to help and exhibit your guns at next Feb's Pheasant Fest in St Paul.

[Mark Landskov]

So far, I have removed the grip cap. The cap has the two alignment pin holes, but the stock does not have the pins. Was this done away with by 1906? When I remove the trigger guard, I hope to see the serial.

Bruce, the butt is checkered, not adorned with a wooden buttplate.

Gary, I have been nitpicking my TPS for info and found the 'sinistral' reference. Whillikers! I better get a letter request in the mail ASAP:eek:

[scott kittredge]

Interesting...This is a late gun for the N Grade designation. Could this be the latest N Grade found? Could be a great addition to "Parkers Found"

dave, after i looked at this post i checked out one of my "newer" NH's with a S/N of 140389 marked as N. how late did they make the N grade ? scott :corn:

[Bill Murphy]

Mark, Mark Conrad looked the gun up for me some time ago and found no reference that Parker Brothers had anything to do with the crossover stock. Let us know what you find out. I would be interested to know where Bill Zachow got his information.

[Dave Suponski]

Scott, Let me do a little checking.

[Mike Kobos]

This bent stock is very similar to L.L. Bean's gun which is prominently displayed in their flagship store in Maine. L.L lost the sight in his right eye and had his Parker shotgun stock bent to allow him to continue to use the gun. It is displayed in a glass case next to the large fireplace in their hunting/fishing store in Freeport.

[Dean Romig]

This bent stock is very similar to L.L. Bean's gun which is prominently displayed in their flagship store in Maine. L.L lost the sight in his right eye and had his Parker shotgun stock bent to allow him to continue to use the gun. It is displayed in a glass case next to the large fireplace in their hunting/fishing store in Freeport.


Right Mike, but the LL Bean DHE on display in Freeport isn't nearly as radically bent as the one Mark has.

I can't imagine anyone but Parker Bros. producing a gun bent so perfectly and uniformly in the upper and lower tangs as well as the trigger guard and quite possibly the rear end of the trigger plate.

[Mark Landskov]

Bill's post above mentions a previous investigation into the status of my gun. I will request a letter in the hopes that some new Parker documents may have surfaced since then. Tomorrow I will finish disassembly and post photos. This has become an interesting thread! Thank you all for the positive feedback:cheers:

[Mark Landskov]

I completely disassembled the gun. I found no indication or remnants of a serial number in the stock. The inletting appears hand-hewn, not machine cut. Well done, nonetheless. This is my first hammerless gun breakdown, so I do not know what the inletting on a factory stock looks like.

The bottom/trigger plate has obviously been muscled out once or twice. I would bet that the aft end of it was used as a lever to break it loose from the frame. I did some careful tapping with an oak mallet and was able to get the plate to sit flush without force. I did not upset the integrity of the fit, though. It still fits tight as can be.

This is, by far, the dirtiest, driest and rustiest gun I have ever taken apart. Out of 150+ guns I have had in my possession, this is the worst! It appears as though all the original parts are there, judging by the serial numbers. There is one small crack in the stock that I can stabilize with Acraglas.

With all the parts off the frame, the barrels fit very snug with no side to side or forward and aft movement. She's on face!

[Dean Romig]

What is your opinion of the bending of the tangs and trigger guard re: who had done the work... Parker Bros or someone more heavy-handed?

[Mark Landskov]

I would have to say, whoever did the conversion knew what they were doing. There is no evidence of improper tool usage to accomplish the task. It certainly appears to have been done professionally.

[Bill Zachow]

Dean/Bill, I got my "information" the same way Dean did. With my eyes. In its' time period, only Parker, or remotely, Purdeys, could have, and would have, built it.

[Mark Landskov]

I started working on the trigger plate. When the lower tang was bent, the curve incorporated the two trigger slots. The right trigger was binding pretty bad. With some gentle taps on the trigger with a brass rod and mallet, I was able to recontour it so it would slide into the curved slot freely. I followed this with some very fine stoning on both triggers. I think this was the only malfunction with the conversion. I haven't tackled the safety mechanism yet, so I may be in for a challenge there, too!

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

I just can not believe any one bit Parker did this work, but of course I could be wrong. Never the less a GREAT! find. congrats Gary

[Bill Murphy]

Apparently, we left this thread to die without further pictures being posted which was promised by Mark. Mark never really opined about the matching of the bent trigger recesses and the less than perfect matching of the triggers to those recesses. Was it less than professional, in your opinion? It seems like anyone who could bend these tangs could make good work out of the trigger plate. I have had very well constucted crossover Parkers that were not built in the Parker factory. The British are very good at it and some Parkers were done there. This particular gun is not a Parker done conversion, in my opinion. None of the butt treatment, the grip size and geometry, nor the lack of numbering points to Parker Brothers participation. The BHE in The Parker Story is the only factory crossover gun I am personally aware of, even though there are others in the order books. The BHE is a neighbor of mine, I have inspected it in the past, and I have offered to buy it. Only personal inspection of a crossover gun can result in opinion about the skill of the builder.

[Mark Landskov]

I went through my entire photo library and could not find the photos I took of the gun during assembly. Sorry. Guilty as charged.

[Daryl Corona]

I went through my entire photo library and could not find the photos I took of the gun during assembly. Sorry. Guilty as charged.

That's OK Mark, neat gun.

[Bill Murphy]

Thanks, Mark, I got your email pictures and replied.