I dont know anything about shotguns but bought an 1887 parker sxs

[ron petrov]

Ran into a guy wanting to sell a parker bros dual hammer sxs the wife thought it looked cool so we got it I like to collect old pistols and have a few rifles but so far have stuck with stuff made for smokeless powders
What I found out so far is it’s a 12g made in 1887 a twist barrel with ejector barrel weight 315 frame size 1 I couldn’t find the grade mark but think it is a grade 1 has some engraving on hammers and top bottom and just an outline on sides not a lot or very ornate engraving patent date of mar 16 &23 1875 Other marks couldn’t find out were circled t and a letter c on barrel
Stock has been refinished at some time removing the checkering it has some pitting and a couple of really small dents in the barrel still need to clean it up but think it will turn out to be safe to fire some low power rounds
The barrel fit is a little loose so would a brass shim and grease be the best way to tighten that up?
Hope I was in the right place at the right time
I honestly didn’t know anything about what I bought when I got it
Any idea of what it might be worth?
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[ron petrov]

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[Gary Carmichael Sr]

Ron, give me the serial number found on the trigger guard or on water table, and I will tell you how it left the factory, looks like a grade O or a grade 1 both would have twist barrels, how long are the barrels and are they pitted inside? Gary

[edgarspencer]

Fishtail top levers are neat. Your gun, with a little work, could be a nice shooter. A 1 frame with 28" or 30" is a nice upland gun. Looks like a good starting point for a relatively inexpensive restoration. Show us some more of the gun, such as locks, water table, muzzle (looking down on the bead) and butt.
Hammers appear to be mismatched, so one may have been lost a long time ago. Do the hammer screws match?

[ron petrov]

Serial # 52348 barrels 28 1/16 they have some pitting most is about 1/3 up from the chamber don’t appear to be very deep
Good catch on the hammers I totally overlooked that screws dont match
It has an extractor not an ejector as I stated earlier
I bought it as a hopefully shoot able wall hanger but was worried about doing any serious cleaning on the off chance it was a really rare piece but think I should be able to give the barrels a good scrubbing to be able to tell their condition better
From what I understand Damascus uses different types if metals where twist uses just one witch one would be better?
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Can’t thank you guys enough this is a great site I’m learning a lot

[John Dunkle]

Hi Ron.!

Welcome to the forum..!!! I'm going to move your thread into the "Parker Hammer Gun" forum for you...

Best to you!

John D.

[Brian Dudley]

Ron,

Not a bad find you have there. Congrats on your first Parker aquisition. Being a shooter would all depend on bore condition and wall thickness. You should have that checked out.

As edgar mentioned, the hammers do appear to be mismatched due to the different styles of spur checkering. But, they do both appear to be parker hammers at least. I can say that your buttstock has been replaced with a homemade one. The side profile looks right, but the top tells me another story.
The loosness in the breech may not be a difficult fix depending on how loose it is. Depending on how much play you have, there are a couple different ways to fix it.

[Paul Plager]

Ron, welcome and congrats on the first Parker.
When I do the first cleaning of the barrels on a new to me Parker I chuch an old cleaning rod in wy Dewalt cordless and put a .45 cal brush on the end, then wrap it with some frontier pad with some gun oil and scrub the barrels good. Use an old rod as they don't like to come apart after you use the cordless on them. Then check the bores. Alot of what apears to be pitting can just be realy dirty bores.
Frontier pad is a steel wool scrubie that looks like shavings from a metal lathe. You can get them from Brownells but I go to Home depot and get them in the cleaning isle. ( cheaper )
Is there a number ( 1 ) or ( 2 ) above or below the serial number on the water table of the reciever? This would be the grade of the gun. Also did all of the SNs match on the lock plates ect.?

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

Ron, your gun is an O grade, capped pistol grip with 28" barrels, looks like it is all the way like it came from Parker, nice find ,Gary

[ron petrov]

Thanks Gary when I first looked at it I thought it was a 0 grade but then turned it over and thought it had too much engraving so must be a 1 the replacement hammer must be from a higher grade and through me off
seeing I have a higher grade hammer don’t suppose I could get away with calling it a 0.1 grade:biglaugh:
I noticed it was missing the shield on the stock but is fitted real well so at least they did a good job repairing it
Put in a paper shim and it tightened up the barrel real good so should be an easy fix
Honestly could probably get away with just using the paper shim seeing I don’t plan on shooting it much I messed up my back so cant hunt anymore
All the # match but the left hammer
I got the barrels cleaned up the pitting don’t look too bad or appear to go deep going to check around at the gun club to see if there is anyone there that collects old shotguns might even be able to find someone with a barrel gauge

[ed good]

say ron...wana buy a bridge in new york?

hav ah gotta deal fur u!

[John Dallas]

Ed - Is there a reason for the inane pseudo southern drivel? How about 21st century language for those of us who did manage to get out of elementary school alive?

[ron petrov]

Don’t know what I would do with the bridge you own in New York so going to have to pass on it Ed
I hope you didn’t spend too much for it
Might be hard to find someone else with your superior intellect that knows the value of everything even knowing what people paid for something when they never stated it
I’m more interested in finding out more about an old shotgun I just bought

[ed good]

mah opologies tu awl...ceptin fur yankee schul teachers and nuns wid big rulers...

[Destry L. Hoffard]

And yet again, Ed Good proves himself a moron. Woo Hoo!

DLH

[John Dunkle]

say ron...wana buy a bridge in new york? .... hav ah gotta deal fur u!
And...
mah opologies tu awl...ceptin fur yankee schul teachers and nuns wid big rulers...
Take a break from posting nonsense.

John

[ron petrov]

Got her all cleaned up now need to get some shells made
Would it be correct to assume that the pressure curve would be the same with pryodex compared to black powder?
Would any wad do? Or what would be the best to use?
Just looking for the shotgun equivalent of a mouse fart load so balloons at 25’

[edgarspencer]

Measure your chambers, as you may find you need 2 1/2" shells.
You can load BP if you want, but RST Lites, or better yet MAXI-LITE are what many of us are shooting in our Twist and Damascus barreled guns. It's an old urban legend that these guns are unsafe with smokeless loads. There's a great article in Double Gun Journal about test-to-failure of these barrels and it was pretty much proven that they are equally strong, barring any serious defects.
I have a couple hammer guns. One is a twin to yours, and I am quite comfortable shooting RST ammo. Another benefit to shooting the aforementioned ammo is that you aren't punishing your 120 year old stock.

[Paul Plager]

Ron, I also have a gun very close to yours with damascus barrels. Also one with Twist steel barrels and I shoot RST ammo through mine with no problems. They are also easy om the shoulder.:corn:

[ron petrov]

Thanks going to have to check into rst
But to be honest would like to have the big cloud of smoke like they would have had when new

[Dean Romig]

Smoke (and fire) is impressive but the clean-up afterward is not a lot of fun.

Here Bob Weeman shoots Frank Cronin's big 10 bore D grade with a load that Frank cooked up in his loading shack set back (by necessity) a hundred yards from his house.






.

[Paul Plager]

If I'm correct in 1906, they were using smokless powders in most of the comercial shells.

[Rick Losey]

if you try to clean black powder like modern stuff its a mess.

a shotgun is not near as hard as a fixed breach like a flintlock

take the barrel off, and leave the foreend off

get a pail of hot (need a glove HOT ) water stick one one end in the water and with a tight fitting mop you will get a piston action pumping the hot water up and down a few times

a couple more times in clean same hot water - dry it (easy since its so hot) wipe inside and out with oil

only takes a few minutes

[ron petrov]

I shoot corrosive ammo and some bp guns so cleaning is no problem the parker would be one of the easier ones to clean
The chamber is 2 ¾” would that need a 2 ½” shell?
Have pryodex and triple 7, ½ lb 71/2 shot and 209 primers should be everything but filler
Assuming that a filler would be needed for the shot was thinking about trying airsoft bb that way wouldn’t need to order anything just need to find someone to reload them at the club

[ron petrov]

Loading some black powder shells is going to be harder than I thought
If anyone knows where I could buy some let me know
Thanks


Was looking at sites that recommended getting equipment from eBay or antique stores but after a little more searching found you can still get everything new
It really don’t look all that hard or expensive can get brass shells or get a roll crimper for $31 and use plastic hulls

Read up on the chambers it will need a 2 ½ well it’s probably actually made for 2 5/8 but going to use 2 ½

[wayne goerres]

Ron reloading black powder shot gun shells is simple. Go on You Tube and type in Reloading blackpowder shot gun shells. You need no special tools. Can all be done by hand. Use 1F black powder. You can get all the wads you will need from precision reloading. Brass shot gun shells for 12ga is inexpensive and there are lots of sources for it. Keep them clean and they will last for ever.