This should be correct :banghead:

Whitworth Compressed Fluid Steel barrels were first used on the Grade 7 "AAH Pigeon Gun" in 1894.
Titanic Steel barrels were offered for Grades 3 - 6 from 1897 until the introduction of Acme Steel for Grades 4 - 6 around 1910.
The Grade 0 VH was introduced in 1899 with Vulcan Steel, Parker Special Steel barrels appeared on the Grade 2 GH in 1908, and the Grade 1 PH & NH received Parker Steel in 1917.
The Grade 8 A1 Special introduced in 1907 had Whitworth barrels until after WWI, then Peerless Steel.

And BTW: Hunter Arms Crown steel appeared with the introduction of the Pigeon Grade in 1893, Nitro in 1895, Armour later Armor in 1898 with the 00, and Royal steel in 1901. We have barrels with the LLH mark of Laurent Lochet-Habran on all 4.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL.../309382810.jpg

Now we just need evidence that there was a difference in any of those barrels :rolleyes:

More information courtesy of Josh Loewensteiner as published in Winter 2008 Parker Pages

Charlie Price reported a DH SN 79503 with Whitworth steel, but the gun has not been found.
Parker used Whitworth for the first AAH Pigeon Gun in 1894, SN 79964 delivered to Capt. Du Bray.
In 1895, a run of 14 DH and 1 BH with Vulcan steel barrels was completed.

I read and re-read these references with interest. Do we know who in Belgium built the rough tubes or was it spread around? After 1912, was there a period of time that barrel tubes were built in Meriden by Parker Bros?

Curious.
Jack

At about the onset of WW 1 the supply of barrels from Belgium, and quite possibly most anywhere in Europe including England, for all intents and purposes, pretty well ceased altogether. It was then that Parker Bros. had a need to source barrels in the U.S.A.

That makes historical sense. Sourcing barrels in the USA. Did Parker ever make their own for a gun that was from start to finish built by Parker Bros in Meriden?

There is evidence that Parker Bros. did make their own barrels for a very short period on early lifters. There have been threads on the topic of Parker made barrels, in fact there was a thread last week that discussed this topic.

Thanks Dean: Thread is 3 pages back. Read it and the links. Appears there is an 18 month period where barrels were made. One assumes, if made, they also were put into production of a totally made in USA gun. Fairly rare in any event. Not being a student of the barrel making process, the big surprise to me was the barrel source for Parker was Belgium. Obviously, they were capable barrel makers. What is the history behind the disparaging JABC reference (Just Another Belgian Clunker) Were there a lot of el-cheapo guns built there? Were there equally many decent guns built there that suffer by association to "clunkers"?

Cheers,
Jack

Sorry gentlemen but still recovering from a trip to Mexico, and not a vacation :(

This should help

https://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dfg2hmx7_1742r4n6vcz and

http://docs.google.com/document/pub?...eFell8GsAWd-KI

The U.S. makers most certainly continued to source rough fluid steel tubes from Belgium well after WWI.

We've found the LLH of Laurent Lochet-Habran on Smith guns manufactured from 1914 to 1948. That of course does not establish when the tubes were actually imported.

The mark of Canons Delcour is found on post-WWI Smith, Fox, Ithaca NID (“Best Fluid Steel”) and Ithaca Lefever Nitro Special A-grades.

to my understanding the PLAIN STEEL BARRELS weremade by parker bros...or do i have this wrong......the gun i have has a patent date of 1874 on it plus serial no site says made in 1874....does this fall in the time period that parker made there on barrels....... charlie

Charlie: I was waiting for a Parker expert to step in, but I'll go ahead and...step in it :rolleyes:
358 guns were made with "Plain Steel" which was used for a short period in transition from "Decarbonized Steel" c. 1875. The decarbonized steel was probably sourced from Remington; plain steel possibly.
The Parker ads found by EDM and John Davis only mention Parker making Laminated and Twist barrels c. 1878