This is the stuff of which dreams are dreamt. What a terrific find Phillip - Good Eye!!

Be very careful in cleaning that gun. Don't let any cleaning solvents get on the wood or the original shellac might come off. Doing more than a light cleaning could devalue the gun if done incorrectly.

Take it right up to Jim Thynne and Jerry Kitto at Ivory Beads in Covinna. They are absolutely the best and most Parker-Knowlegable in Ca. They will give you the best advice.

Bernard Steel is a style of composite barrels while Damascus is another style. Bernard barrels were made in Paris France and roughly only about 300 Parkers were ever made using Bernard barrels. I believe there was only one grade 3 and only about a half-dozen grade 5 Parkers made with Bernard barrels - the rest of them were grade 4 or C.

On the bottom of the locking (rearmost) lug under the barrels is where the frame size was normally stamped. A twelve gauge from the time period in which yours was made would have been a 1 frame or a 1 1/2, or a 2 and rarely a 3.

Dale Edmonds does a terrific job of restoring the finish on Bernard barrels. This is what he did to mine and they were worse than yours.

The third picture illustrates a 1-frame lug stamp.


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Thanks Dean, those are beautiful. I am going to have to get mine done too. I'm not going to touch these. My son and I take care of our hunting rifles (early '40s) but this is another matter.
I was being a little silly, we call lower Alabama, L.A. , but I don't have a problem shipping the gun or parts of it to someone who really knows them.
Mine are both marked 2. I'm going to send off for my letter tomorrow.

Phillip: The frame size of the action is on the bottom lug of the barrels. Both are the same and if you have the number "2" on the bottom lug, then that is your frame size. It should be the same on both sets of barrels. If your gun was sent back to Parker for another set of barrels they would have the same SN as the original. The same would be true if the gun was ordered with two sets of barrels. Bernard Steel was, I believe, a high quality steel made in France and was a transitional steel that was of a higher quality and more expensive than TWIST, LAMINATED or DAMASCUS.

My choice for restoring a set of Bernard Steel barrels would be Jim Kelly of Darlington Gun Works, Darlington, South Carolina (not too far from L.A.) He is presently in the process of restoring a set of four bore E.M. Reilly barrels for me.

Best Regards, George

I wonder how many PM's this guy has gotten already? *laughs*

DLH

I would expect that he has and should. Its a desireable gun, it will take some money and knowledge to do right and the fortunate owner will need to decide to cash out or become a Parker collector. If he didn't get private emails inquiring about availability, then its an indicator that there is not much acquisition interest in the gun. I'd be interested, but I haven't inquired and I have enough.

[QUOTE=Dean Romig;18591] I believe there was only one grade 3 and only about a half-dozen grade 5 Parkers made with Bernard barrels - the rest of them were grade 4 or C.

Response: I am familiar with a D Bernard 12/30 top lever hammer gun up in the NE. The owner was inquiring about value a few years ago, I made an offer based upon the sale of a C Bernard hammer at open auction but the owner felt it should receive a substantial premium over a C.

There is a GH Bernard 12ga also that is correct.

Three C Bernard 16's and no 20's or 28's are generally known. I have not seen any of the listed B Bernards nor have I heard who has any.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe one of the B's is a 20 bore... I'll have to check my notes.