Mills, was it cut down at some point?

The barrels were originally 32". It is not the prettiest gun in the world, but it is a good shooter

Why would someone take a half inch off the barrels? Were they messed up? What am I missing?

I do not know. My guess is there was some damage to the end of the barrels

Allen, How long were the original damascus barrels ? TPS says there were only seven 31" damascus barrelled guns (12ga.) and seven 31" Titanic guns. Quite the coincidence.

Edgar, I wish I knew that answer. The letter on it only says that the gun was originally fitted with Damascus barrels and the gun was returned to Parker to be fitted with titanic steel barrels 31 inches. I'm not home right now, headed into Boston, tomorrow I'll check the book
, don't think it was listed, but I'll recheck

Odd length barrels are a collector's dream, but not an easy collector category to fill your gun safe with. These guns are hard to find and even harder to pay for if the seller realizes the rarity of the gun he is selling. I have been lucky in finding a few oddities, but some weren't the prettiest guns, but, oddly, some were wonderful. Most have been displayed and shot at PGCA meetings and Side by Side events, so most of mine have been seen by our members. The one gun I would most like to finish and shoot is my "One of One Made" 30" eight gauge DH Grade which weighs less than ten pounds. This may turn out to be my favorite heavy bird gun.

Odd length barrels are a collector's dream, but not an easy collector category to fill your gun safe with. These guns are hard to find and even harder to pay for if the seller realizes the rarity of the gun he is selling. I have been lucky in finding a few oddities, but some weren't the prettiest guns, but, oddly, some were wonderful. Most have been displayed and shot at PGCA meetings and Side by Side events, so most have been seen by our members. The one gun I would most like to finish and shoot is my "One of One" 30" eight gauge DH Grade which weighs less than ten pounds. This may turn out to be my favorite heavy bird gun.

I'll try to up load a few pics of this DHE from my cell phone

When I get home I'll do more research and post a few more pics.