In my opinion the engraving style is that of a Grade 1, not a 2. A grade 2 of that era should have a bird on each lock plate.

I have two Grade-3’s that have the U on the water table. Others have disagreed with me in the past regarding this but it’s my opinion the U represents Underlifter.





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Gents: My 10 ga lifter S/n 13249 letters as a Quality E (grade 2) from Mr. Bishop and has identical engraving to the gun in question. Dean you might remember it, it has the Parker made laminated barrels. I bought it from Angel Cruz here about 10 years ago. A few pics follow.

1880 D2:
 

My “short ten” 10 Gauge $85 Grade side plates for comparison.

Well, that makes sense since what he has is a grade 2.

Damascus steel, sculpted bolsters and 3pt checkering are the hallmarks of grade 2 lifters in this period.

Beautiful 10 and great info !

It is a great gun! Especially for what you paid.

Ray, you wanna make a quick 100 bucks?
:)

Yeah, Ray wins the award for getting a good deal on his first Parker purchase. My first purchase was actually a grade 2 of the same vintage, 10 gauge, with a broken stock and I paid about three times what Ray paid. It is still a favorite gun though

Not the first Parker , just my first Under Lifter. I do confess to l being new however to collecting them .

Was Damascus an upgrade as compared to the other types of barrel construction ?