What, can’t find any glasses at the office?? 😂😂

Bad...

Ok. Now I’m home and not sure how this impacts the total picture. Serial numbers are different. How does one replace barrels with a similar number?????? The work of Parker Jihadists?? EDIT: not different, but different typeface

They may have changed barrels, could have been pitted or maybe Damascus or someone may have just found a set of barrels more like they wanted to shoot. Sounds like the work may have been done 30 years ago when parts were more available and more people were available to do the work. We all wish we had bought more back then but diapers and groceries were more of a priority when the family was young. Nice looking gun with some good work done on it. If the price is right, enjoy it. I think we have the making of a new column in Parker Pages, "Adventures of Andy", looking for your next Parker. I enjoy your spirit and seeing you put up with us on this site but the wisdom you gain is worth the pain. Ha!

Thank you Alfred! I enjoy "the hunt" as they say. So in this case, with the proper serial number, would that mean it was likely a factory barrel replacement? This is what confuses me. I imagine some gnarly dude in a dimly lit basement with a light bulb and dripping water forging fake Parker barrels for idiots like me... I'll order the research letter

Check the back side of your extractor. That will be numbered to match the gun as well. If not with the whole number, at least with the last 3-4 digits of the numbers.

Every once in a while we have to have egg on our face and admit we don't know what we don't know. Dave (Researcher) just cleared this up for me. This appears to be a later gun where there are two different type faces used. MY idiotic assumption (never ASSUME) was that the differing typefaces meant for sure it was a fake/forged/replacement/non original set of barrels. I'll look behind the extractors per Brian. I am going to leave everyone alone for a while now on this matter and go shoot her.

Yup, the barrel font is correct for that serial number range. Dave beat me to it.

Anyone who thinks membership is too expensive for this group is an idiot. Just saying.

Most people that go to the trouble and expense of having a non original set of barrels fitted, also have the barrels re-stamped to match the gun. by 'non-original, I mean Genuine Parker barrels. Some think it's misleading, or unethical. I don't, and feel its appropriate the barrels be marked to the gun the are meant to fit, whether Parker Brothers or not.
With the exception of the small bores, 28 and .410, and to some degree, 20ga, there are plenty of orphaned barrels out there, and companies such as Krieghoff, Hambrusch, and others, have made barrels.

Andy,

Your gun got me thinking about serial number stamping on parkers and what "we" know about them.

Generally speaking the major numbers stamped on any gun (forend, water table and barrel lug) will match. Meaning that they were stamped with the same size and style of numbers. Not necessarily that they were stamped with THE exact same stamps, but just that the different work stations in the factory would have been using the same type of stamps. The size and style of number stamps varied a lot over the many years of manufacture. But generally the numbers were of a serif style up until about the time of your gun when they switched to a san-serif or more block type of letter style. And the numbers got larger. Even though in the earlier serif stamps there was some times when the numbers got bigger as well, then smaller again...

But, the variation in your gun being that the water table (and I assume forend) have the earlier type serif style and the barrel lug has the later type san-serif style. I rummaged around through what I have here and was able to find two different examples not long after your gun was made. A 210,000 range Trojan and a 219,000 range GHE. BOTH of them look the way yours does. So, it is apparent that around this time, the barrel were being stamped with the newer style stamp and the frames/forends with the older style. Whereas a later example I have here in the 225,000 range has the newer san-serif style letters on the frame/forend.

So, your gun, though it goes against what would generally be held to be "the way", is from a time when that was not really so.

Thank you Brian, that explains a lot. And this has certainly been a learning lesson on this gun. Now let's see if I can smash a few clays at The Rock with it.

The SN on my 202 range DHE16 is much the same, but the SN on one of the DDHE20s in close proximity is much smaller.

Some discussion on changing numbers to match your frame, I once had a nice GH with Vulcan barrels, it was originally a Damascus barrel gun. The numbers can be changed but I doubt that anyone would change the rib, etc, or actually rebuild the barrels so you can be pretty sure when you see an orphaned set of barrels from Parker. I once saw a beautiful AH 16 and later found it was an AH 12 originally but I still wish I had bought it. I regret that the dealer never mentioned that it was not actually a 16 but I didn't ask so he wasn't dishonest, just not forthcoming and could see I was new to the game. Live and learn but if I had bought it and later found a set of 12 barrels, it would have been a sweet gun, even without original barrels and I didn't know what steel should have been on it and didn't even check to see if the numbers matched. Talk about a sheep waiting to be sheared! So we live and learn but you gotta love a Parker, call me prejudice but the best ever built.