I'm thinking a sub-6 pound 16 ga would be great gun to carry afield but grow unpleasant very quickly shooting clay birds. My 6-lb, 4-oz, 16 DH with dam barrels is just about the perfect grouse gun.

Edgar, For the sake of clarification. The unstuck barrel weight that is stamped on the barrel assembley is without the forend.

I suspect when the barrels were unstruck they had never even seen the forend yet.

That makes sense to me, Dave, however, when it was explained to me by a pretty reputable Parker expert, it also made sense. I believe the final striking was just before cold rust bluing, with ribs soldered and fitted to the gun, which would have had to include the fore end. I have weighed finished barrels with the fore end attached, and in most cases, they were about One ounce less than the stamped weight. It is highly unlikely they removed the weight of the fore end plus one once in final striking.

Edgar,Years ago I subscribed to this theory also but since then I have learned differently. Please take a look at page 427 in TPS. I shows an unfinished set of barrels with the weight stamp already impressed in the assembly. I have had a similar set here and that set wasn't chambered yet. I really believe the barrel weight stamp was for internal use to help the fitters chose a set of barrels that would compliment the final desired weight of a finished gun.

Dave ,I think your theory is probably correct as you are referring ,but I have weighed just about every Parker barrel I have owned and came up with what Edgar is saying ,with Forend on and laying on an old egg scale almost everyone was the Unstruck Barrel Weight stamped on the barrels or within an 1/2 oz. . Coincidence ,maybe but pretty unbelievable ? We had a Thread on this quite a while ago ,I don't think we ever did reach a solid conclusion ! Makes for good conversation !:) Russ

Russ, I have found the exact same thing You and Edgar have found. I was a firm believer in what you guys are saying but after doing further research and with the publishing of theTPS along with many long conversations with the Authors and Dr. Hogan I have come to believe different.

This is kinda over my head but would you not fit the forearm to a finished set of barrels ?

OK, So I'm a few years behind you. So as to save me a lot of trouble down the road, what other theories have you previously subscribed to and since changed your thinking?

Edgar, I didn't mean that statement in a disparaging way. I hope I didn't offend. I find this Parker thing a constant learning experience. I will reveal the other "theories" as they appear. One of them that has been on my mind lately is the obvious difference in the style of trap forends.