Thanks for clearing this up. I'm still curious what the unstruck barrel weight of your gun's barrels is. I don't mean to pester you, I'm just really intrigued by the barrel striking process at Parker Bros.

Sorry to take so long but scale battery needed to be replaced. Gh Damascus marked 3 12 weighs 3 5. Serial 117242. Total weight is 7 5. Another GH Damascus marked 3 12 weighs 3 10. Serial 88110. Total weight is 7 11. Both are 30 inch. Both are 1 1/2 frames. Can't say how accurate my scales are but it has new batteries now.

Another VH marked 3 8 weighs 3 5. Total weight 7 10. Serial 169780, 26 inch on a 1 1/2 frame.

Thanks, Gerald. Your weight differentials (the smaller ones) certainly seem to be anomalies to the article I read (after searching this site...and Parker Pages) that concluded the .88 mark. That was obviously the result of averaging, but still, if that .88 conclusion is correct, it makes one ponder. Do you have letters on # 88110? If so, anything unusual, or noted about the desired weight of the gun ordered?

I appreciate your contributions to this thread. I think at the very least it confirms that Parker may have mass produced guns, but in reality, there was enough hand work (at least in the barrel striking) to compete with the notion of handmade guns. I think those of us who know and love Parkers don't find this as anything new...but it still is intriguing. I wonder if there is similar comparison data for, say, Fox guns...

I do not have a letter however the gun patterns very full. If I decide to keep it I may use it for turkeys.

Just a follow-up and conclusion of sorts. I got the letter on the gun that started this thread. The letter states the records show the gun to weigh 7 lbs. So this gun appears to be untouched...and to be a very light 30 inch gun (again, by my scale it weighs just slightly over 7 lbs.). The amount of weight struck from the original unstruck and stamped weight is more than any other gun I can account for, and again attests (to me, at least) how much hand work went into these "mass produced" guns.

I'd still be interested in learning about other 30 inch Damascus barrel weights as low as on this gun or with significant differences in the unstruck and final weight.

I'm not much of a 12ga person and the ones I do have are all 2 frame guns with 30 or 32 inch barrels so they aren't much help but here is a comparison of two guns both O frames with 30 inch Damascus barrels.

GHE 16 total gun weight is just shy of 7.5 lbs. Unstruck barrel weight 3.1 lbs.
GH 20 total gun weight 6.5 lbs., unstruck barrel weight 3.6 lbs. There is only a half pound difference in barrel weight between these two guns but a pound in overall weight.

I think the majority of the difference in weight is the combination of factors such as stock configuration,splinter vs BTF, straight grip or pistol grip, Skelton butt or pad. Ejectors will add a small amount of weight as well. Wood density also comes into play.

The GHE is a straight stock, skeleton butt and BTF. The GH is a pistol grip, splinter forearm and factory butt plate.

The 16 weighs a half pound more than your 12 and the 20 is a half pound less.

Hey, Rich,

Thanks for responding. All of the variables contributing to final weight are part of the puzzle, as you well point out. Based on the kind of customization Parker would do for customers, I can imagine that they (Parker craftsmen) might, for example, choose less dense/lighter wood to get to a target weight. I'm looking at the barrel striking process as my focus. My 12 has just over 8 ounces taken off from the unstruck/stamped weight. I have not seen that much weight come off original barrels, and the quality control article I found in Parker Pages suggests about 12% is the average. Bottom line: this GH 12 weighs and handles like a 16 apparently by design. To me it reasserts the customization one could get when ordering even one of the lower grade offerings.

BTW, I prefer 16s also. A straight grip GH like yours I'll bet is a pleasure to carry and shoot.

In all honesty I don't hunt with the GHE straight grip 16. I'm to old and to fat lug a 7.5 lb. gun through the grouse coverts. I much prefer the sub 6lb guns and while admittedly not a 12ga fan I am looking forward to hunting with a British "Light Game Gun" with some 2 inch RST paper shells this fall.

Rich,

I'm getting to the too old, too fat point myself. I've always liked lighter guns. When you are a wild quail hunter in Northern Missouri, you walk a heck-of-a lot more than you shoot. I've latched onto 16s for this. I have Fox and Parker 16s that weigh in at under 6 lbs. My favorite gun to carry for quail is a 130 year old Cogswell and Harrison back action hammer gun with 30 inch Damascus barrels. It weighs 5 lbs. 13 ounces. I also have a Whistler 12 that is a smidgen less than 6 lbs, and my grouse gun is a little Dickson box lock (28 gauge) that weighs 5 lbs 3 oz. So, I too enjoy carrying light. I know lots of the folks on the site like to shoot clays and shoot a great deal, but for me, walking as much as I do (and as much as I can), the lighter the gun, the better. I shoot about the same with a light gun as I do with one that's heavier (as my 30-plus years of records show), but my tendinitis is better carrying a sub-6 gun. ;-)

I hope you enjoy your light loads and English gun. Thanks again for sharing your guns' weights. It was my quest for lighter Parkers that started this thread in the first place.

Take care!