Please let us know what Doug Turnbull tells you about the work he has done on this gun. Apparently, you know he has done some work on this gun.

I agree with Brian on the case harding. I've had severial Parkers case hardened by Turnbull & the colors don't look like his. The nice thi g about this site is there are many experienced collectors & restorer's & I look forward to hearing their comments and one shouldn't be offended at their comments and should be grateful & take it as a learning experience.

1. I didn't say Turnbull did the case hardened
2. you know the old saying about opinions

Please take this in a positive way. If you plan to continue to purchasing vintage shotguns invest in a wall thickness gauge and a bore gauge. Measuring barrel wall thickness and bore dimensions, before you write the check, can save you money in the long run. We have seen many refinished Parkers with wall thickness well below what is considered safe.

Thanks, what is considered a safe wall thickness?

This subject has been covered in great detail in the past. Search this forum and you will have hours of reading about wall thickness. In 12ga guns I want min wall of not less than .025 but prefer .030. At 9 inches from the breech I want to see .045 min., at the end of the chamber I want to see .145 min. Other collector/shooters have different standards but I believe it is a good idea to study the subject of wall thickness.

James, I don't believe your gun ever saw the inside of Turnbull;s. The case color looks like it was done by Color Casehardening Co. (?),, Ryan would have checkered the fore end with the correct pattern, and the breech end of the barrels looks like they rolled the edge when they polished them leaving the engraving faint; not Turnbull quality. As long as the guns barrels are safe hunt the hell out of it.

Early on I bought a Parker at auction that had been refinished. I thought the gun looked good and wanted to find out who did the work. I contacted a number of shops that did restoration work including Doug Turnbull's. Everyone I contacted said they did not have the gun in their records. The late Larry DelGrego told me to send him pictures and he would be able to tell by looking at the gun who the work was done by ( I have found that a number of those in the N/E have very strong opinions LOL). Larry told me he thought that Creekside did the work. Larry said that Creekside was the shop owned/run by Doug Turnbull and his father before Doug started his own shop. At the auction, it was stated the restoration was done by Turnbull's. Who knows?

The colors on the OP's gun look very similar to a gun I had done by the folks in Grand Rapids, but Brad had the engraving picked up on my gun before the colors were done

Craig: is that .145" MWT at the forward end of the chamber for 12g or your 8g & 10g boomers?
I believe you'll have a hard time finding a 20g Parker with that end of chamber WT, and few 2 or 1 1/2 frame 12g.

Lots of numbers here
https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums...=615160&page=3
More Parker numbers here
https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums...=615160&page=6

More Smith numbers
20g No. 00 Armor steel Smith .088" L and .090" R
16g No. 00 Armor steel Smith .096 L and .105 R
16g No. 0 damascus Smith .108" L and .102" R
12g No. 4 chain damascus Smith .110" L & .103" R