Nice gun. I've never seen that grip cap on a Parker but the screw looks right. I wouldn't replace it but I might check to see if it has the pins on the underside out of curiosity. Hey its got 27" barrels, why couldn't it have come from the factory with that cap also?
Erick

I will leave the grip cap on the gun. It's fit is perfect, the screw is engraved & timed correctly and it's obviously very old and been on the gun a long time.

It's just one more mystery about this gun to go along with the 27" barrels & the Laminated tubes used on them.

That is a good candidate for Parkers Found and also for a Parker Pages article. It is a unique and special Parker all around

And a good gun for a feature article in Parker Pages.

Dean:

I've been thinking it would make for an interesting acticle in the Parker Pages. I don't know if I should wait until Brad works his magic or not. A before and after might be a nice way to go on this one.

I agree with the before & after suggestion.

Before and after is always cool

The gun is now on it's way to Brad's.

I'll let you know what he has to say about it.

I've now had the chance to speak with Brad about the gun.

We came to the conclusion that he will remove the dent in the left tube carefully and not re-do the barrel finish. He was of the opinion the original finish was in too nice of shape & the few small scratches should just be left alone. He is going to address the scratches on the stock while preserving the original finish & patina as much as possible. Other than that it will just get a good over-all cleaning.

We did have a good discussion about the laminated barrels on this gun. Brad seemed to be a little stumped about them. He indicted that he hasn't seen this particular pattern on a Parker let alone a hammerless gun. He is doing some research to identify the actual pattern & will get back to me about it. He is also stumped about the grip cap. He said he has never seen a cap like this one. He did agree that it does look original to the gun and should be left alone.

Over all it looks like this is one for the books in the never say never department. I'm really looking forward to getting it back in my hands and seeing the magic of Brad's work to preserve this one for the ages.

Thanks for keeping us posted about this interesting gun. That shows a lot of wisdom on yours and Brad's part.