Dean, it was # 11126. This gun along with the pin lifter have been with the same owner under wraps on the west coast for probably 30 years or more as I understand it.

I have seen that name somewhere, likely in TPS. It's actually spelled Phenix if you zoom and has what appears to be a J in front of it?

Thanks Randy. So it’s apparantly not the same one and is only the second one I have known about.





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The Gent was adamant that this was factory work and as I believe I stated earlier he alluded to a DGJ article that would support this. I have not taken the time to look for it. I found it odd that the recesses were not uniform in depth. If you look closely you can see that the bottom of the recess (nearest the water table) is deeper that the top. It's actually quite noticeable with the gun in hand and is the same on both. This made me suspicious but then again we do tend to pick things apart when viewing for originality, myself included.

The angle between the water table and the breech face on Parkers is not 90 degrees. This may account for the uneven cutting of the breech face recess.

This in itself gives me a certain doubt of it being PB factory work. PB, knowing the angle was not a perfect 90 would have taken this into account when machining the recesses.





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I agree with Dean, that it is very unlikely Parker Brothers work. Had it been, and there was a logical reason, it would have been more common. The reason was likely to chamber and shoot cartridges which had a thick rim, but altering the gun would have made for an unsafe headspacing if one was to go back to thin rims. What makes me go hmm, is why did they rebate the standing breech, and not simply deepen the rim groove in the barrels? The breech face would then still be perpendicular to the bore, and not a calculated machining angle. The reason the breech face is not a 90 degree perpendicular angle is simple, when you think about it. If it were 90 degrees, the bottom edge of the barrels would strike the breech face in closing.

Edgar, I will read the remainder of your post after I recover from the first four words where you stated and I quote, "I agree with Dean". That has to be a first. Would you like to edit that before others see it, feeling alright?? :rotf:

Randy, it's like Haley's Comet. It comes around every 76 years, and since Dean just celebrated his 77th Birthday, and I know I agreed with him a few years ago, I figured I'd get it out of the way early. I do feel much better now that I know I can look forward to the next 76 years worry free.

Hell, I'm just glad you're alright. That sorta talk had me worried. Hope Dean's handling it alright. He's probably down, overcome with emotion. :)

A Few more Pictures and a Question
 

Pictures of right side, and a few others.