I'm Stumped
 

I've got this graded hammer gun all taken apart and have sonically cleaned all the metal parts and as I was inspecting everything closely I discovered this inside the trigger guard bow. It is likely to be the mark of a worker in Meriden who worked on this gun.... or maybe not.

Hopefully someone may know what its significance is and what the letters really are. It looks like cpp. or .ddo but it is tiny and even with a magnifying glass I couldn't be sure.

Anybody have an opinion??

Hmmm.... Could it be cap. for Charles A. Parker?



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Are they tooth marks from vise jaws?
That's my impression... (No pun intended)

My pictures could have been sharper but it was necessary to enlarge them by cropping. The letters are really tiny, about 3/64 or a shade smaller. If I had posted better pictures you would see that they are perfectly formed lower case d's or p's. I can't rule out the possibility of vise jaw marks but I'm pretty convinced they are letters.






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Time to break out our hammer guns. I just checked mine Dean, (2) grade 2's and a grade 3. Nothing there.

Dean, the last 2 ate definitely "ap" then a period. The first looks t be a "c" or maybe an "o"

Look under the letters there appears to be a No 2.

No, that is a scratch. Thanks Wayne.






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Dean---If you know of a doctor nearby that has a microscope---that will give you a clear image ---just might solve the puzzle !!

Allan

You can take the ocular off the microscope and invert it. Kind of like a jewelers loop, high quality.

Take a digital picture with the camera image set to raw format for the most detail. Then zoom in when its displayed and that should be as good as a loop.

By raw I mean.... http://www.techhive.com/article/1879...tal_focus.html

You can also look backwards through one tube of a pair of binoculars. Place the object under examination within an inch or closer to the eyepiece. Having good illumination helps!

I had a potato chip with Elvis' head on it, but I ate it.

Edgar did you use your right arm:cuss:

BINGO !!

Bob Kimble was kind enough to send me a high quality loupe and with the extra power afforded by it it became evident that the impressions in the inside of my trigger guard were made by the jaws of a vise. Probably to hold it stationary as it was being engraved in Meriden.

Thanks Bob!






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I've seen plenty of guns and other things over the years that were marred by vises...

I've seen plenty of people marred by vices.....

Greg, you beat me to that comment

You're welcome Dean. Glad to help.

Trigger guards getting stuck onto plates is not all that uncommon. Sometimes they just will not turn off. I am sure more than one has had pliers put on the fronts of them to free them.
Of course, there is better ways to do it than that.

The marks, being on the medial side of the trigger guard bow, and there being no corresponding marks on the lateral side of the bow, leads me to believe it was done at PB when it was held in place for engraving. Of course, I could be wrong... we'll never know.





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You do norver know, the insides of trigger guard bows are not always that finely finished.

Given the fine work done at Parker Brothers over the years, I respectfully disagree with that statement. They simply employed better craftsmanship than that. Since the gun is no longer new, as in many years old, any shadetree gunsmith could have buggered it in subsequent years. Just sayin'... :)

Thanks for your respectful opinion Mr. Cinkoske. As I stated, we'll never know.





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