quick question
 

I am not near my books....what was the first year that Parker implemented the forend latch?

Thanks

I’ve got a circa 1881 I believe it is lifter that has the latch and the radiused corner between the water table and breech face . The one you just bought is an 81 or 82 isn’t it ?

Its an 1883....I just got a tad worried that the forend of the gun might not be original to the gun. But maybe I am over thinking this. If yours is an 1881 lifter with the forend latch and it is original to the gun, I should be ok.

If still in doubt take the forend apart the wood and the metal should have the serial number on them somewhere . I had thoughts of that gun myself , but I’m kinda hung up on the Grade 2 stuff . If it had been a G2 I mighta run you up a couple hundred LOL’s .

I haven't received the gun yet. Should be here this week.

I have a Grade 0 that was made in 1883 with the lever release and an 1884 Grade 2 . Those two however are not lifter but top lever guns .

Thanks for your responses. I think the gun is right. I just got a bit of post purchase paranoia. It looks like an old unmolested gun. The screws are good and everything looks right. I'll do the barrels in black and white and do a light touch on the rest of the gun. I'll refresh the finish and touch up the checkering a bit and then put some color in the checking to make it look in line with an old gun.

s

If you hadn't bid I most likely would have but I recognized your name and refrained . I didn't see anything to be worried about on that gun . Looks like most the finish is gone but for a 135 year old gun what do you expect . And the price was right or atleast I thought it was . But like I said earlier if it had been a Grade 2 I most likely woulda made you pay more to get it .

To answer your original question I believe Parker introduced the latch in 1878.

The patent date is marked (rolled or engraved) on the latch of most all Parker guns. March 26, 1878. And the implementation coincides with the patent.

Earlier guns would be upgraded to the deely latch on request.

I really appreciate that you didn't bid when you saw my name. You didn't have to do that but it was very nice of you.

I'll start the barrels as soon as I receive it. I'm anxious to see what the twist looks like.

Thanks to all who responded. I guess it was a stupid question and all I had to do was look at a forend latch to see the patent date but I didn't think of that.

Tom,

From a "newbie's" perspective... It's not a stupid question. Threads like this are very informative and appreciated by the unindoctrinated. There's always much to learn! Thank you for the education.

Sorry, but in point of fact, the Parker latch is not a Deeley & Edge latch. It is a mechanism designed to achieve the latching, but different enough to avoid patent infringement of the Deeley & Edge latch. Barely.

The only US double with a legitimate Deeley & Edge latch was the H&R.

Michael....are you hearing any spring drumming yet? I hope this is going to be a good nesting season without a lot of rain. I'm retiring in June so I plan to be in my coverts a lot more this fall. I'm starting to get excited already.

When I was a small boy and out in the yard, I'd hear what I thought was someone in the woods starting up an engine. Drumming sounds a bit like that. I had no idea what I was hearing until years later when I became informed. I love that sound. It reminds me of my childhood.

One more memory.....As a small boy I was always fascinated with the guns in my grandfathers gun cabinet. The Parkers always stood out to me because of the shape of the floor plate. That intrigued me then and it still does. I love the shape and the way it is fitted.

We're running about three weeks behind compared to last spring in NH. I just recorded spring peepers and tree frog choruses for the first time last Thursday (26th). I was hearing them as early as April 7th last year. No sign of grouse drumming yet, but the population is a little "thin" in my immediate area. Still plenty of snow hanging around in higher elevations.

I'll be making my annual spring fly fishing trek to northern NH, upper Connecticut river, in a few weeks. Will run the setters in a few covers up there to see what's around for birds. We've had a lot of rain in the past week. The water table is quite high and it's pretty soggy around here. Supposed to warm up significantly this week and I expect it to dry out quickly and start hearing spring drumming most any day.

I received the 10 bore Parker in question. The gun is right with nothing done to it. It actually looks better in hand than in the pictures. This is going to make a great shooter. It has no finish remaining, so I'll freshen up the checkering a bit and also the stock. The goal will be a light touch so that the gun still looks old.

I start on the barrels this week. I'm anxious to bring out the twist.

In addition to ducks, I plan to use the gun for grouse a few times. I'll load an 1 1/4 oz. load of #10's to find out for myself how effective this bore and #10 shot is on grouse. I want to duplicate the experience of the old market hunter Dee Slocum. Some of my hunting will be in the area he gunned for the market long ago. I'll be walking in his steps and "finding out for myself". This is going to be a ton of fun.

That sounds like quite an adventure, Tom! Would love to see pictures of your 10 bore as the project progresses.

As far as the fore-end latch. I have two 1877 lifters both with non-radius breech. #9562 has the cross pin type fore-end latch. #11009 has the "A&D" style latch. The wood and metal on both is correctly numbered to the gun. Was there an overlap into 1877 for beginning use of the A&D style or is 11009 a later refit? The wood was stripped and refinished and there is no evidence that it was converted from a cross pin type.

For a gun that early (11,000 range) to have the patent latch, it was likely “upgraded” later. I once owned a grade 2 in the 12,000 range that had the keyed forend.

TPS speculates that at first maybe only higher grade guns used the patent latch, and lower grade guns kept using the keyed forend, explaining the period of overlap.

Do you have a letter on that gun eric? There may be records of a return for the upgrade.

I do not have a letter for it, being and earlier grade 0, but I may get one on the off chance there is any information. Thanks Brian.

My Dad had a "hit or miss" walk-behind garden tractor with a one-cylinder engine (and a 60 lb. flywheel) that sounded like a drumming grouse from start to finish.... thrump - thrump - thrump - thrump, fump,fump,fump,fump,thud,d,d,d,d,d,d,d,d,d,d,d,d,d ,d,d,d,d,d,d,d





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That's the sound Dean. I'm glad someone else thinks it sounds like an old engine starting. It's a wonderful sound. Another great sound I love is the squeeling of a hen woodduck. Certain sounds mean a lot. Another thing I love is not a sound but the smell of a fresh fired paper shotgun shell. I always smell them, I can't resist.

That squealing of the wood duck reminds me of piglets at the state fair greased pig contest.





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We had a boat on the Chesapeake, and there was a waterman who had a Franklin air cooled one lunger in his crabbing boat. He would wake us up as he went by. PUTT PUTT PUTT at about 60 rpm. The prop was geared up, and the boat was much faster than you would have guessed by the engine speed