Parker 12 Ga DHE Evaluation
 

Recently I shipped out to Bachelders my 12 ga DHE w/31 inch barrels to have them clean it and go all over the gun to provide me with their overall evaluation of it. Some of us may recall that earlier this year I had posted this gun for sale. Given a number of queries I received from PGCA members regarding in particular the originality of the rare 31 inch barrels, I decided to have an independent evaluation of the gun by Bachelders whom I trust greatly. Also took the opportunity to have them take it apart and clean and lubricate it as necessary. I am attaching their evaluation FYI and comment. I do hope the attachment comes through.

The DHE
 

A pic of this DHE that has been posted earlier

Thank you for posting this Allen

Very well done. Thanks for posting

The analysis is thorough and complete. A first rate professional evaluation. I wish you the best with your gun. I hope you decided to keep it.

Tom, the truth is I have not made up my mind. I will shoot some pheasants with it this season tho and some trap. I have enjoyed shooting this somewhat rare DHE. If after this season I decide to sell, I'll post it in the for sale section and give first rights to PGCA members. Our bird season here in Massachusetts opens tomorrow and where we hunt there will be a few pheasants (but not many). I only wish I had it back from Bachelders to take into the field tomorrow. Thank you for your comments.

Barrels re-bored? I doubt it. A great majority of Parkers made in that era were oversized when made. Bores actually being .729” was not really seen until the 1920s.

Agreed! Now that you have an expert's opinion to validate the wisdom of your decision to purchase this nice Parker, I hope that you enjoy hunting with your gun! After all, that's why many of us are here. Good hunting!

Thank you gents. One of the aspects of this DHE that i was most concerned with was the originality of the barrels. Ie; had they been cut or not, after all the 31 inch length makes this double somewhat rare. My own eye told me the length had not been messed but i felt it was important to get an independent evaluation from a credible source. I only wish that Parkers records were more complete to tell the story of how these barrels came to this DHE when the record shows it came out of the factory with 30 inch damascus barrels. My best speculation is that either the factory record is incorrect or sometime between 1906 when it was made and when Walter King stepped down it was sent back to be rebarreled. And why would someone order a non standard 31 inch barrel length? I am open to anyone elses thoughts

Titanic barrels were introduced in 1897 so it really could have been made with the Titanic barrels it now has.... or it could have been made with Damascus. The letter says one thing but the gun seems to contradict it. You’ll never know for certain.

I’ve said it before, my 28 ga. DHE shows in the Serialization book and in The Parker Story as having 28” Titanic barrels but it letters with 24” Damascus barrels, which it has now and has always had.





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Dean, we know there were only about 8 DHE's produced with 31 inch barrels. Since so few were made in this unusual length, why would someone want 31 inch barrels? Would it have been a weight issue for a shooter, handling style??

Not an issue of weight - that could have been accomplished in the barrel striking.

The person who ordered 31” barrels just had an odd preference for that odd length. 30’s were too short and 32’s were too long...





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I don't like to question Brian's opinion cause he's seen more Parker barrels than I have but most of the 12ga. barrels that were very overbored occured in the pre 60,000 range as seen in Austin Hogan's graph. Most of the post 12ga. Parker barrels I've measured were in the .731 to .735 range. I think it's quite possible his barrels were honed.

True that more guns were oversized, and extremely oversized (I have observed as high as .760” on early 12g hammerless guns), in the earlier days, but things kind of went up and down as time went on. Like I said, you would be hard pressed to find a bore diameter within .005 of .729” before 1920.

The bores on this gun are .011” over nominal .729”. Which I do not think is at all out of the norm for a gun of that era.

I have a 3 frame 12ga (173xxx) with .740 bores and 3" factory chambers. It was patterned with #1 shot. I have always wondered if large shot sizes required overboring to pattern correctly. Austin chart shows a few .740 guns of later manufacture. Guess we will never know.

I took the DHE out for the first time since receiving it back from Bachelders.. Its much tighter now and lever is centered well. Shot a round of skeet with it. Now before anyone jumps on me why did i shoot skeet with a 31 inch barreled sxs. We shoot skeet sunday mornings, that's why and i just want to run some loads thru it. I must say it was challenging swinging those barrels on skeet but i did manage to break a few clays. Lol. Anyway, the gun performed flawlessly even if I didn't. Very pleased with Bachelders.

This very nice DHE is now for sale. Please see posting in the For Sale section of this forum.