Lifter question
 

Hello all,
I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on a lifter I'm looking at.
The barrel rib says Parker Bros. plain steel. The barrel flats Has an S with a crescent above and below, with a 4 8 barrel weight? There is a 0 with an s on the barrel lug. Serial Number 5385.
The fella that is selling says it's a 12 ga. but was wondering if it could be a 16 ga. Not sure what the S signifies. Any info would be greatly appreciated
Thanks,
Harry

Parker shotgun no. 5385 shows as a PS U 0 12 30 so it is in fact a 12 gauge.
359 Parkers are listed as PS which is as you see on the rib, Plain Steel.
the S with the crescent above and below is the stamp for this barrel steel.
The 4 with the smaller 8 is the pre-struck barrel weight, 4 lbs., 8 oz.
The U in the Action Type column is (arguably) for Underlifter.
The 0 with the s are inspection stamps most likely.





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Thanks Dean, Very helpful. So when they refer to Plain steel , is it still twisted/ Laminated?
I don't see any kind of pattern

BTW Dean, I too am a setter man. ; )

None of the above. Just like it says, plain steel not composite. All of the Twists, Laminateds, Damascus, etc. are composite meaning composed of layers or bundles of iron and steel twisted and hammer-welded together and wound around a mandrel to form a tube. Plain steel is not one of those.





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Was Plain steel a fluid steel and was it stronger than composite barrels

I don't have the answer to that Steve. Others do though.





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That is a very interesting question, however I will not speculate. Perhaps those that have studied the writings of Sherman Bell would care to elaborate.

Dr. Drew Haus will have the documentation on that or will direct us to it.






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From my studies, I think I would trust Damascus or twist over the fluid steel of the same era.

I believe Parker started out calling these decarbonized steel barrels, but Remington was already using that name so Parker switched and used the term plain steel later on.

I also believe that the Parker Decarbonized steel/Plain steel barrels are not as strong as other barrels Parker made(they can withstand the least amount of pressure) as already mentioned. Having said that, if minimum wall thickness is not an issue, there are people who shoot these with light loads.

I have a back action lifter, #171 with decarbonized steel barrels that, I will shoot RST 3/4 Falcon Ultralights as well as my own 3/4oz. reloads. I have also shot square 1oz. black powder loads.

The Plain Steel barrels were re-bored rifle barrels, and there are numerous warnings concerning the pressures they can withstand. The rifle barrels were left over from an unfulfilled war contract, and while they may have been sufficiently strong as rifle barrels, heat treat technology was not perfected, and the material was an very basic alloy, lacking the Si-Mn (Silicon Manganese) for refined grain structure, and also lacking any appreciable amount Cr-Ni (Chrome and Nickel). It was barely steel, by chemical composition.