An Interesting Parker
 

My dad picked this up from a long time family friend prior to his passing, I don't know if anyone here might have any insight on it but I figured I would share. I forgot to to get the SN off of it but will text him and ask!

Most Wells Fargo marked guns are bogus. It is a way to increase the value of a cut down gun.

I'm reading through the other forums and that seems to be the consensus. Seems like even if it was real it'd be pretty difficult to prove. SN is 51426.

The "Research Letter" section off the home page shows there are surviving records for 51426, so you could get a letter on the gun.

When it comes to Wells Fargo guns, the only ones I'd trust are the Ithaca doubles in the serial number blocks known to have been ordered by WF.

and what are the odds WF would buy anything but the basic grade to hand to a guard

If that one is bogus someone went to a lot of trouble creating that shield on the wrist, and creating the faux patina on it.

Just an observation, not an opinion on authenticity.

Right Rick - and that one is a Grade 2.




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Stan, it would not surprise me at all if this one was done up by a cowboy action shooter - the effort done for show not necessarily for value

heck did Wells Fargo go that far to ID their guns back then :corn:

A few years ago, I was at the South Florida Antique Show in West Palm..I walked by a vendor that dealt mostly in brass items. He had a whole box of those identical...including San Francisco..Wells Fargo items. I bought a few..j..

That was my first guess too. That shield would require a stamp to make and is probably an original or reproduction; likely not even from a gun. I'm betting the action shooter idea is correct. They all shorten barrels, open bores, and a big part of the competition is the persona they use. It is required by the rules and many of those guys put more emphesis on the outfit and accessories than the shooting. THey are in it for the play rather than the competition.

Letter?

For the sake of the survey, note that it is a fishtail lever. Will it open while cocked?

I recall reading somewhere that Knotts Berry Farm..many years ago. ALWAYS had a Wells Fargo shotgun for sale. Word was that the owner would buy a junker...Stamp WF on it..and the tourists went wild !

There was a guy at our local gun shows that would do something similar to any single shot 12g that he came into. Cut the barrel to 20” and put a saddle ring on the side of it.

,brian

Call me naive, but I fail to see how Wells Fargo is a selling point to begin with.

agreed - think about it - they would have been low grade shotguns that got bounced around under the seat of a poorly suspended stagecoach on rutted frontier wagon tracks until it got lost or the stock broke :rotf:

if you really wanted to fake one, drag it behind your truck for a mile of dirt road

#51426 is not in the Serialization and Identification book. That would give pause as to being an original. Seems like plenty of higher graded and "one off" guns from certain businesses who specialize in repair/restoration have no factory records. :corn: I'd agree with this gun being mocked up.