High grade floorplate subjects
 

I always find the engraving subjects on high grade Parkers interesting. Since grades B and above were pretty much all unique in one way or another. You never know what to expect.

This is an interesting one that I saw at the Southern. An AH that has a greyhound with a dead rabbit on its plate.

Attachment 116858

That's pretty cool. Special request by a hunter that loved to hunt with Greyhounds I bet.
We had a track here since 1944 and only just closed last year. Those dogs are really fast.

Brian, that’s a unique engraving. I’m actually a bit surprised that more B grade guns don’t have more unique designs.

I've been fortunate to have had a couple B grades, and both had a pair of Elk, or some such critter, on the floor plates. Both were also 6 dog guns. The trigger bow treatments are equally interesting. The scroll work on my 16ga (1 frame) BH has very fine engraving, and the 'Parker Bros" banner is so tiny, you almost have to hunt for it.
Perhaps it's only my imagination, but it seems that because of the extent of engraving, the trigger plates may have received a lesser degree of hardening, and are occasionally scratched up a bit more than lower grades.

It was supposed to be Parker “policy” that guns of A and above be unique. I expanded this to B in my statement above due to the observation that though most B grades do have a basic standard to their engraving. There is some individuality expressed in their game engraving as compared to lower grades.

8 dog B grade 12 gauge
 

I guess this is an 8 dog gun then; 2 on each side, 2 on the trigger guard and these 2 on the bottom.
X
X
X

Seems elk/stags or deer are represented well on the floor plates , does anyone have a recollection of a moose being on the floor plate or the reciever sides ?

Brian - in the day that gun was engraved, such dogs were called "coursing dogs" and were bred for the chase.


Craig - I've seen just one with a moose on the floor plate but I can't remember where or when.





.

The most beautiful Parker I have personally held was a DHE with a full detailed strutting turkey. I only got to hold it for a few minutes before the customer picked it up from the local shop.
I wish I would have arrived at the shop 20 minutes earlier.
As far as I know the 12 gauge is still here in Tucson.
Had I had a chance I would have attempted to buy this gun.
Crazy, as it was only a DHE.
I hope fate will send it my way. It had a bad ejector and the shop disabled the ejectors as he didn't have parts.

Here are 3 BHE's from my collection. All a little different.

About 25 years ago, a Winchester collector from Maine offered a pre-1900 AH Grade 12 ga. with beautiful Damascus barrels with a sea otter floating on its back in a kelp bed, opening a clam against its chest engraved on the floorplate. The gun was purportedly built for a lumber baron in Maine, and if I remember correctly the asking price was just over $2K

Dogs? on a B grade
 

I saw this this morning on GI and it made me wonder what was going on when the engraver did this.
X
X

Larry, what am I missing?

Partial dogs
 

Look closely at the dogs. Are there two whole dogs there or what is that tail sticking out and above the left dog and where's the rest of the dog on the right?

If you look closely they’re both there. The one with the raised head overlaps the one in front. The photo makes it hard to see this.

All the parts are there, just defying anatomy. These were done from a template in most cases. If you move the template during transfer, strange things can happen.

B Floorplate
 

This floorplate is on a 4 frame toplever 10 gauge hammer gun.

The legs are what's looking odd to me. Re-coloring the receiver may have made it worse. I wonder if this is a Runge (the father) engraved gun.

These are Henry Gough's dogs

Indian Summer