55 dollar grade with Blaze forged barrels
 

From time to time I'll pick up a Parker that needs some TLC. I like to get them functional & at the same time to keep them as orginal as possible. I recently picked up a Lifter that dates to 1880. The plain twist barrels lower rib was loose so I sent it out to be resoldered. While they were out I figured I would also have them refinished. I shortly received a correspondence stating I had a lower grade Parker with some interesting history. I was told the barrels are 1 of less then 100 plain twist barrels that were hand forged here in the U.S. by a Blacksmith by the name of John Blaze. He migrated here from Birmingham, England & worked for Parker from 1878-1880. The barrel flats also have that pesky "M" stamped on the flats like in a prior thread about John K.'s Lifter. Could the "M" mean Meriden? As made or forged in Meriden?

Here are a few more pictures. The Lifter also made a visit up to Turnbull's for some work. The RH safety notch needed some work & the barrels needed "setback". I have since received the shotgun back. They both did great work. Take note that the following pictures were before the barrels were refinished.

M-E-R-I-D-E-N, not Meridian, CT

That's it? I was hoping you would of had more to add. I'll watch the auto-fill more closely when I click on it.

With all due respect William, you didn't ask for any guidance or input.

Your lifter looks like a nice example. Who did you send it to for the rib repair and refinish? What was the turn around time?

That's a new one on me. What's the name of your gunsmith and where did he get his information. Also what's the S/N of your gun?

Ok, here we go. The serial no. on the Lifter is 18407. As for the barrel resoldering & refinishing I used none other then Breck. He is the one who gave me the history on the barrels. Now, I have been trying to do some more research on this subject There are others who have also looked into this. I believe at one time John Davis did a article & another guy by the name of Drew Hause who has done some extensive research. Any information anyone would like to add is always appreciated.

This falls right into the timeline of a hearing where CAK testified that the only barrels Parker ever manufactured in house were in the years 1877, 78 and 79 and that they were Laminated Steel, which look a whole lot nicer than Plain Twist.
There are other loose ends to this story that almost seem to contradict the Blaze association but maybe the newly introduced Blaze association contradicts what we thought we knew…





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Thanks Dean. I don't want to speak for Breck. From what he told me he has proof that Blaze made barrels for Parker. He told me when time permits he was going to write a article for Parker Pages. I look forward to reading what he has.

I like Breck - He’s an excellent craftsman (I am a 4 or 5 time customer of his barrel work) and I’m definitely looking forward to his article.
I learn new things ‘Parker’ every day.





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Has anyone tried to isolate the "M" stamp? Meaning, has the members of the PGCA come forward and documented who has this stamp on their barrel flats, year of the shotgun etc.? Is the "M" stamp limited to barrels that were supposedly manufactured by Parker? I noticed in a prior thread John K's lifter is plain twist & he also has the"M". His serial numbers are in the 17200 range. Is it only on Plain twist or also Laminated? Yes, lots of questions. It would seem documenting who has it when it seems to disappear would narrow it down.

Lots of information here regarding American made pattern welded barrels, and those of Parker; mostly courtesy of Brad Bachelder and John Davis.
Dean's Parker made Laminated Steel barrel is also shown
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...A/edit?tab=t.0

We now have Twist Lifters with 'M', 'M +', and 'M F'
IMHO there is nothing special about the appearance of the Twist pattern to confirm the maker. The Parker made Laminated Steel pattern is unique.

Thanks Drew for the information. I will surely read through it. After some searching I have also read that Blaze may have not worked directly for Parker but, when Wesson went out of business he was supplying barrels to them. The article I read said Blaze may have been supplying barrels to other companies as well. It would be great to see what information Breck has. He did mention a correlation with the "M" stamp. These barrels came from somewhere!

To the best of my knowledge, Parker made barrels were Laminated Steel and were stamped on the right barrel flat with a P with a broken left side of the foot of the P and were on the forward section of the flat where we customarily see the stamp for the type of steel the barrels are made of.

The M in reference to Blaze, the maker, is brand new to me, althougb I’ve seen the M stamp a few times previously.





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