Speaking of the "Gold Hearts Gun"
 

Dean mentioned the Gold Hearts Gun in another thread. I had a chance to visit with her and the owner this past weekend in Sanford. This gun has been mentioned here several times and was the subject of a past Parker Pages article. Here for your viewing pleasure...

Now there's a "back and forth" gun if I ever saw one.

Wow! Well worth the wait for a look at this unique piece of Parker craftsmanship.

Wow , Very Very Nice Bill !:bowdown: That is a beautiful and very unique gun ! Does anyone know where Parker 64248 is which is mentioned in the letter and is it of the same ornamentation ? It is listed in the book as D3 ,10 Ga. ? Russ

Don't know where DH #64,248 is. However, I have a letter on it. It is also in pigeon configuration, with no extension rib and no safety, if I remember correctly. It was made as a ten and later had twelve gauge barrels installed. It was apparently made for the person mentioned on the order for the Gold Hearts gun. The stock dimensions for the Gold Hearts gun were radically different, obviously made for a different person, although the same person placed the order. The modification of the stock mentioned in the letter was never done, the present stock dimensions being identical to the dimensions mentioned in the order, 1 1/8 drop at comb, and 2 1/8 drop at heel. #64,248 does not have the gold ornamentation, at least not mentioned in the order. I would be very interested in seeing this gun, a DH ten, twelve, or both.

Mr. Murphy,
What is the unstruck weigth stamped on the 34" barrels? (if you dont mind sharing/ me asking)

The 34" Parker Special Steel barrels are marked 4-9. The 30" Damascus barrels are marked 4-7. The gun was built for either forend to fit on either set of barrels, which helps in changing the balance at will. John, I wish I had thought to have you shoot a round of 5 stand with the 34" barrels.

Sometimes people ask me why I say "Never say never if you are talking about a Parker and if they did this or that" Bill's Parker answers all of those questions.....:shock:

I am a little late mentioning that our friend, Daryl Middlebrook, negotiated the sale of this gun to me. Without his assistance, this gun would probably be a set of 34" PSS barrels installed on another gun with the rest of the gun parted out and salvaged for the little bit of gold.

Beautiful!

Outstanding gun Murph!!! It even has my initial. Are both bbls 12ga??

Yes, Angel, both barrels are 12 gauge. And, yes, the initials are yours, more than you realize. The Damascus barrels are the standard early dimensions of .745 and .747 with chokes of .025 and .050. These barrels were probably enlarged a bit at PB when the request was made in 1902 to "Choke left barrel as tight as possible". Yup, fifty thousandths is about as tight as possible. The PSS 34" barrels are standard .730 with .034 in each barrel. I can't wait to pattern the .050 choked barrel with good loads. Even though the original Damascus barrels were obviously somewhat backbored to accommodate

Man, with those measumrement and the looks, I'm in love!!

For the readers of the recent posts about the Gold Hearts Gun, here are some good color shots and a picture of the gold balls on the breech of the Damascus barrel set. The pictures of the "butt" were taken before the silver disc was reinstalled after the skeleton buttplate was filed and reengraved by Ken Hurst, and refinished by Bill Hamrich. Ken and Bill were so taken with the gun that they refused payment.

I found it Bill.... page 37 of Autumn 2007, Volume 14, Issue 3 of Parker Pages in "A Most Unusual Parker" by Bill Murphy and Mark Conrad. A very thorough and compelling documentation of "The Gold Hearts Gun".





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Dean, better pictures, including the gold balls, are posted by Dave Suponski on this thread. I believe they were taken at the Southern.

That gun has killed a few pigeons, would be my guess. A unique and beautiful gun, for sure!

Now, after a couple of decades, having progressed away from my crossover guns, I may kill a few pigeons with the Gold Hearts Gun. I guess my stash of 1 1/4 ounce pigeon loads will be safe in the 34" Parker Special Steel barrels.

Hey - go easy on those heavy loads Bill... remember your neck... and tour back... and your shoulder.





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My pigeon loads are loaded with light loads of Herco, 1 1/4 ounces of #7 1/2 shot, and propelled very slow, like 1175 fps. I last loaded them about 15 years ago, but have a good supply.

Pretty neat!

Yesterday, I finished our club pattern board and shot a pattern with my 40" Davenport with a ten to twelve chamber gauge. I used my 1 1/4 ounce #4 1175 fps lead load left over from pre-notox days and shot at about 48 yards. I shot another pattern with my 7/8 ounce #8 1175 fps loads. Either load was astounding in its coverage and density. I think that "slow" is best for pattern density and uniformity. I'm almost out of the #4 loads.

sounds like you got a good turkey gun bill...i had some friends that only ysed low brass no 7 1/2 lead shot on turkey...they killed lots of turkeys with those shells..they also would not shoot a turkey past 35 steps...charlie

The recently sold (actually 1914) Annie Oakley connected Model 11 Remington with protruding gold sights, pictured in a recent Doublegunshop.com thread has helped immensely with the Annie Oakley provenance on the Gold Hearts gun. I have no plans to promote this provenance in an article, because I have not found a picture with Annie holding or shooting the gun. As Annie Oakley students know, pictures of Annie with identifiable guns are very scarce, especially shotgun pictures. Her available pictures are very few and have been copied and sold extensively and it seems nothing much new has surfaced in the last few years. The Gold Hearts gun was built at the end of Annie's public life, a few months after her famous train accident, and it is doubtful that it was used in any of her shows. It was possibly used in the 1902 Grand American Handicap where she is known to have shot a 30" Parker of identical or near identical weight of the Gold Hearts gun. Unfortunately, pictures of Annie at competitive shoots in this period are about non-existent.

I saw a B grade Parker in VA about 1906, it was being handled by Green's Guns and it had been shipped and broken through at the wrist, not insured. It was claimed to be an Annie Oakley gun shipped for him to sell. Anyone know anything about what happened to it? I believe the price on it was $12,000 which was way out of my price range at the time.
Also, I looked for the Double Gun Journal, August, 2007, looking for the gold heart gun but you were talking about the Parker Pages article but the "Parkers At The End Of The Rainbow" article by Daniel Cote and Hershel Chadick" is in the August, 2007 DG Journal. One of the best Parker articles I have ever seen with A1's pictured in all gauges.

Yes, as Dean mentioned in his post, the pictures were in The Parker Pages, not The Double Gun Journal. The Parker Pages would be the place to look. Maybe Green's Guns could provide information on the B grade gun.

Alfred, I bought that gun from Chuck in 2010. At the time of purchase there was no mention of Annie Oakley. My research found Annie owned the B Grade made just prior to mine. Her serial number was 117432 and mine is 117495. I had the gun restocked by Dennis Smith.

Thanks Bill. I found this article about the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show train wreck in which Annie was hurt.

https://www.ourstate.com/buffalo-bill-wild-west-show/

To clarify, Annie's Remington Model 11, well documented, had gold balls at the breech, identical to the gold balls on the Damascus barrels of the "Gold Hearts Gun". The documentation of the "Gold Hearts Gun" as Annie's gun is about complete. Frank Butler ordered a Parker days before the "Gold Hearts Gun" and that gun was shipped within days of the shipment of the "Gold Hearts Gun". Apparently, both Frank and Annie had new Parkers delivered in time for the 1902 Grand American at Live Birds, the last GAH at live birds.

I totally agree. I am a big proponent of low velocities for shotgun loads.

SRH

I think low pressures are the secret. High pressures result in faster setback and resulting deformation of pellets, resulting in poorer patterns. My handload for springer field trials was 1 1/4 oz of magnum #6 shot in the first barrel, and copper 5's in the second, both pushed by 26 gr of 800X (I think.) Am away from my loading book

Any chance we can see it in the display case?

I'll see what I can do, Dean. Dean's case for this gun is astounding, housing all parts, second barrel set and second forearm.

Dean, send me an email at wilmrph@verizon.net and I will reply with some pictures.

I haven't heard back from Dean, so anyone who is willing to post my pictures can email me and I will reply with the pictures. Thanks.

Bill's Gold Hearts gun photos.

Russell Cleary was generous enough to post the pictures of the "Gold Hearts Gun" for me to show off Dean Hanson's case making skills. I threw Dean a pile of gun parts including a 34" barrel set and a monstrous beavertail and he made me a case from a beautiful antique shell. Now, I don't think a geco could find room to rest in there. I don't know what Dean thinks, but I think it is probably his masterpiece. Sorry I didn't have pictures of the outside of the case, which is beautiful. The extra picture is of my eight bore Greener Royal and a hand made oak box housing 25 of the 30 eight gauge brass cases that I picked up at Hamburg Cabela's Bargain Cave. Allen Campbell made the wonderful box. I think he can be reached at 360-608-4642. Although this unengraved Greener doesn't look like it would be called a Royal Grade, Graham Greener thinks so after examining the records from 1885.

Bringing this thread to the top so you can see Matt Hanson's (not Dean Hanson's) casemaking skills and my favorite pigeon gun. Also included are pictures of Allen Campbell's outrageous box for 25 eight gauge shells. And you think I never post any pictures. Thanks to Russell Cleary for the pictures in this thread.
The article about the Annie Oakley 1902 Grand American gun is only in its planning stages, but I have all my research material somewhat in order. Stay tuned. The 30" Damascus barrels with the gold balls at the breech are the barrels that Annie used in the 1902 Grand American at Live Birds. The 34" Parker Special Steel barrels were added at Parker Brothers at a later date along with the beavertail forend.

An incredibly interesting gun! Thanks, Bill, for bringing it back to our attention.

I also note that the research letter refers to the grip as a "ball grip." In light of the discussion on another thread regarding grip nomenclature, maybe the thinking should be reconsidered. Obviously, some hammer-less guns have ball grips.

Case Making
 

Hey Folks, Quick clarification, my older Brother Matthew is the case guy.... im the Parker gun guy. He is a fine craftsman in his own right.

Be Well