need help with id of parker gun
 

hello, trying to find out any information on this gun, it has some letters F 9 R not sure what these mean, also not sure of the value any ideas would be helpful. want to sell but not until i am sure of the value and know all i can. thank you for any help. will try and add photos.

Early D grade 12ga with 30 inch bbls probably Damascus. She looks real nice for it's age. I won't venture a price but you should have no problem selling her.

I'm going to respectfully disagree with my friend Angel. I believe you have an 1874 underlifter in possibly the $200 dollar grade and more than likely the $250 dollar grade. Reference the TPS vol 1 pages 235 to 240.

Diane, the $250 grade was the highest grade Parker made at the time and is both collectable and worth considerable money.

It would be very helpful if you could have better in focus closeups with better lighting. Take closeups of all sides of the receiver including the part that the barrels sit on. Take the barrels off and take pictures of the flats where the barrels contact the receiver. Take pictures of the rib inscription. Take pictures of the entire buttstock.

Measure the total barrel length when it is off.

The gun doesn't look in pristine condition but even in this condition is desirable to a collector. The more information on the gun, the better we can tell you what you have.

Congratulations,

Chuck Bishop

Looks to be a $225.00 grade

I stand corrected. The book states, Early gun with "D" quality code.

Bbls look cut off very short unfortunately. Very interesting engraving. What a great old piece!

Good eye Richard. There goes collectability and much of the value.

Maybe Robert Duval will buy it for his next cowboy movie! "Open Range II"....

It's in the Serialization Book as a 30" 12. I don't have an order book inventory handy. Does the order book exist for 1874? We need a good picture of the side and bottom of the grip area. What a gun!

Interesting shotgun. As I remember, Ron Kirby wrote an article in an issue of Parker Pages about that F.9 R marking, but I don't recall the significance. Perhaps someone more into hammer guns can answer that one.

Diane: I agree with Chuck. It looks like a $250 Grade gun to me as well. If the barrels have been shortened it will impact the value considerably, however it remains a rare & valuable Parker. In addition please take a good clear picture of the muzzle end & someone here can probably tell you if the barrels have been cut. Sometime the Parker ID Book is wrong.

Best Regards, George

In the issue #2 of 2008, Ron Kirby wrote an article about these mysterious f.9.r markings and his conclusion was "I think it is telling the parts man that this gun is the type that requires the 'crooked firing pin' and the plungers and springs for this model." His conclusion was based on one entry seen in a Parker Order Book dated Feb 14, 1879.

George, as Richard previously noted, there's little question the barrels have been cut, look closely at the 2nd to last picture--they appear to be ~ 18" long.

As far as the grade is concerned, the sculpting of the fences is that of higher than $200 grade. If it were a Letter Grade gun it would be B or higher.

Actually it is Volume 8, Issue 2, Mar/Apr 2001.

I also believe it to be the 225.00 grade, although the gold cap on the grip is not there, the checkering on the forend is indicative of early high grades, and I believe I saw 4 pins in the reciever also indicative of the higher grade. A letter will probably not be available in that range the books are very hard to make out as per Mark.

The little I know about hammer guns I have learned from Gary and I believe he is right, but better pics of all the markings and of the entire gun is warranted to better assess the value or lack of.

I don't know anything about these early guns and am just wondering about what I see.

The wood seems very plain to be on a very high grade gun. Do you think it is the original stock? Also the checkering is worn and flat but not as worn as the gun appears to be. The wear on the forend is about the same as the butt, which seems usual as on my worn guns the for end checkering seems to wear out sooner then the butt.

It could be that there is not as much wear on the gun as I think. Hard to tell from photos, eg the barrel has no pattern showing but it could be just covered in grunge.

Too bad the barrel was cut so short. Still a nice gun. I like the engraving.

more pictures
 

i took more pictures not sure if they will help hopefully they will, didnt take the barrels off dont know how, also afraid i might damage, also wanted to ask should i get this gun insured seeing as it might take a while to sell, do most who own guns have them insured. thank you again for everyones input its been a big help.

These pictures are very much better. I wouldn't be too concerned about insuring it, as it's likely you won't have it too long. What a crying shame about the barrels.

Yes, Diane, this is a rare and valuable gun, but insuring it is a bit of an overreaction. Any household policy should cover one gun's worth of damage or theft. Any of us would be willing to write you an appraisal in case of loss.

I would think a cowboy action shooter might be interested in a gun like this but I am not sure many if those guys shoot Damascus barrels. Its greater value may be in its parts.

Cut barrels from 30 to 28 would hurt the value but it would still have some appeal with reasonable length barrels but in my opinion, cutting it from 30 to 19 destroys the value.

What a shame, at one time it was a very desirable Parker!

Diane, there are readers of this thread searching for a set of barrels for that gun as we speak. By the way, I just reread the thread and see that no one has corrected the "D quality" post. The D in the Serialization Book refers to Damascus barrels, not the grade of the gun. When our researcher examines the stock book entry, he may see a notation that will expand our knowledge of this gun.

The forend wood is original - no question in my mind about that - however, and again, how unfortunate, the buttstock appears to be a replacement (in my opinion) and further detracts from the gun's value. What a magnificent Parker it once was.

Dianne: You should still send for a research letter. If there is no information Mark will return your check. If there is it could possibly show who the gun was originally shipped to. It could, possibly, have been one of the early stagecoach or banking companies which would explain the cutoff barrels. "If Only These Old Guns Could Talk, What A Story They Could Tell"

Best Regards, George

George, being such a high-grade Parker I'd be very surprised if this was ordered by a bank or overland express companies such as W.F.& Co. as a coach gun.

Dean: I would too, but you never know!

Best Regards, George

want to send for letter
 

ok so when requesting a letter, they ask what grade it is so is it D grade?

Diane ,Go to our Home Page ,scroll down to " Research Letters " ,Click it then copy the required form and fill it out with the Full Serial # ,then send it off and you will receive a letter on your gun in a few weeks ! Before sending you should consider joining the PGCA ,The price for a letter is $40.00 if you are a member or $100.00 if you are not ! There are other advantages of becoming a member also ,we have a Great Quarterly Magazine also a " For Sale " section on our site here that is for Members Only ,Plus we would all enjoy having you for a Member of the PGCA ,we have many interesting conversations , once you are here , most never leave ! Best ; Russ

Diane,

I do the research letters now, not Mark Conrad. As mentioned go to the Research Letters link on the home page and print out the form. Don't worry about the grade, I'm following this thread. I'll type out the letter with all the information available and send it to you.

The request shows the address to send it to which is P.O. Box 126502 Harrisburg, Pa. 17112

Chuck Bishop

trying to join first
 

iam trying to join but wont let me charge it, because i have an old old paypal account that i lost all info on like 6 years old, not very good on computer. so today ill work on that. unless you can tell me how to join and send letter on credit card. sorry if you cant like i said ill work on it today.thanks

Diane, your Parker is a "dollar grade" which pre-dates the "letter grades". But it is higher than a D grade equivalent.

Dean, is your opinion about the replaced stock from its lack of fancy checkering or sculpting, or because of the plain figure?

Diane ,Go to our members list ,find ,John Dunkle and send a PM " Private Message " to John , he is our administrator ,I had a similar problem recently ,he will be able to help you out ! Russ

If anyone is interested there was a great thread in December of 09 http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthr...ght=chris+lien that had some great pics and good discussion on determining the grade of these older lifters. I have an 1874 dollar grade 3251 similar to Diane’s gun but was told at the time that there was not enough information in the PGCA records on which to base a letter. Chuck, if you feel a letter can be produce from the materials we have please let me know and I will send in my request.

Larry, in the "other" thread, you described your #3251 as an 1878 gun. Are you sure about that?

Bill, I did not reread my post but do recall being corrected as to the date of manufacture. Number 3251 was produced in 1874 and from what the folks that have seen it say it was a $250.00 grade.

Bill, in my opinion the stock checkering is not a match to that of the forend and the drop point is quite unlike the ones seen on most Parker guns.
The stock looks like a Parker stock but taken from a lower grade and the drop points chiseled from a non-drop point stock.

Dean,
I also noticed this stock has a SSBP were as most of the very early guns I have seen had the full steel butt plate. Do we know when Parker first used the SSBP?

Great question Larry. Parker started using the DHBP on hammerguns about 1879. I am almost sure that Skeleton Butt Plates on high grade hammerguns predated that. Exactly when I have no idea. Good catagory for "Parkers Found"?

Edited: After consulting TPS the authors commented that the Skeleton Butt plate was offered on guns of Grade3 or higher since day one. They noted guns with 3 digit serial numbers have been seen with SSBP.