organ donor or builder?
 

New forum user here, hello.

I have a Parker Bros hammered gun, well most of one. It is missing one hammer and hammer screw and the buttstock. ser# is 19549 and has 30" Damascus barrels that appear to be original length and uncut.

has a decent amount of nice engraving on it but no animals or scenes.

The barrels do have a couple dings in them and discolored with age.

the barrel flats have the following stampings;
D

LC 4 4

serial # matches on everything.

can anyone tell me anything about it with the info provided? would it be benificial to source the parts to complete it/ part it out/ or sell it to someone with the want to restore it?

Michael, check for PM, Gary

I now know it is a grade 2 12ga made in 1880.
forgot to mention, it is also an uplifter.

still would like to know what the "D" is for and the "LC"

the D is for Damascus

I'll attempt to get pics on here tomorrow.

the 4 4 is likely the unstruck barrel weight of 4 lbs, 4 ounces.

The decision to part out or fix/restore should be fully based on condition of the gun as it is. A missing stock and hammer are hardly any reason to part out the gun and loose it forever.

If the gun has good screws, no other broken parts, has tight lockup and good barrels/bores; then it is surely worth bringing back.

Obviously financial restraints could say that you are not the one to fix it back up, but others may.

Please do post pictures. We would like to see the condition of what you have.

Second Brian on that

thanks brian for the good post...im very partial to old items and i sure would hate to see you junk this old parker out.... charlie

lets see if I can load some pics.

and more

sorry about the cell phone pics but it's all I had at the time. As you can see it is not really rusty but has definitely turned brown. The hammer and triggers work still, both firing pins are broken on the firing end but the springs are still there and work.

Not too bad for 132 years old.

Mike, Has it been in a fire?

lol, no it has not. why do you ask that?

She's a bit off-face, too, which is repairable.

i expect it's the "patina" reflected in the cell phone pics

I think that is in part due to the extractor needing to be cleaned up so it will close tighter.

Mike, I guess it is the light that makes the gun look sort of burnt looking

I've been light cleaning it all weekend, it's coming along but slowly. There is a lot of the damascus patterning under there and I'm slowly bringing it out.

should the lock plates and receiver be silver? The locks are cleaning up well but the receiver is still fairly brown.

The original finish would have been case color, but that wears off over time

assume that in the right hands this gun could be restored but it will cost some $$. I agree with those who say don't junk or part it out. junking a Parker is like loosing a bit of the Country's heritage. And we already live in a throw away society. enough. save it, protect it and preserve it.

What do you think that engraving was, a grouse?

Well this one is in a bit rougher shape than I had hoped it would have been when this thread was started. But, not in any way too far gone if you have the will to put it back together. The gun appears to be a grade 2 with some very nice fine engraving. Yes, the gun is quite a bit off face and would need to be corrected if it were ever to be fired.
You should check out the barrel wall thickness also if eventual firing is the plan.

Just a few things that I see... your lower trigger plate is broken in half with the back half missing. And your front trigger is bent back a lot. Yout upper tang screw is not pictured. Is it missing?

If you need parts for this gun (like any of the ones mentioned above), please contact me. I do have most of them and then some.

From the start I have considered this a wallhanger at my capabilities with it.

Oh yeah... Contact Tom carter on the screws for the hammers and Dave Purnell on new firing pins.

I see this one is on eBay now.

yes it is. Not sure if it will sell or not but figured I would give it a shot.

It appears that it only has one hammer.... is this correct?

yes, I put it in the description that it is missing the left hammer and the screw. I have looked locally to find one without any success. Plenty of hammers but nothing that matched.

I also have both the firing pins but they are the offset ones and the firing side has broken from both but the springs appear to be good.

What is the item number? Or link, please.

I hope I am not breaking any forum rules by replying to your question, if I am please feel free to delete this post. the item # 321042179074 there are quite a lot of watchers but no bidders at this time.