New Member From Idaho
 

Hey all, I bet I'm not the first and last member on here that inherited an old Parker and would like to know its value. So I will try to include some pics in this post

From the serial # I am guessing its a 1883 and I was wondering if it was a grade 0 or 1

Tough telling whether it is a 0 or a 1 grade. Not that it matters very much. Its real value can be measured as a family heirloom and not so much by its condition or attributes. It has mismatched hammers (the right hammer now allows for the opening of the action with the right hammer in the fully cocked position... I wonder if a previous owner did that by design?) It has seen an awful lot of hard use - but then, it is one of the lowest grades and was most surely regarded by its owners as a tool in its day.

Please don't misunderstand - I'm not knocking your Parker. We appreciate what these old guns were expected to do and under some pretty harsh conditions too. It may be a shootable gun but it certainly needs to be thoroughly checked out by an expert in the field of old double guns.

Congratulations on your family inheritance.

From the photos, it looks to be in better condition than a lot of similar Parkers of that vintage and grade.

Thanks guys, I know it was pretty beat up. My great Aunt gave it to me when she was around 99 and told me it was her fathers gun.

The biggest reason I ask the value is because her husband collected firearms, he had every caliber of Winchester Model 94, so when he passed away she had all of the guns appraised and sold except for a few. This Parker had an appraisal of $2800.

Frankly I thought it was insane for a beat up gun that isn't even in shooting condition to be worth that much so I wanted some experienced eyes to look at it.

Anyone have some help for me?

Cameron,

No one who knows anything likes to assign value to a collector gun without the gun in hand. Me, I would have my barrel wall thickness gage in hand because it's the first tool I use.

First, what gauge is this Parker? The smaller the bore the higher the collector value, unless this is an 8 gauge...

If I were paying to insure this Parker I would pay for $1000 to $1500 worth of insurance. The figure is assuming that the bores have no pitting and the barrel walls have close to the original thickness. Then the gun must be on face with no cracks in the stock. Oh! A close examination will reveal it the wood is original to the gun. There are other factors but you should get the gist of this. Collectors pay for the original condition of a desirable gun. Even the buggered screws on your gun take away value.

If you examine guns for sale on Gun Broker and Guns International a Parker in that configuration, vintage, condition and so on might fetch $1000, maybe.

I hope this helps,
Mark

Thanks Mark, it's just a 12 gauge so it's pretty common. I think this gun was used well and put away wet. Might make a good wall hanger

Cameron welcome. My first Parker was my grandfather's gun and it was 26 years old before he was born in 1896. It isn't a shooter and it won't ever be sold but passed on in the family.
Yours may be a shooter hard to say without being checked out by someone qualified.
There are surviving records for your gun so you could order a letter and find out if it is a grade 0 or grade 1. The cost of a letter is $100 for nonmembers or $40 for members. Annual membership is $40 so it is cheaper to join and order a letter for a total of $80 and a savings of $20.
Hammers have partial serial numbers on back and originality of hammers that have different shape but same engraving can be ascertained by checking sn.
Again welcome,
Erick

Parker made some of those old hammer guns with thick walls. Even if your barrels are pitted, they may still be shootable. Of course, you need to have them checked out by someone who knows what they are doing and has a wall thickness gauge.

Your stock looks to have no cracks in it and that is a big plus right there