Identification help needed
 

Hi,

Name is James. A little back ground first. the gun was bought by my great grandfather as a gift for my grandfather. They were farmers in Oklahoma. The gun has been handed down through the years and it was my dads plan to identify and value it for sale. I joined the Navy and came home many years to late to help him. He passed without the knowledge. The gun is in what I would call working farm condition, nicks, dings and a ton of character. She isn't the prettiest but she's the toughest lady at the ball, so to speak. My dad told me that the gun was used as a farm/subsistence gun and was a family favorite. I have looked and tried identifying the gun but its beyond my knowledge. Its a 12g. 32 inch laminated barrel. All parts match and are original except for one hammer screw which is true to the period but not to the gun. Medium patina that still shows the laminated barrel marks. bore is pretty clean and does not appear to be pitted or rusted. The breach is a tiny bit loose but locks tight enough with shells loaded to fire. Checker is worn pretty smooth but still shows. Engraving is faded but visible and intricate. The gun has been restored or touched up and has not been fired since my dad got it over 70 years ago.

What would you like to know. Your description fits the serial number - a 12 ga. 32 laminated barrel grade 1 top lever hammer gun


We have a member - Tom Carter who can make you a matching hammer screw

Hi James! Here's my $.02:

Your gun is probably a Parker Grade 0 or 1 top-lever gun made in 1885, based on what I can see of it. I have one of its siblings (same year) in 10 gauge. How about some pics of the buttplate and the bottom of the action, and the engraving on the rib to help with ID? Is that really built on a #1 frame? Sure looks like it!

Thanks for the responses. I will put more pics up soon.

Yes, it is a Grade 1. It would be very unlikely to find Laminated Steel barrels on a Grade 0 or a Grade 2 of that particular era. Some guns in the 1877, 1878, 1879 vintages may have Laminated Steel in grades other than Grade 1 but those Laminated tubes were sourced elsewhere and were made differently with a different composite pattern.




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Grade is not as much of a mystery as we are making it. It is marked "1" on the water table.

Yup, saw that in the OP's first posting of pics. I was elaborating on one of the items that constitutes a a Grade 1 hammer gun of that serial range.





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I neglected to comment on how nice a gun this is. The "1" marking on the water table is not too common on hammer guns.