Actual vs. Book - Barrel Length
 

I apologize in advance as I seem to have seen an answer to this question before, but I couldn't find it any of my forum searches.

Didn't some of the Parker barrels actually measure longer than they were listed in the serialization or record books? If so how much longer? Seems like I remember some posts mentioning 1/4" longer, but could they be 1/2" longer?

I put this in the hammer section as it concerns a hammer gun(lifter) I am considering buying. The barrel measurement is 1/2" longer than the serialization book and the seller is claiming full chokes. I will verify this in the morning as well, but seller claims it is a #'s matching gun.

Thank you,

Jay

Jay, Early on in the hammergun era we find several guns that measure 1/8"to 1/4" over /under the nominal length. 1/2" I,m sure is possible but I personally have not seen one.

Thanks Dave, that's what I thought I had read at some point, though I didn't realize they could also be shorter as well. I'll get to find out for myself as I bought the gun.

I really should know better by now but I couldn't help myself on this one. The gun was advertised as a 12 gauge. When I asked about barrel length and choke, I got 29.5" and "appears to be full choke". I don't know how they measured the barrels/chokes.

The serialization book shows it to be a: 1877 Grade 0, straight stock 10 gauge with 29" barrels. From the pictures it looked in a decent(but worn) original shape. The stock does not have checkering, which makes sense for a grade 0. The forearm has a crack though I don't know how serious. The screws I could see looked much nicer than I usually see on a grade 0 gun. I guess the serialization book could have the gauge wrong? All the serial numbers matched. I didn't see many 29" barrels in the serialization book. I guess part of me was thinking that they did know what the gun really was.

We'll see what I get. Either way(a 12 or a 10) I wanted this for some reason. I'll post some pictures when I get it next week. Jay

When an order called for barrels of a particular length, to the best of my knowledge, those barrels would have been cut to exactly that length and on earlier guns sometimes a fraction or two longer. I have not seen evidence of barrels originally cut by the factory shorter than the ordered length.
But Dave's been at this longer than I have so I'll defer to him. :cool:





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Barrels which measure under the book length by a fraction might be because of damage done to the muzzle.

Here is a hammerless gun that letters with 32" BBls. It measures 31 3/4" but looks legit to me what say you?

Bizarre... but as you say, it does look legit.





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I don't have any good examples of this myself and who knows what the deal is with this lifter I just bought. I was just curious.

The seller didn't seem too knowledgeable in my case, and it would be interesting if the gun really is a 10 gauge(instead of a 12). I was thinking the person measured the barrels the way a friend of mind would measure borderline keeper fish....with a slide across the ruler.

I does look like there are good examples of both fractionally longer/shorter barrels.

Thanks for the feedback, Jay

What is the screw for in the middle of the dolls head.

The screw holds the ejector stop plate in place in the 'dove-tailed' mortise in the end of the doll's head.






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