I don't know who was more confused - Me as I examined these barrels.... or the barrel-makers at Parker Bros. on that Friday afternoon in 1899 when they needed to get just one more set of barrels done to meet their weekly quota
This very nice set of twenty-eight inch barrels is on a 1-Frame PH (Grade 1) twelve-gauge.
The gun could use some cleaning up but the only thing that needs refinishing is the barrels to bring out their true beauty... You see, the rib is stamped Damascus Steel which is normally found on Parker hammerless guns of grade 2 or higher - that's dilemma no. 1
But in keeping with the barrel steel for the Grade 1 of that era the barrel flat is stamped with the appropriate T for Twist Steel - that's dilemma no. 2
The kicker here, and in my mind the most significant dilemma ( no. 3) is the fact that this set of barrels are, without question, made of Laminated Steel
Does anyone else know of such a set of barrels with three obviously conflicting identifiers?
There is absolutely no indication that these barrels have ever been altered in any way.