Parker Two Barrel Set Guns
Two of my first Parkers were two barrel set guns. One was bought by accident; a large southern dealer offered an interesting lifter gun in Gun List; I bought it and it arrived with two barrel sets of matching gauge and weight. I later found out that early live bird shooters often used two barrel sets to prevent burning fingers.
The second was found locally, within a few miles of its original buyer's home. It was a two gauge, two steel, two barrel set. It was very interesting and the subject of an article in Parker Pages before 1999. The 10 gauge barrels were Dam 4 and 26 inches, the 12 ga barrels were B4 and 30 inches. It was a combination light 10 and heavy 12. The serialization indicates it is a 26 inch B4.
I tried collecting two barrel sets for a while; I managed to find grades 1,2,3, and 4, and duplicate the grade 2 in lifter action. I never found a top action two barrel set, and the only zero grade was in condition two grades below the bottom.
To be continued
Best, Austin
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