1874 Lifter

[ArtS]

I just received an 1874 Stub Twist lifter I purchased on Gunbroker. (Click on the pictures for a large detailed view). It looked like a good clean gun, but the more I studied the hi-res pictures, the more I was drawn to it. I ended up paying far more than I have ever paid for a lifter. It is a base grade gun in perfect mechanical condition. All the details agree with the serialization book. I am going to order the letter for it this weekend. The wood is clean and with no damage. There is no sign at all of oil or oil damage. The ad said it had numerous scratches, digs and nicks, but I can find nothing but small marks in the finish, and these are minor. The wood pores are a little open in spots and need some filling. A huge plus is that the wood has very modern dimensions with 2-1/2" DAH. LOP is 14-1/2". With a lace on leather pad, it should fit me perfectly. There is a lot of original case on all the metal. The butt plate is nice. The barrel finish is darkened but it is largely intact and showing a well delineated pattern. All the screws are lined up and only one screw that shows any driver mark at all and it is very light. All parts are original and numbered to the gun. The write up stated the barrels were generally shiny but showed scattered erosion and numerous dents on the inside. They were rated 7/10. My examination shows them to be fired with cardboard wads and lead shot and showing numerous streaks but it all appears crud that will come out with some aggresive cleaning. I believe what was called dents was the reflection of the crud spots reflected off the extremely shiny bores as the gun was moved around. There is no indication of any dents either inside or outside the barrels. The engraving is extremely sharp. The checkering is very good. I believe the metal finish will look very good after a trip through the sonic cleaner.

The barrel flats on the 30" barrels are marked with a 3 and no superscript. Actual weight on my postal scales is 3# 1oz. The entire gun weighs in at 7# 3oz. The barrels are both 0.725 along their entire bore. Both chokes are 0.720. They should shoot an IC pattern. With the stock measurements shown above, it would have been hard to find a better quail gun for the 1870's. Barrel MWT is 0.030 in the front and 0.12 at the front of the chambers/cones. This surprised me in that of all the early guns I own or have measured, this is the first pair of actual 12 ga tubes I have seen. All the others in the 1870's to early 1880's have been 11 ga. With these tight bores, I have to believe they have never been touched.

All in all, while not a fancy or flashy gun, this may be the most original of all the Parkers I own, and ranks right up there with all the guns in my collection. I think it is pretty impressive for a gun that turned 150 years old this year.