Lots and lots of speculation and conjecture. Nothing surpasses studying and knowing The Parker Story, studying many Parkers, looking over guns carefully in person and in natural light, and in knowing what to look for, particularly for costly guns.
Most Parker collectors that I know start carefully with lesser grade and lesser cost guns and gradually move up. If a person doesn't have the knowledge himself, then I recommend having a good mentor who does.
In response to the questions above, yes early C's could be ordered with Titanic barrels, but study TPS and look at Parker catalogs. Some late guns had deep frame sculpting and I have posted photos here before of such guns side by side with early ones. Photos are notorious for providing inaccurate case colors. Flash, color saturation, lighting, etc. can lead to inaccuracies. Nothing beats examining the gun yourself in diffused natural light and waiting to draw conclusions.
The last annual meeting we had in Louisville had a theme of C grades and some fantastic guns were on display. I am mainly a C collector and was asked to and did give a presentation on C's which might have been interesting for participants here.
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