12 Gauge Lifter #1102

[Matt Buckley]

Originally Posted by Arthur Shaffer

That's a pretty early gun. Have you measured or tried the chambers? Mine originally had chambers for brass shells. I know this because the only factory record was when the owner sent it back to the factory to have the chambers rebored for paper shells. This was well into the 1900's and cost $1.25 including return.

The chambers measure 2 5/8"

[ArtS]

Matt

I was wondering if that early gun was chambered for a thin wall brass shell. It may not chamber a modern cartridge without reaming the chamber.

[Matt Buckley]

A federal paper load chambers just fine.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Matt Buckley

There is no P on the barrel flats so this was not a set of barrels made by Parker.

The P on the barrel flats is most definitely how we determine if the barrels are Parker made. Can you show a good picture of the flats showing a P on the more forward section of the right barrel flats where we normally see the identifying stamp for the type of barrel steel?





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[Matt Buckley]

Barrel Flats, no P.

[Dean Romig]

Thanks Matt.
The letter states Damascus but sometimes Parker used that term when they didn’t know what the barrel steel was. What does the rib legend say it is?





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[Matt Buckley]

The barrel rib say Laminated Steel.

[ArtS]

I am having a hard time seeing a P in the picture. On the few I own with Parker laminate barrels, the mark is on the right barrel flat, up near the lug at the front of the barrel flat and oriented to be upright when viewed with the outside of the flat to the bottom. Hope that makes sense. All the twist barrels I own are marked in the same location with the same orientation. Don't know if this is luck or by design.

[Jay Oliver]

These barrels would predate the Parker produced barrels with the "P" stamp. The non-Parker made laminate barrels have a different pattern.

Here is an example of both with the top being the non-Parker tubes, which should be what Matt has and I have a few as well.

The Parker made tubes have more of a herringbone pattern...

[Dean Romig]

That it probably correct Jay as we don’t know the date in 1877 that Parker Bros. began supplying their own in-house made barrels and we don’t know the date in 1879 that they ceased production of them. (And there is a very obvious difference in the pattern of the laminates of the two example pictures.) However, they continued supplying their own barrels well after they stopped the production of the barrels… I have a D-grade 16 gauge lifter with 27” (original length per the research letter) Parker-made Laminated Steel barrels ordered in 1881.

My own research indicated the possibility of approx. 300 guns produced with Parker-made Laminated Steel barrels.




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