New member in Philly

[winplumber]

Welcome Dan, Your gun is listed in the Parker Serialization Book as a DH straight stock with 30" Titanic Steel barrels.

[Dan Shay]

Originally Posted by Steve Huffman

Welcome Dan, Your gun is listed in the Parker Serialization Book as a DH straight stock with 30" Titanic Steel barrels.

Thanks! That tracks with what I'm finding.


From what I can tell:

- DH/Grade 3 12ga.
- 30" Titanic barrels.
- All parts have matching serial #s (trigger guard, water table, internals, barrels, foregrip)
- 2 Frame

I'm a little confused as to the barrel weight, though. Per the "Technical Information" of the website, I'd expect to only see a single number on the underside of the barrels, but instead I see...two? There's a "4" and a "3." Not sure how to make heads or tails of that. Are the barrel weights different for each barrel or something?

Also not sure if the "X" marking on the spot where the barrel connects to the foregrip matters or is really just an "X marks the spot/grip goes here, dummy" situation.

Checkering on the foregrip and stock are well defined to my uneducated touch, but the wood is in good condition.

Engraving is still pretty well defined. I may try to take additional pictures for the engraving ahead of the trigger guard, since I think it's actually better defined than what the picture shows, and has more to do with my camera/camera skills than wear. (You'll note I apparently have next to no creases in my hand, which makes me think my camera was having trouble deciding where to focus.)

I have no idea how to evaluate barrel condition on the interior.

Anyway, here's a photo album of the gun with pictures I took tonight.

Unrelated, but my dad apparently also had about 1 and 2/3 boxes of 12ga shells, probably from the late 60s. (Mom met him in the early 70s, and has no memory of him ever going shooting, so these guns have basically been unfired and sitting in one closet or another for at least 50 years.) I've included a picture of one of the boxes for fun.

I look forward to hearing folks' thoughts on this piece.

It's interesting having the Ithaca Lefever Nitro to compare to it. Both seem solid, but (A) the Parker was cared for way more (or used way less?), and (B) the Parker is just so much more of a work of art by comparison. The engraving is just gorgeous, and the detail on the wood is really striking by comparison. Both have engraving, but the Parker is way more detailed and finely wrought than the Ithaca, even though they're separated by only 32 years. It's like seeing the difference between Art Nouveau and Art Deco in shotgun form.

[J. A. EARLY]

That is one nice unaltered straight-stocked DH!

[Dan Shay]

Originally Posted by Jerry Harlow

That is one nice unaltered straight-stocked DH!

Thanks! I'd love to figure out how it wound up in my dad's hands. I have a hunch it came from his father, who had (at one time) one of the largest antique firearms collections on the East Coast I'm told. (My only remaining proof of this is the flintlock blunderbuss he gave me when he was liquidating his collection. It's all rusted to hell and gone, but the lock and trigger mechanism still work!)