Hello again Walt. Nice pic's! The Parkers that I've worked on were not Repros.
Does the lug on a Repro transition in height? It may just be the flash, but the lug appears to sit higher towards the rear, but maybe not if the lug itself is taller toward the rear. The last Parker that I worked on that had a loose/rotated lug was a 20 gauge, and when properly repositioned the top surface of the lug base was parallel and in contact with the adjacent barrel sides. Perhaps another member that has a Repro or two will chime in with a comparison of how yours looks to one that he owns.
I do see shiny solder, which I would think would not be visible after rust blueing, leading me to think that maybe the lug has been repaired in the past. There again, I don't know what the assembly should look like on a repro.
There are varying opinions as to the purpose of the small hole in the bottom rib. I've seen some original Parkers that had no holes, and some that did. One prevelant theory is that the hole allowed for the air to escape from the rib cavity during the boiling process of rust bluing. The expansion of the air due to heating was feared to cause the soft soldered ribs to pop off. Others will likely chime in with better opinions! I've heard that Parker Bros was able to rust blue their barrels without the holes, and that any hole in a Parker rib was a sure sign of a non-Parker re-blue. I'm pretty much a Parker novice, and I hope to hear the opinions of others more in-the-know!
John
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