fishtail lever

[Dean Romig]

John, the application of the fishtail top lever was never attributed to a particular grade or combination of grades. We know of examples of the fistail top lever from grade 0 guns all the way up to grade 6 and there may even be some grade 7 Parkers with that feature. We know that it was developed in order to allow an exposed hammer gun to be opened with the right hammer in the fully cocked position and it appears that the leftover stock of fishtail levers was applied to hammerless guns with no apparent preference to grade. Some buyers may even have prefered the fishtail top lever but there may be no evidence of such an order from the surviving records. Personally, I kinda prefer a fishtail top lever on a hammerless Parker.