Steve's new GH

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by Kenny Graft

Shoot that gun as it is and check your patterns....cutting the chokes open is a one way road and must be properly performed or the new patterns could be off point of aim or just not what you wanted....Spredders are great for 12 bore guns and will not change the guns P.O.A. And if you want to go out west and hunt wild roosters it will make a great gun for that too....(-: SXS ohio

Thanks, Kenny: I've been reading about spredder shells. I'd rather not mess with the chokes. The gun is in very nice condition. Most of the barrels show black damascus figuring. Where the original owner's fingers wrapped around the barrel at the forearm the tubes are worn silver.

I'm toying with the idea of having the barrels re-finished, just because I love the look of the dark damascus figuring. Keith Kearcher lives just down the road from me and has done lots of work for me in the past. He is very good.

The GH is pretty heavy. It is almost very heavy when compared to my Lefever and it seems heavier when compared to my Sterlingworth. However the gun balances well. The tubes are 30 inchers, but for some unknown reason they don't seem long.

The barrels seem thick at the breech. Seems to me that it'd be hard to blow them up, but I've read what we have all read, and I'm going to be careful.

Someone here said I should load 7/8 ounce loads. Sounds like a good idea to me. Then it'd shoot about like a lightly loaded 20 gauge. That's okay with me.

I have to admit that the thought of shooting a damascus Parker is intriguing to me.

"What ya shoot'en?"

"A Parker."

"Oh."

Okay, I'm a snob.

[10 bore]

Originally Posted by Steve McCarty

Barrels look pretty thick. I don't know what the chokes are. I'm thinking about having it bored mod and skeet, which will work for clays I think. Both muzzles look the same size. It's probably Full and Full. Don't know. A dime sets the same in both and doesn't fall in. All of my other old doubles are Full and Mod and I shoot modern shells in them. Here I'll reload my own, but first I'll buy some Polywad or RST's. Nor do I know the length of the chamber. If it is short I'll just shoot 2.5 inch shells in it. Unique. That's neat.

Looks like the bead has been pounded down flatish. I may replace it with ivory. First I have to have the cocking mechanism repaired. Has a little too much drop maybe, but the LOP seems perfect. Haven't measured it yet. I just brought it home.

Paid $999 for the old Parker. I think I did okay. No chips or serious dings, nice bore a little case color, nice damascus colors, looks like plenty of steel in the barrels. These Parker shotguns are very neat, aren't they!

the bead is factory, it is perfect, i would not change it,

[Dean Romig]

What is the frame size? Presuming it is a 12 gauge it could be a 1-frame, a 2-frame or a 3-frame. I don't believe the 1 1/2-frame had been introduced at the time yours was made.

[Carl Erickson Jr]

Before you start working with spreader loads or changing chokes pattern your GH. You might have the patterns that you want already. I patterned my new GH on Friday and found that my right barrel was full and my left improved/modified. By the way,mine cost $200 at a gun show but it was not as nice looking as yours (it was ugly!) , It still shoots well!

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by scott kittredge

the bead is factory, it is perfect, i would not change it,

Thank you. I won't mess with the bead. It is a 2 frame. I didn't post a picture of the water table. It's pretty devoid of marks. A lug on the bottom of the barrels also is marked with a "2". So are three digits of the serial number.

Where the shooter's fingers rubbed against the barrels, just over the forearm, the barrel's are rubbed silver. The rest of the barrels show nice black and silver/white demascus pattern. The serial numbers along the bottom tang are nearly worn smooth. This gun was shot a lot! But well cared for.

Steve

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

What is the frame size? Presuming it is a 12 gauge it could be a 1-frame, a 2-frame or a 3-frame. I don't believe the 1 1/2-frame had been introduced at the time yours was made.

Yep, it is a 12 and 2 frame. The gun is not light, but not nearly as heavy as a Superposed. I don't know how to weigh a gun. Step on the scales with the gun and then without and subtract the difference? I don't think bathroom scales are precise enough.

[Bruce Day]

Nice gun. Undamaged by human hands.

That gun will handle about any reasonable load you want to shove through it , although you can elect to shoot lesser loads to keep it easy on you. A 1 oz or 7/8oz load makes a soft target load.

That gun configuration was the workhorse for most of the existence of Parker Bros.

Enjoy.

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by Carl Erickson Jr

Before you start working with spreader loads or changing chokes pattern your GH. You might have the patterns that you want already. I patterned my new GH on Friday and found that my right barrel was full and my left improved/modified. By the way,mine cost $200 at a gun show but it was not as nice looking as yours (it was ugly!) , It still shoots well!

I find that a "beater" can be brought back. Black wood can be lightened with proper technique. Rust is an issue. I never really scrub on rust since doing so shines the finish and looks like it has been scrubbed. So your gun may have a brown patina that will have to stay. But that's not all bad.

I fix cracks. Either I do it, or a gunsmith does, if they are difficult enough. They will spread the crack and fill it with glue.

A good gunsmith can make those barrels glow like absolutely new. It'll cost you about $300 to do it though. We have one of the best gunsmiths in the country here. All he does is re-furbish old guns. He uses nothing but authentic methods. Keith Kearcher. He has a website, so you can google him. While I'm not recommending it. You can give him a really beat up gun and say, "Make it new, Keith", and he will. It'll cost about a grand. He can do the engraving, the whole bit. (He sends it out for engraving.)

The only guns that I have had Keith refurbish were really in terrible shape. So terrible that they were junk. One a muzzle loading rifle and the other a muzzle loading shotgun. I didn't want the shotgun to look new, just nice and that's what he did. Now it is something to be pround of. The ancient rifle is absolutely wonderful. Doesn't look exactly new, but pretty.

What shells are you shooting?

[Carl Erickson Jr]

Currently I am shooting 7/8 oz of 7.5 shot in my doubles. My 1889 barrels were nicely cold blued and I will probably want to have them restored. Thanks for the info about someone who can do that kind of work. While the bore is rough as the patterns are good I will leave the bores alone, At some time in the future will have the stock replaced as the wrist repair is not the best .

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by Carl Erickson Jr

Currently I am shooting 7/8 oz of 7.5 shot in my doubles. My 1889 barrels were nicely cold blued and I will probably want to have them restored. Thanks for the info about someone who can do that kind of work. While the bore is rough as the patterns are good I will leave the bores alone, At some time in the future will have the stock replaced as the wrist repair is not the best .

Kearcher could probably gussy up that wrist repair and save you the bucks on a new stock. He replaced a pretty large chip from the toe of one of my guns and it cannot be detected.

He can also polish up the bores, but you may not want to do that. I don't know how much metal burnishing removes.

I'm one of his only walk in customers. He does almost all of his work by mail. You can call him of course. Or wait and do it later. After all your gun is shooting just fine.

Are you burning black or smokeless? If smokeless, what kind? If I decide to load black I'll use 2F. I'd like to use some nitro powders however.