Just got my first Parker -- help, please

[George Lander]

Vlad: I WOULD NOT advise shooting even light smokeless powder loads in that gun until you have it checked over thoroughly by a competent gunsmith. With all that damage to the head of the stock it could come apart in your hands. RST make good low pressure loads suitable for firing in a Damascus barrel gun that is in good condition. As to value, without considering the engraving, an O Grade 12 bore Parker in average condition would go for $400-$800. If it could be established that Parker did the engraving the value would be much higher. As to the question of the grade, I would order a letter from PGCA to learn more about your gun. A letter might tell the story.

Best Regards, George

[Greg Miller CTGunLaw]

For fun see if you can post some better pictures of the engraving.

As to who would stamp an improper grade stamp into a Parker, unfortunately throughout history there have been all sorts of people who dared to do all sorts of really unfortunate things. Including impaling your stock. Sorry about that. Wasn't Vlad the Impaler from the Carpathian Mountains? As the Parker stock guys largely hailed from the Carpathians, who knows one of his descendants might have worked on your gun.

Looks like you have a great gun to learn on, and when you get done you will have something you can take pride in with pictures of where it started. Anyone can buy a fancy gun in a store. To bring one back takes something extra.

The Fishtails tend to come from that year. Always an interesting option. Be forewarned that Parkers can be addictive.

[Harry Collins]

Vlad,

I shoot my twist steel Parkers all the time. That said, you have received sound advice on having the gun checked out. I have been flying by the seat of my pants. A Parker as old as yours would have been used with mercury primers and they are the cause of pitting in most barrels. If your barrels show no pitting I would be suspect. They could have been "cleaned up" which might have reduced the barrel wall thickness to a dangerous leval. I have not checked the thickness of the barrels on my Parkers and have relied on gut feeling about if they have been "messed with" or not. I have an 1881 lifter Parker with twist barrels that receives loads in the 8,000 psi range at rounds of sporting clays without a hiccup. I have used factory WW Xtra Lite 1 oz loads through it at sporting clays and in the field. Mind you, I prefer to reload in the 5,000 psi range with this twist Parker using IMR 7625.

Good shooting, Harry

[Keavin Nelson]

Vlad, I would say nice find. I would have a gun smith look at the barrels. I shoot my 16Ga PH, w/damascus barrels, which had a similiar stock through bolt. I would say yours can be fixed. Brownells also sells the screw sets, but they do need turned down. I start with a coffee can of WD40 and put the action in to soak for at least a week, before I touch it. Saves the screws. The bores look good, any pitting?

[Vlad Vladykin]

Thank you, guys, very much for all the comments and advise.

I am posting some more detailed (?) pictures of the engravings. As you can see, I am done restoring the stock. Looks good to me and should hold on the range (fingers crossed). Had to spend some time filing the wood/epoxy for the precise fit. I ended up making the back through-the-stock screw myself : it looks like it was replaced before and the hole was so badly damaged from all the drilling the bits out that I had to re-cut it at 10-32. Then I just got regular flat head bolt, grinded the head to make a close fit and cut it to size. I don't think I could have done better with replacement bolt there: the hole would have been too big for it to grab.

George, Gregory and Harry, THANKS for the pointers, I'll contact Mike for sure for a refferal to a good gunsmith, hopefully, closer then Duluth.

Kevin, thanks for the WD40 advise. I soaked the action for some time in CLP -- seemed to help. The bores are nice and shiny, no pitting.

Next I plan to order the letter and contact a good local gunsmith for an inspection.

By the way, I found couple of sourses for black powder shells online. Ouch, they are expensive! $32 for 25 shots? Any better deals out there?

Thanks again.

Vlad

[Vlad Vladykin]

Here is a couple of "work in progress" pictures. Also, is there any way to illiminate the slight play between the barells and the rest of the gun? It's small, but it's there.

Thanks.

Vlad

[Harry Collins]

Vlad,

Try www.rstshells.com Their shells are pressure friendly to our old Parkers and hit hard. Sherman Bell did a series of articals in Double Gun Journal titled "Finding out for myself". He studied pressure curves of black powder shotgun shells and compared them to modern powders at similar velocities. The short and long of it is pressure curves are identical when using certain powders, primers, wads and hulls. RST makes shotgun shells that duplicate black powder pressures and velocities with smokeless powders.

Harry

[Vlad Vladykin]

Thanks, Harry, I'll cirtainly check them out.

Here are even larger pictures of the engravings.

Thanks.

Vlad

[Greg Miller CTGunLaw]

See attached another 1892 PH Fishtail, which must be very close in time to yours. A damascus DH and a damascus GH. All pictures used without permission from posts on this board. To the owners thereof, I defer as to further comments.

[Harry Collins]

This is what Pat was sugesting except I used brass sheeting from the hardware store. you can cut it with scissors.