DID PARKER BLACKEN SOME DAMASCUS/COMPOSITE BARRELS?

[J. A. EARLY]

I posted pictures of this gun under the hammer gun section. In speaking with Dale Edmonds who did them and before he shipped, I was prepared for something I had not imagined. These barrels have four or more different patterns. The right tube two-thirds of the way up changes. The left barrel changes half way up to a different pattern, possibly twice. The right tube does not even come close to the left's pattern. I have seen posts on this subject before.

Dale said he has even seen a damascus Parker which was a presentation gun with a special inscription on the rib that had rust blued barrels when it came to him. Factory?

This hammer gun was a Grade 2, so there are two grades lower than this. It was known as an $80 gun. If someone paid $80 for a set of barrels with a pattern like this, I don't think Parker would have been very successful. I believe what Dale seems to think but has no proof other than what he has seen, and they could have possibly left the factory blackened. Maybe the gun was discounted because of this. Maybe it was ordered with blackened barrels so it did not matter. Maybe when the pattern became clear during finishing them, they just gave up on them and blued them. Dale did a beautiful job, but had I known the pattern was like this, I would have rust blued them myself. The only thing I can say now, is they are unique.

Thoughts? Dale said he would be interested in opinions on this.