Waste of time, or....?

[John Cleveland]

Charlie, thanks. I was wondering if I could run a bronze brush through it, and whether to use Hoppes or similar with it. Will try it. BTW, good last name

[John Cleveland]

Thanks, Mike. Maggie Valley is a beautiful area. When I was a kid, I went to Camp Hemlock around there. I learned to ski at Cataloochee.

Not sure if I will be free to travel up there any time soon, but if the opportunity develops, I will try to check with you. Not sure how to use the PM, but I guess I can learn.

If there is anyone in the Metro Atlanta area, I get down there fairly often.

[Mike of the Mountain]

Originally Posted by Mike McKinney

There are several folks all around Georgia and Western North Carolina that will be happy to help you be advised of a reasonable choice. I live in Maggie Valley, NC and will be glad to help you evaluate the Parker. You should also join our organization as you may have the beginnings of Parkeritis. It’s a wonderful disease.

Just be advised that "Perkeritis" is incurable.

[Bill Murphy]

Take your gun on a trip to the Southern Side by Side in April in Sanford, NC. PGCA has a booth manned by Parker experts and many other experts will be on site. The Southern is the best side by side shotgun event within a thousand miles of your home. U, as listed in the Serialization Book, is a "type" of gun, an underlifter. In grades, a U denotes a grade within the 0 or zero quality realm. The "U", describing an underlifter is not a stamp on a gun in my experience.

[John Cleveland]

Thanks! Unfortunately, my family has other plans for me that weekend. I will keep it in mind, if that changes.

That being the case, I saw recommendations on this forum for Bill Schwarz in Ellijay, GA. That is only an hour away from me, reasonable to drive for an evaluation. Does anyone know if he is still working or have many here had experience with him?

[John Cleveland]

Charlie, I ran a bronze brush with solvent through one barrel with a drill 3-4 times. Still pretty dirty looking. May be too pitted. I am guessing that I need a top quality gunsmith with proper equipment to really make that call.

Thanks for the advice.

[Gerald McPherson]

John; Bill is a very good Parker smith. 706 296 7688

[John Cleveland]

BTW, the number above is a typo. The correct number for Bill: 706-276-7668.

[John Cleveland]

First, I want to thank all of you who responded to my initial post. AND, I especially want to thank those who referred me to Bill Schwarz as an excellent restoring gunsmith.

In my initial post, I questioned whether trying to restore the gun was a waste of time. I got some good guidance from this group.

Today, I picked up the gun from Bill. I had no idea what kind of restoration awaited me. It was beyond my best expectations! It could not have been the same gun!

It is beautiful, and he proofed it with RTS shells, so I can shoot it—-if RTS and their peers ever get back into production from supply chain problems.

There are some “before” photos earlier in this thread. I will post some “after” photos shortly.

Meanwhile, I cannot recommend Bill Schwarz any more highly. Thanks again to those who connected me to him.

[John Cleveland]

Unfortunately, the size limitation on files limits the resolution of details like Damascus pattern and engraving, but the pics get the idea across.

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