Parker Charcoal Case Hardening Colors and Metal to Wood Fit

[Bruce Day]

Sometimes people will attempt to duplicate original Parker case colors by a cyanide dip treatment or by burning oil onto the metal by a torch. Those attempts fall short of replicating original Parker bone charcoal colors , seen here. The Tiger striped cyanide colors caused by repeated dipping into a cyanide liquid bath are egregious. The brownish circular leaf blooms from the torch are worse.

Metal to wood fit should be so close that a sliver of paper cannot be inserted between. That is the way they were made .

[Dean Romig]

To illustrate Bruce's point, here's an excellent example of the egregious job someone has done to this beat-up old Parker GH.

1. Cyanide dipped case color.
2. Poor wood to metal fit of the forend.
3. Forend iron is the wrong frame size for the gun.
4. Every screw on the gun was buggered even before coloring with no attempt to correct.
5. Floor plate screws are in the wrong holes.
6. No attempt was made to pick up the engraving before re-case coloring.
7. Forend wood is not original Parker.

Stay far, far away from guns like this...
I can criticize this gun and call it what it is (a bastard of a gun) because it used to be mine. It was the second I ever bought (more than 20 years ago) and boy did I ever make a mistake!!!


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[Austin J Hawthorne Jr.]

I like the damascus finish even if it is a little pale.

[B. Dudley]

And the sad part is that far too many have no clue what is proper and improper work. Period.

[Dean Romig]

Originally Posted by Austin J Hawthorne Jr.

I like the damascus finish even if it is a little pale.

Dale Edmonds refinished the barrels for me. They had been blued.





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[Stan Hillis]

Salient points, Bruce. Concerning the wood to metal fit ..........

I have been considering a project to convert a restocked A grade Philly Fox from a semi-beavertail to a long splinter. Doing due diligence to determine if the wood is currently fitted closely enough to the underside and sides of the barrels, so as to not have unsightly gaps when the excess wood is cut away, I have been measuring how well the upper edges of the f/e wood is fitted to the barrels on many of my splinter f/e vintage guns.

I have yet to find one that is fitted snugly along these edges, including my high condition DHE Parker. My graded Foxes have a uniform space from front to within about an inch of the f/e iron that will accept .025" - .030" shim all that way. Make no mistake, these forends are tight to the gun, with no looseness, but the upper edges are not contacting the barrels.

If any of you have your better grades of American classics out any time soon, and can spare a moment to check that fit for me, would you please? I would be very appreciative.

Brian, could you shed any light on this from a gunstocker's point of view?

[Dean Romig]

Stan, I would consider that wood shrinkage over 100 or so years might account for much of the gap. The forend fit to the barrels is not critical like it needs to be at the stock head to frame. And the shrinkage in the lenght of the grain is rarely what it is across the grain.





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[B. Dudley]

Originally Posted by Stan Hillis

Salient points, Bruce. Concerning the wood to metal fit ..........

I have been considering a project to convert a restocked A grade Philly Fox from a semi-beavertail to a long splinter. Doing due diligence to determine if the wood is currently fitted closely enough to the underside and sides of the barrels, so as to not have unsightly gaps when the excess wood is cut away, I have been measuring how well the upper edges of the f/e wood is fitted to the barrels on many of my splinter f/e vintage guns.

I have yet to find one that is fitted snugly along these edges, including my high condition DHE Parker. My graded Foxes have a uniform space from front to within about an inch of the f/e iron that will accept .025" - .030" shim all that way. Make no mistake, these forends are tight to the gun, with no looseness, but the upper edges are not contacting the barrels.

If any of you have your better grades of American classics out any time soon, and can spare a moment to check that fit for me, would you please? I would be very appreciative.

Brian, could you shed any light on this from a gunstocker's point of view?

I would not place any bets on a beavertail being able to be successfully converted to a properly fitted splinter at all. The chances are very slim and there is no way of knowing until you cut it up and see what it looks like. There are so many contact points and if any one spot is off, it is no good. That is if you want it the way it should be.
A beavertail does not need 100% contact on the barrels, neither does a splinter for that matter. Just in the areas that you see. Even when you look at factory guns with use, the bluing will wear along the edges where the wood contacts, and maybe a few other areas, but that is all. Not that the other surfaces are not a close fit, they just are not full contact.
With a beavertail the amount of fitting work is significantly greater than a splinter, I personally charge twice the price to make a beavertail as I do a splinter. At least for a Parker, because there is a draw-bolt also involved. But anyway…
It many cases, a splinter is usually more tightly fitted than a beavertail, especially a full beavertail that really comes up around the sides of the barrels.

To summarize. Cut the sides off your fox forend and see what you are dealing with, but you should really be budgeting on just having a new forend made in the end.

[Stan Hillis]

Thank you Brian, very much. I have been given that advice from a couple other friends on another board. The "evidence" is piling up. If a professional gun stocker cannot tell beforehand if an existing btfe could be successfully converted to splinter, I certainly doubt my abilities to.

My desire to have a splinter on the gun in question is strictly aesthetical. It is a pretty restock, well done, and is not a huge beavertail. But, the gun is a 32" barreled A grade that just screams out for a long, ebony tipped forend, IMO. It's just something I "want". It seems that a new forend may be the way to go. I just have my doubts at being able to match wood grain and color with a new piece of wood.

What degree of contact do you try to achieve, along those upper edges, when doing a restock on a splinter f/e?

Here's the gun in question:







Thanks again for the help, and apologies Bruce, if I'm causing the thread to stray too much.

[B. Dudley]

Matching wood figure and color for that would not be difficult at all if one has a selection to choose from.