New 10 Ga

[ArtS]

Just bought a new 10 ga on Gunbroker some of you may have seen. Probably gave too much, but it is a grade 3 and according to the info posted here they only made about 100 of these. It is a lifter, 1880 or 1881, don't remember right now. It looks better in person than in the pictures. The action is dirty but in nice shape with really good engraving and a lot of case left, although faded. Barrels are dirty and faded brown. Three or four small pits in front of the chambers. Size three frame and substantial barrels. Chamber walls are almost 1/4". Bores are both .693, Chokes .026 and .036; Wall thickness is around ,06 in front third and the in the 0.100 range in the back 2/3. I am boiling the barrels as we speak. There is certainly plenty of metal in the barrels to take them about anywhere.

Forend has checkering almost filled/worn away. Beautiful piece of figured dark walnut underneath. The buttstock is a replacement in sad shape at the front in couple of cracks and chips, stock finished a little below the metal in some places with some inletting gaps. Original skeleton buttplate is there but in bad shape. The stock is in the same style as the serialization book but is not original. Yet it is really old, like as old as the gun looking. No checkering and cheap piec of plain American.

The really odd thing is that the book shows the gun as a D3. The gun matches everything in the serialization book except the buttstock is an inconsistent replacement and the barrels are marked Laminated steel with a P on the bottom for Parker made. The barrels are 30" as shown, grade 3 and size 3 and are marked in two places with the correct serial number. Every number on the gun (lockplates, forend and iron etc) have the correct number. The only answer would be that they were listed as D and really were ordered as Laminated or that at some point the barrels were replaced at the factory, but this would have been real soon after shipment because they made very few of these barrels and they wouldn't have been available. The replacement stock could have been a repair and plain wood specd to save money, but that would be hard to believe on a gun in this price range (at the time).

I have ordered a letter and hope it clears it up.

The gun functions perfectly, very tight, strong springs etc. The only mechanical problem I uncovered was the the trigger plate at the back had snapped in two right behind the triggers. Surprisingly it seemed to have no effect on the operation. The replacement stock didn't dfit well and the inleting was too deep so it snapped in two straight across when overtightened. That piec seems hard (due to the case hardening and the oiece was not deformed and the two pieces fit together so that the joint doesn't even show. I think a quick TIG weld with no rod will put it back in shape.

My plan is to clean the gun and weld the trigger plate, then repair the stock so the inletting fits. I will then have the barrels redone and a new stock semi-inlet. After installing the stock, I will have it recheckered. I think the action will look good as it is once cleaned.

Anyone have a stock duplicator they have used?

[Joe D.]

Something about stated bore diameter seems wrong for a 10 gauge. Please confirm the gauge.

[B. Dudley]

The more and more I read, the gun sounded worse and worse….
I sure hope you didn't give too much, but as you said from the onset, you probably did.
Have fun with it.

[Jay Oliver]

I think the important thing is that you like the gun! I didn't see the gun on GunBroker, but I do like lifters with the Parker made laminated barrels.

I also have a 10 gauge Grade 3 Lifter that has Laminated Barrels, though it is listed as L3 in the Serialization Book. The gun was sent back to the factory with a request asking something like "Mark Barrels Damascus" and it looks like they started to do that on the first letter, but then decided not to do it.

Sounds like it won't take much for you to get your gun in the field again. Good luck and enjoy!

[ArtS]

I just read my post and the bore was a misprint. The 6 is a 7 and the bores are .793.

I boiled the barrels for an hour to clean, carded with 4/0 steel wool then terry cloth. I coated them with a rust removal penetrating oil and rubbed them out and they actually look pretty good. The pattern of the parker laminate is clear along the ribs and under the forend. No pits or bad rust spots. A good polish and they should be ready to refinish. The inside of the barrels which I thought were pitted were just dirty. After boiling and then 30 minutes of scrubbing with solvent and then penetrating oil, the bores are very nice with a shiny finish and just a couple of freckles showing in front of the chambers.

All in all, I feel pretty good about the gun. The barrels look good now but I still want a refinish. The metal is nice and I won't opt for a refinish now since I like the look as is. The engraving quality is incredible on this old gun. After seeing that all the numbers match, I am now confident that the factory letter will show this is the original set of barrels.

I knew going in that the buttstock was garbage, so that has always been built into the equation.

I have a machine shop here and multiple welders. My brother in law who is a retired professional welder is going to come over this weekend and TIG the trigger plate.

Over the last 30 years I have built 50 - 75 custom guns and have a huge stash of english and turkish. I have picked out a nice streaked circassion blank for this.

That said, I should be out of pocket for the barrel refinish, stock duplication and the checkering. I had my own duplicator for years, but sold it when we moved to our farm four years ago. That was the reason I asked if anyone had any favorite duplicators they had used for Parkers. Wenig is the only shotgun guy I have had work, but that was 10 years ago and not my favorite job.

Anyway, I figure $1000 to 1500 for barrel finish, duplication and checkering. Throw in the 1200 I paid and I will be satisfied to have a grade 3 lifter 10 gauge with a rare set of barrels in excellent serviceable condition.

[B. Dudley]

It sounds like you should be pretty well set up.