Unmarked Hammer 12 Ga. Shotgun

[Rocky Nivison]

Originally Posted by edgarspencer

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...=260887014#PIC

It's a Riverside Arms, before Stevens bought them out

Thank you Mr. Spencer
With out a stamp and possable a WWI triger becouse that odd looking trigger is oragional and has always been part of the gun as far as I can tell. It may also be a proto type from Fort Polk La.

[Bruce Day]

It appears I was wrong thinking it was a bottom end Belgium gun and people here think its maybe a Stevens or a Riverside or something special like that. Its certainly not a gun that we see a lot of here.

But this is a Parker website and people here know a lot about Parkers and maybe not others. From what I've seen, there are a lot of experts on www.doublegunshop.com
who may know the history of these amazing guns and may be able to fill you in on all the details.

Bruce Day, unreformed Yankee Air Pirate and Parker fool

[Rocky Nivison]

Originally Posted by Bruce Day

It appears I was wrong thinking it was a bottom end Belgium gun and people here think its maybe a Stevens or a Riverside or something special like that. Its certainly not a gun that we see a lot of here.

But this is a Parker website and people here know a lot about Parkers and maybe not others. From what I've seen, there are a lot of experts on www.doublegunshop.com
who may know the history of these amazing guns and may be able to fill you in on all the details.

Bruce Day, unreformed Yankee Air Pirate and Parker fool

Thanks Bruce,
Does that mean I shouldn’t saw off the stock and barrel and bore it out to 3 1/2”? If it is a WWI gun the WWI museum in Kansas City may want it because it may be too valuable for a local museum to keep up with. I’ll check out that web site just as soon as all this deer hunting is over with.

[Bruce Day]

Well Rocky, if you want this heirloom as a goose gun, you shouldn't saw off the stock and ruin its value. That much I know and will leave the rest to the experts.

On museums, don't aim too low like the little museum in Kansas City. You missed the PGCA annual meeting at the fine arms museum in Louisville KY but there is always that and maybe even the Smithsonian. You want to find a place where the curator appreciates the gun for what it is.

[Rocky Nivison]

Originally Posted by Bruce Day

Well Rocky, if you want this heirloom as a goose gun, you shouldn't saw off the stock and ruin its value. That much I know and will leave the rest to the experts.

On museums, don't aim too low like the little museum in Kansas City. You missed the PGCA annual meeting at the fine arms museum in Louisville KY but there is always that and maybe even the Smithsonian. You want to find a place where the curator appreciates the gun for what it is.

Thanks Bruce, and Thank You So Very, Very Much Everybody
And a very, very, special thanks to Parker Arms Co. for making this forum possible. My next shotgun is most defiantly going to be a Parker. I have already decided 2 years ago that my next rifle is going to be a pistol. A T/C Arms and Co. Pro Hunter SS .223 with a 15” barrel and rifle scope unless Parker Arms Co. makes such a thing and then it too will be a Parker. Every since they changed the rules in Texas for gun hunting 2 years ago to one un branched antler and 13 7/8” or bigger, I would rather hunt squirrels and carry that .223 in a shoulder holster just in case that spike shows up. I can’t eat horns so I prefer a cross bow or late muzzle loading season when I can hunt for what I like, the venison. And now that we know about everything we need to learn the rest I may try about 4 fingers of that other stuff and take this cell phone I am using for a modem with a couple of low brass outside and try out that old Riverside 2 finger rabbit ear shotgun one finger at a time, I hope. So if you don’t hear from me until after Thanksgiving you’ll know why. I’m hunting.

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Rocky Nivison

Even though I too know it would handle high power loads

I'm fairly certain no one else here told you it would handle 'high power loads, and I seriously doubt it would be real happy.

Originally Posted by Rocky Nivison

I don’t think I will ever shoot the gun unless for prosperity with 2 low brass loads.

Do you mean posterity?

Originally Posted by Rocky Nivison

If I bored it out to 3 ½” and sawed off the barrel and stock it would just be for the grand kids to play with and Mama to scare off burglars. I would remove the firing pins and braze the holes before doing that

Why bother 'boring it out to 3 1/2" then? The curator of that polk something museum probably would be upset it wasn't original anymore.
It's not a prototype anything. It's a Twelve dollar shotgun from Chicopee Mass.

[Bruce Day]

So Edgar, your suggestion would be to preserve the gun in all its glory as a museum piece rather than lessening its value by modifications?

I wonder if that is just an elitist, purist view?

Bruce Day, Parker beginner

[B. Dudley]

All I can say is that this whole thread is a bit odd to say the least...

But I stand corrected on that trigger setup on that gun. Surprised to see the same thing on that gunbroker auction. That one is in good shape for what it is.

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Bruce Day

So Edgar, your suggestion would be to preserve the gun in all its glory as a museum piece rather than lessening its value by modifications?

I wonder if that is just an elitist, purist view?

Bruce Day, Parker beginner

Oh, Most definitely, Bruce. It isn't often one gets to see such a piece.
Edgar Spencer, Elitist Purist, 3rd class.

[MarketHunter]

I'll actually confess to owning one of these guns, mine is even 32 inch. I shoot it with one finger and it kills squirrels pretty good, have shot a duck or two with it over the years as well. A purist or an elitist I ain't.......


DLH