2013 People's Choice Late Entry

[Dean Romig]

Due to a FedEx glitch on Thursday this twenty-gauge Parker Lifter didn't arrive at my home from Phoenix AZ in time for me to bring it to enter into the People's Choice Display at the Annual Meeting Banquet on Friday evening.

You may remember the twenty-gauge lifter that Austin Hogan found about four or five years ago in a town near his home in Piermont, NH. Well, this one is very much like his but a tad nicer and the drop on this one is only 3 1/2" as opposed to the more than 4" of drop on his. This one is a Quality T0.
This one, serial number 10,165, has a LOP of 14 5/8", a DAC of 2 3/8" and a DAH of 3 1/2".
The weight of the entire gun with its original 26" Stub Twist barrels is only 5 lb., 9 oz. and the weight of the barrels alone is 2 lbs. exactly. There is no pre-struck barrel weight and in fact, the only stamp anywhere on the barrel flats is the order number of 941 and on the lug the only stamp is the serial number in the usual location.
The research letter specifies "Plain no eng. or check" and the gun is basically as ordered with the exception that it has a small amount of scroll engraving between the breech balls. There is no evidence of it ever having been checked.
As was Austin's, this one was also built of a frame size somewhat smaller than the 00-Frame which is specified as 15/16" between striker centers. This one measures exactly 29/32" between centers just as Austin's does.
The sculpting of the bolsters is very unusual and I don't recall ever seeing them contoured in this manner.
The shape of the lock plates is also extremely unusual and they resemble the shape of the plates of the LeFever hammerless guns. The hammer ears are so close together you could almost cock them both with the same thumb and the chamber walls are approximately 1/8"

This is quite a Parker... please enjoy the pictures. I took 58 pictures today and these are just some of them.
This gun was featured in the Mar/Apr 2003 issue of Parker Pages when Jim Parker owned it.

Oh yeah, it letters with the skeleton buttplate with no checking within it.



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[Dean Romig]

A few more pictures of 10,165




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[charlie cleveland]

mighty nice little 20 you got there dean...i like the stub twist barrels for sure anthe lifter must have the lightest barrels i ve ever heard of on a parker at two pounds...looks to be in good shape we need more pictures of this jewel when you got time...lucky fellow.... charlie

[John Havard]

Simply wonderful Dean. Thanks very much for posting some photos. What a wonderful little Parker!

[Dean Romig]

Incidentally, the owner asked me to solicit the opinions of collectors who are "in the know" of maintaining the value of an unusual Parker as to their thoughts regarding a restoration. Would doing so increase the value, decrease the value or not affect the value either way.
We all know what a full restoration can cost by DTR or Brad Bachelder and this should be considered in the cost of the gun vs. the restored value. Maybe it should be left alone?

[edgarspencer]

I can't imagine how cute that gun is, and it's too bad we didn't get 'eyes on'. Do you know how many 00 20s were ever built?

[Dean Romig]

None of the stock books or order books list the frame size of a gun so that question is impossible to answer.

[edgarspencer]

OK, fair point. How many have you seen?

[Bill Murphy]

Some stock books list frame sizes, but not in the period this gun was made.

[Dean Romig]

I've seen only 2 of the 13 referenced in The Parker Story, Austin's and this one.

Of the thirteen Lifters in twenty-gauge documented in TPS;
2 were PT or Plain Twist
2 were TO or Stub Twist (just one of which had 26" barrels and is the very one this thread is about)
3 were Lam or Laminated Steel
1 was Dam or Damascus Steel
2 were Lam3 also Laminated Steel but of a different, more elaborate pattern
3 were Dam3 also Damascus Steel but of a finer grade.