Grade 1 Lifter

[Bruce Day]

A Grade 1 lifter without checkering. Sometimes the records specify no checkering, sometimes not, but we believe the informed person can tell whether the gun was made without checkering or the checkering was sanded off later. This one bears no sign of checkering being removed.

All original no checkering Parkers known to me are external hammer guns.

Presented in the interest of encouraging interest and collecting of Parker shot guns.

[Mills]

I have two that were originally uncheckered (most likely)

This one belonged to Austin Hogan

[B. Dudley]

Bruce, what makes it a grade 1 and not an 0 grade?

[edgarspencer]

The selling price, before discount, has as much to do with the grade as the amount of embellishment.
I had a 16 ga.,identical in all respects to a grade 0, 12ga., which lettered as a grade 1. As I recall, it was ten dollars more than the 12.

[B. Dudley]

I am sure barrel steel had something to do with it too. But we have no barrel info or photos on this one.

[Mike Franzen]

How rare is it to find a low grade gun in such high condition! It's usually the higher grades that were put away and the lows were used up.

[Fishtail]

True, but so does total number produced. Since there were more low grades produced, it raises the chances that you'll see a high condition low grade gun still alive.

For example, if 300 A grades were made and 50% were kept in closets their whole lives, there will be 150 nice A grades floating around.

If 30,000 Trojans were produced, and only 4% were stashed in closets, there will be 1200 floating around.

[Mike Franzen]

That's a good point. Maybe it just seems like I don't see that many high condition low grade guns.

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by greg conomos

True, but so does total number produced. Since there were more low grades produced, it raises the chances that you'll see a high condition low grade gun still alive.

For example, if 300 A grades were made and 50% were kept in closets their whole lives, there will be 150 nice A grades floating around.

If 30,000 Trojans were produced, and only 4% were stashed in closets, there will be 1200 floating around.

Can't argue with the thought process, but I had a visual of Ross Perot and his flip charts.

[Bruce Day]

I have seen low grade guns carefully kept by generations of owners and high grade guns looking like they have rattled around in the back of trucks. I have a substantially unused grade 2 12ga from 1881. I think generalizations are difficult, my opinion.