| Author | Post |
|---|
Don Strauss
Member
| Joined: | Sat Aug 9th, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 4 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10th, 2008 03:05 am |
|
From what I can tell about this gun so far is that it is a Parker Hammer, serial # 28523 which was produced in 1882. It has a "twist" barrel. The markings vary from the pictures on the technical info page. I think it is a Quality T, 12 guage. The T and the 12 are located in a grouping of numbers where the "T" is at 9 o'clock. There is a smaller "j" in the upper right corner of this roughly circular grouping and a "3" at 6 o'clock. The "3" has a smaller "12" just above it and to the right.
I know a picture is worth a thousand words but I hope this will make sense to someone.
Thanks,
DS
|
Harry Collins
PGCA Member
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10th, 2008 03:16 am |
|
Don,
The "Book" tells us that you have an 1882 "O" grade toplever 12 gauge Parker with 30" Twist barrels and capped pistol grip. The 3 12 is the unstruck barrel weight in pounds and ounces.
Harry
|
Don Strauss
Member
| Joined: | Sat Aug 9th, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 4 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10th, 2008 03:34 am |
|
Harry
Thanks for checking into that. Are you sure there exists an "O" grade?
Don
|
Destry Hoffard
PGCA Member
| Joined: | Thu Jan 6th, 2005 |
| Location: | Michigan USA |
| Posts: | 2702 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10th, 2008 04:32 am |
|
Harry has been shooting and messing with Parkers all his life, you can take anything he tells you to the bank.
DLH
____________________
The member formerly known as Market Hunter
|
Don Strauss
Member
| Joined: | Sat Aug 9th, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 4 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10th, 2008 01:02 pm |
|
Sorry to have second guessed you Harry. The original marketing literature doesn't list an "o" grade. http://www.parkergun.org/images/grades/hammer_desc.jpg
How/where can I get an idea as to the value of this shotgun?
What about ammo? Black powder? All brass shells? Still available?
Don
|
Leighton Stallones
PGCA Member
| Joined: | Wed Aug 16th, 2006 |
| Location: | Austin,Texas |
| Posts: | 182 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10th, 2008 02:24 pm |
|
I have two near identical, and shoot them with lowpressure handloads or
European (Rio,Gamebore XLR,Kemen) 2 3/4x1 oz ammo.Black is unnecessary unless you enjoy the smoke and cleanup.
|
Don Kaas
PGCA Member
| Joined: | Tue Jan 11th, 2005 |
| Location: | Palm,PA |
| Posts: | 2428 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10th, 2008 02:30 pm |
|
| Zero grade...i.e. the lowest grade. Parker used a variety of letter grades over the years but they were fairly consistent in listing their production by barrel steel grade. However, early Zero and One twist guns can be a bit confusing without reference to the complete records. Experienced Parker collectors (like Brother Collins) generally refer to Parkers as Grade O,1, 2,3, etc.
|
Bill Murphy
PGCA Member
| Joined: | Mon Jan 10th, 2005 |
| Location: | Maryland USA |
| Posts: | 5206 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10th, 2008 02:42 pm |
|
| Letter and number terminology describes the same gun. Letter terminology was pretty much restricted to catalog descriptions. Number terminology was used at the factory, in stock book entries. Oddly enough, order book entries usually do not use either number or letter terminology, mostly using barrel steel type and price to describe a gun. The matching of number grade to letter grade is explained fully in The Parker Story, volume 1. A "T" Grade and a 0, or Zero Grade are two different descriptions of the same gun. The "T" marking, if on the action water table near the serial number, would refer to the grade or quality of the gun. The "T" marking, if on the barrel flats, refers to Twist Steel. Last edited on Sun Aug 10th, 2008 02:44 pm by Bill Murphy
|
Richard Flanders
PGCA Member
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10th, 2008 04:06 pm |
|
I second Leighton. I have an 1883 gun just like it with fairly stout bbls and shoot mostly 1oz low pressure handloads bug have put a lot of higher pressure factory target loads through it as well with no problems. I think mine could handle just about any load within reason.... or likely even outside of reason if I chose to try them.
Last edited on Sun Aug 10th, 2008 04:08 pm by Richard Flanders
|
Dave Noreen
PGCA Member
| Joined: | Mon Jan 10th, 2005 |
| Location: | Washington USA |
| Posts: | 417 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10th, 2008 04:23 pm |
|
That referenced hammer gun price list is a fairly late one after the "Grades" were simplified. Earlier on on the low priced hammer guns the guns of "Quality" 0, 1, and 2 were broken out into four "Grades" each. I'm working from memory here so this may not be exactly right, but the idea was say within "Quality" 1, a Grade M was a 12-, 14-, 16-, or 20-gauge with a straight grip and had a list price of $50. A Grade N was a 10-gauge with a straight grip and had a list price of $55. A Grade O would be a 12-, 14-, 16-, or 20-gauge with a pistol grip and had a list price of $55. And, finally a Grade P would be a 10-gauge with a pistol grip and a list price of $60. Essentially in the lowest "Qualities" a 10-gauge was $5 more and a pistol grip was $5 more and the Brothers P broke them out as seperate "Grades."
The same policy carried over into the hammerless guns for a while with the 10-gauge version of the PH-Grade being the NH-Grade at $5 more list price and the 10-gauge version of the GH-Grade being the EH-Grade also at $5 more list price.
|
Harry Collins
PGCA Member
|
Posted: Sun Aug 10th, 2008 08:42 pm |
|
Don,
The first thing to do is find out if your Parker is safe to shoot. Is it tight when closed, have the barrels been messed with, does it look clean without rust on the outside or deep pitts on the inside, are the ribs tight on the barrels? You will expect to see some pitts in the barrel of a gun this age, if not I would be suspect that the barrels have been honed. This will take metal away from where you want it most.
I have several 12 gauge "Twist" Parkers and shoot low pressure (5,000 psi) hand loads. If you reload I will list what I reload. You can purchase low pressure shells from http://www.rstshells.com or http://www.polywad-shotgun-shells.com/vintager/ or Federal Vintager and I have shot Winchester AA XtraLite through these Twist Parkers.
Harry
|
Don Strauss
Member
| Joined: | Sat Aug 9th, 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 4 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 13th, 2008 11:08 pm |
|
Thanks for all of your input. I will post a few pictures asap and see if anything else can be determined about this old beauty. My first objective, now that I know the age and meaning of the various numbers and letters, is to get an idea of its value. Eventually I would like to shoot it and will work up some loads per your recommendations.
Don
|
Current time is 09:16 am | |
|
