I have an old double hammer 12 ga that is marked as Parker on each side of the reciever. It has ser#17043 stamped on it and some other marks unintelligible to me. It also has Fine Steel imprinted on the rib between the barrels. The buttplate is a smooth steel with nothing engraved or imprinted.It has been in my wifes family for a long time, but my problem is I cannot figure how to release the barrels from the reciever. There is no beaver tail fore-end but rather a metal handle, which when pushed to the right, opens the barrels and exposes the ejectors. We have thought for a long time that this was a true "Parker"... however the good folks at the Parker Gun Collectors site advised me this was NOT a Parker Bros. gun. If anyone can shed any light on this gun as to what it is, age, value, etc. I would sure appreciate it. I do not see how to post photos here but will
try to learn! Thanks
Might be a "Lafacheaux" (sp?) style Belgian import with the Parker name meant to deceive a hardware store buyer. See if it has a proofmark shaped like a tower on it somewhere. Lots of that type cheap gun imported a century or more ago...Geo
Roostor
WELCOME on your first post
Most of the time the forend is released by a lever above the lever of the metal forend.
Yours look similar to this?
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=318860608Looking forward to pictures
Mike
Thanks for the rapid replies....and Mike...the gun on that link sure does look alot like mine. That gun is described as a Husqvarna Underlever....great work Mike!
I think I have found why I can't post photos....I use an Ipad and the photos are on it. I think I will have to get some sort of photo software that will keep the photos and I would have to link to them through it.
Thanks again for the help..gives me a fantastic starting point!
Might be a "Lafacheaux" (sp?) style Belgian import with the Parker name meant to deceive a hardware store buyer. See if it has a proofmark shaped like a tower on it somewhere. Lots of that type cheap gun imported a century or more ago...Geo
Looks like Geo. Newbern gets the Star Award as I started browsing and googled "Lefaucheux" and they show some of the stamp marks. I found the stamp marks of EL on the right barrel underside along with the numbers 123. On the left barrel underside I found an L with a * (thats a star) over it and also in an oval were the letters E over an LG and those were over a * along with a symbol that resembles a plumb bob over the letter M and a * below that. On the receiver bed were the mark that looks like the plumb bob over a * which was over an M. It sure looks like it might be Eugene Lefaucheux that built the gun. Thank you Geo. for suggesting the name. I still can't see a way to get the barrels off as mine just has the one handle that opens the barrel. Think I will go rest my strained eyes now....they are a little tired of looking thru a loop.
If my memory is correct "Lefaucheux" was a Frenchman. He is quite often thought of in connection with Pinfire guns as well as this style of double guns. It is highly unlikely with it having the Parker name on it along with the Belgian proofs that Mr Lefaucheux himself had any part in building it, they were quite popular it some parts for a number of years & built my other makers.
Is there a key passing through the forend, the bbls may simply be keyed to the forend.
Here is information supplied to me courtesy of John Farrel from the Parker Gun Collectors site which helped explain to me what a "Parker" can be....
."Here is some information about the name Parker. In the late 1700s to the mid 1800s the person in charge of the Royal Navy's armoury of ships cannons and supplies was known as the Parker. Ships captains, gunnery officers, and gunnery mates went to the shipyard to fit out their ships with necessary cannon and ammunition to carry out the orders of the Royal Navy High Command while asea. The Parker had a master list of ships and the size of the guns he was authorized to fit them with. He also had a table of what and how much shot, cannon balls, fuse and slow match each ship was authorized to be issued. The Parker was an important position in the Royal Navy. (Source - Patrick O'Brien, author of 22 books on the English navy 1790 - 1815)
The name was also given to the keeper of private parks on estates in the 1500s and later. They were said to have a Parkership, a highly coveted title, and were responsible for arresting or otherwise dealing with poachers. If a poacher killed a deer the Parker was held responsible and could lose his Parkership as a result. (Source - O.E.D.) For that reason the Parker was particularly vicious in dealing with rural folks looking for an easy meal. Mantraps, booby trap shotguns, snares etc. were regularly used to catch and hold poachers for the application of justice.
The common rabbit was called a warrener, parker, sweetheart and hedgehog. They were plentiful in the countryside, and in gentlemen's pleasure grounds. (Source - O.E.D.) Rabbits were fair game for Sunday dinner. It would not be unreasonable to consider that the name on the gun was indicative of what it was intended to harvest - parkers."
If my memory is correct "Lefaucheux" was a Frenchman. He is quite often thought of in connection with Pinfire guns as well as this style of double guns. It is highly unlikely with it having the Parker name on it along with the Belgian proofs that Mr Lefaucheux himself had any part in building it, they were quite popular it some parts for a number of years & built my other makers.
Is there a key passing through the forend, the bbls may simply be keyed to the forend.
Hi and Thanks for your response; there is no key passing through the forend. There is a hinge with a screw that I have removed but the barrels still won't come off.
Pictures would be helpful for us to assist.
If you need aid in posting pictures, please pm me.
Mike
Here is a photo of the barrel release lever in the open position.
another but a bit better quality I think.
OK,:) congrats,
What happens when you have the lever to the side and then unscrew the screw in the hanger below the barrels.
I would believe the barrels will then release and also seperate from the action
Mike
Yes...great observation Mike...(and Thanks to Mike; for educating me on how to post pictures...) I did try removing the screw in the hinge but the barrels didn't release...
You are welcome
There is a double tenon there and sometimes you have to vibrate the barrels to have the crud turn loose after the screw is removed.
And move them slightly back towards the action
PERHAPS
Mike
Mike, kudos to you as you were exactly right...and thanks to your picture, I was able to be confident on how the tenon should let the barrel loose..and here are the photos to show...I had to use a bit of force by pushing the barrel against the floor (carpeted) Thank you very much...what a great site and good people to help!
Ed, thank you for the constructive remark
Yes, We have figured out that it's not a Parker Bros., but the engraving on the receiver does say Parker, which was probably used as a rouse or another way to sell. It has the marks on it of Eugene Lefaucheux (an E over an LG in an Oval) which I think is the mark of his, and as Geo posted earlier, it has the mark of a tower or kind of looks like a plumb bob to me, but it is on the receiver bed as well as the barrels.
Thanks Mike, your reply came as I was trying to get the attached photos. I see the first provisional mark in (a), the view mark, and the optional provisional. Under (b) I see the provisional and the definitive and the view. I am wondering what the numbers are, looks like it might be 18.2 ( left barrel) and 18.6 (right barrel)
Thanks Mike...you have been a great help!
Thanks,
Help is what this site is about.
Learning and helping and lusting after the gun eye candy
Merry Christmas
Mike
p.s. come north and west and we will play, I have the keys to the skeet and trap range
After all, you are only 650 miles away.
Rooster,
I used to have a similar shotgun to yours. I purchased it for $75 at a shop in northern Illinois. I used to shoot it at SXS events using Winchester AA Low recoil/noise shells. My gun was unnamed, but made in Belgium like yours.
Steve
lol @ Mike...yep...Texas is a big State, but rest assured, if I decide to come North and West, I will give you a shout. You were a wealth of info and help on this as well as teaching me about posting photos...give yourself an "Atta Boy" for me!
@ Steve, Thanks for the advice about the shells, I may try sandbagging it and attach a string to the trigger about 20 yds away and see if it is safe. You say low brass, would you say that dove/ skeet loads would be ok? I think it would be neat to shoot it....not sure what chokes it has but I think the 18.2 & 18.6 on the barrels is the choke...I just have to figure out what that is, but I am betting full and mod.
18.6mm = .732", 18.2mm = .7165". Nominal 12ga bore dia of .729" = 18.5mm. Unless it vastly over size bores those sound more like Cyl & ¼ choke to me. Then again they may just be the bore dias & one bbl has an undersize bore. I haven't looked up the Belgian marks in a while but seem to recall that if the bbl as only one mark it is bore size. If choke is marked there should be two marks, as for instance 18.5, 18.2 both on the same bbl, then it would be choked by .3mm/.012".
Rooster,
Forget the dove/skeet loads to start. Buy Winchester AA Low Recoil/Low Noise Target loads. These loads use 26 grams of shot and are very low pressure shells used by trap/skeet and cowboy action shooters. When I lived up north I'd refill them with #6 shot and use them as my right barrel shell for pen-raised pheasants.
Steve
