doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Help! I have a Parker and know nothing about it

Guys/Gals
Here are two more pictures...

Under side of the barrels - under each barrel is a "+"... you can see it by the shadow of the closer barrel. What does this indicate?



Stock - I assume this indicates the gun was manufactured in 1889???

Hank, nobody knows exactly what the "+" stamps mean. There has been speculation but research has never determined the meaning.
The (T) is Parkers stamp fot "Twist" barrels. 4 1 indicates the berrels weighed 4 lbs., 1 oz. before striking. The 2 on the lug indicates the gun is built on a size 2 frame. The dates on the water table are simply the dates of certain Parker Bros. patents and do not indicate the date the gun was made. The individual patents and their respective dates can also be found in The Parker Story. The "C" is probably the stamp of the barrel maker or contractor. As I stated in my first post the gun was made in early 1901 according to The Parker Story date of manufacture/serial number tables.
Dean

Thanks to all you have been a ton of help, unfortunatly I can't offer anything but enthusiasm for fine double guns as I learn more about them

Hank that is very cool to be able to hold your great grandfather's Parker in your hands today! Be a good steward of your family's treasure. Thanks for showing us too.

What a wonderful gift.

The dates in the picture are patent dates. All a patent date can tell you about an individual gun it that it was made "after that date".
If want to look them up http://www.google.com/patents

You might also want to check out the Parker site:
http://www.parkergun.org/

Chuck Hawks has a table showing the grades of various classic American shotguns and how they compare, more or less.
http://www.chuckhawks.com/shotgun_grade_chart.htm

Pete

Is't that (+) full choke like many european barrels.

Regards Lennart

No, it's just as DAM16SXS said. It's unknown what the "+" means.

Well, 4.5 years later I am back...

Thank you all for the information and education. I am entertaining the idea of returning this gun to a funtional shooter. Does anyone know of a good double smith in or around Indiana? Thank you!!!

Cole Haugh, Indianapolis. 513 518 6722. Does very good work an reasonable prices.

Yes to Cole Haugh. Very fair, quality work, and can make most of the internal parts that might not be readily available.