doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Hammergun affliction?

Two entry-level American sidelock hammerguns. 1901 Smith Grade F and a 1887 Parker Brothers O-grade, both with 30-inch tubes & lots of choke.



Shallow pistol and a straight grip. A nicer forend release on the Parker.



The Parker needs a little more of a "clean-up", but it works just fine otherwise. The more "shined-up" Smith looks better.



A "Fishtail" and "Twist" versus a more-standard toplever and 2-Bar Damascus.

Comparing and then contrasting these two guns is enlightening for me. On both guns, the hammers fall below line-of-sight (is that an American thing?). The Smith actually fits me a little better (longer LOP and less drop) but...the Parker is lighter by about a half a pound (which makes a surprising difference) and the straight grip makes it seem faster to mount. The Parker has some nice touches (like that Deeley-Edge[?] forend release, retracting firing pins and the "fishtail" which allows for opening with the hammers cocked) but...it desperately needs a more thorough clean-up (to get that bedamnedable brown "mung" off of everything). It is also heavily overbored (likely from the factory) and is in reality an 11-gauge gun. Good barrel wall thickness in both guns so I'm comfortable using light(er) but modern 12-gauge loads. I had been using the Smith for targets (but my recent Ithaca NIG hammer acquisition seems to have replaced it there). I bought the lighter Parker (largely out of curiosity) but also to hunt with on prairie birds (lots of walking there). Neither of these guns were very expensive, but are both very-fun to use. I'll hunt both this Fall and see which one stays with me.

Any tips here for cleaning up the old Parker? It was suggested that I just hose it down with brake cleaner but...I'm hesitant to do that.