I came across a 12 ga double barrel that is in decent shape. On the side of the receiver is written Parry Firearms Co, Ithica NY. It has exposed hammers and the barrels look to be damascus. The stock and forearm is checkered. Does anyone know anything about these guns or what the value may be?

Thanks

Edward George Parry owned and operated the Parry Firearms Co, Ithaca, NY, 1889-1891

He held the following patents.
395849
442453
490065 with Martin Bye
495298
554002

The firm was sold to Charles Roth in 1891. Roth may have continued to sell Parry guns as in 1892 SD&G lists a Parry Shotgun. In 1892-1893 Parry Firearms was sold to Wilkes-Barre.

Parry himself worked for Ithaca before 1889 and Crescent after 1892. Olin Stewart was a Trustee of the Parry Firearms CO and an Incorporator of Wilkes-Barre.

The above is from Sellers and Vorisek.

Pictutres would help to determine the value.

Pete

Ithaca City Directory

1890-91

Directory

Jarvis, William (Parry Fire Arms Co.), prop. Jarvis House, h steamboat landing

Parry Fire Arms Co., O.L. Stewart pres., E.J. Parry, vice pres., William Jarvis sec and treas., manf. of
hammer and hammerless guns, steamboat landing

Parry, E. George (Parry Fire Arms Co.), h cor of the lake

Stewart, Olin L., (Parry Fire Arms Co.), bottling works, 16 S Aurora, h. Jarvis House

Gun Manufacturers

Ithaca Gun Co., 41 Lake see adv. Page 143

Parry Fire Arms Co., steamboat landing

PeteM I have the gun with me. I will see if I can get some pictures and send to you. I am not sure how to post them on the site.

peteM I sent the pictures to your email address

Pete

does you any guess on what its value would be?

Thanks

Parry made two types of hammer doubles. The lower quality gun had a long frame and was bolted by a single "Greener" cross-bolt through the rib extension. The higher quality gun gun had Parry's rear-acting underbolt and the "Greener" cross-bolt. Within these "Qualities" the lowest grade gun had Twist barrels, the middle grade had Laminated barrels and the higher grade had Damascus barrels. Then there were special order higher grade Damascus barrel guns. There is an article on Edward George Parry by Bob Noble and the late William Achtermeier in The Double Gun Journal, Volume Nineteen, Issue 1, that shows pictures by Daryl Hallquist of a very high condition single "Greener" cross-bolt gun. Serial numbers on Parry hammer guns seem to go up a bit into the 5xx range and from there on up to the 13xx range they are marked Wilkes Barre Gun Co.

Here is a Laminated barrel Parry with the rear-acting under-bolt --

The number 404 is on the tang behind the trigger guard as well as the forearm and other parts of the gun. Is that the model number or serial number? Can you tell by the photos which model it is or do would you need additional photos? Any idea on value

Thanks

That 404 would be the serial number. I think from the pictures that your gun is the lower quality gun with just the "Greener" cross-bolt. Open the gun and if it doesn't have a lug on the bottom of the barrels like the gun I pictured it is.

From the pictures your gun appears to be badly off-face. There is not much of an established market for these guns from companies that only lasted a couple of years. They are really only of interest to us nut cases who want one of every kind of double manufactured in North America. I can't imagine the gun you picture being worth more then a couple hundred dollars, probably a lot less for a quick sale.

I will check it out. The gun was pick up for $75

As a matter of interest, the barrels bear a Birmingham temporary or provisional proof for unfinished barrels.This mark was first introduced in 1856. The mark continued in use at least until 1976 when it is refered to in the proof manual, as a provisional proof mark.

I took it apart and it has a different lug than what your pictures show. I fowarded the pictures to Pete. There are also some other numbers on the barrels in addition to the 404 number and a patent date of Nov. 8, 90

For a mid grade...those look like very nice laminated tubes.

Best,
Mark

I have serial no. 587 as I remember. It is Damascus barreled with a "D" stamped on the lower rib just ahead of the barrel flats. It is a Wilkes Barre gun. I see the L, apparently for laminated on the midgrade pictured, and I would guess, there might be a T on the lower grade gun at the same location.

the barrels on the gun I have have the letter "L" on them so as in the picture posted by Researcher. Does that mean that they are laminated and this is a mid grade gun?

This is a picture of the gun broke down. There are some additional numbers other than the 404 serial number on the barrels along with some other mark.

These are are bigger shots of them

Can anyone tell me if the these are laminate barrels, does the "L" stand for laminate? Also the additional number 14700 that is stamp on the barrel, what is this number represents? Lastly is this gun a mid-grade or low grade.

Thanks for any help

I think the L is for laminated barrels. But, I have no idea about the 14700 mark as they did not make but about 5% of that number. Can you tell if the stamping dies are the same for 404 and 14700 ?

it looks to be from the same die

The only listings I have for this Quality Parry hammergun are in the 1892 and 1894 SD&G catalogues, and SD&G were only offering Twist or Damascus.

Can anyone tell what that oval stamp on the barrel between the 14700 and the barrel flat is? I think I can see it faintly on the other tube as well.