doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com T Barker

Aubrey/Meriden Fire Arms indicated barrel steel on the action flats, not T. Barker

"Belgian Royal Damascus" and "Belgium Imperial Damascus" marks are frequently found on T. Barker and others



Note the "Belgian" is in a different font. It was not until 1891 that the U.S. required the country of origin to be clearly marked on an imported gun.

Lots of Barker/Parker variants and Sears ads are about 1/2 way down here
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/20091267

Murphy,

Do you now own this gun? If the gun isn't marked either Damascus or Twist "Finish", then you've possibly got a real pattern welded barrel that can be restored. Can you post pictures?
Regards
Ken

Ken61, I do now own the gun but can take pictures and send to someone, I do not know how to post the pictures. I can see pattern on the barrel it also has a number on the underside of the barrel toward the front approx. 4 inches from muzzle number 227 followed by TC and it is on the piece that connects the 2 barrels. The other marks on the barrel are at the flats a diamond shape with 12G, in center, another symbol looks oblong with a crown over it and ELG inside the poblong, another mark looks sum what like eifle tower, another mark looks similar to this, &, another JM14, this is on the barrel and the water table. I can send pictures if you can post them. Thanks PS I also like and own several split cane rods.

Here's the picture posting FAQ. I just learned recently myself. Read down until you get to the post that describes JPGBOX. Or, just go to JPGBOX.com and read the instructions. You can post as a guest, without signing in. Use that. It's easy. You'll be posting pics in no time. What you describe are Belgian proofs. The ELG in a circle,or with a crown over it, as well as the little tower mark, which is actually an obelisk.

http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=148935#Post148935

Regards
Ken

I do not recall the date now but at some point Belgian law required the addition stating the pattern was "Finish".
Prior to that most were marked as if they were the real thing.
That 12G in the diamond should be 12 C for 12 chamber. There should be markings on each barrel for the bore size in millimeters such as 18.5.

The "Twist Finish" lamp gun I've got is an Henri Pieper Eclipse gun. It's clearly marked "Twist Finished", so it must have been a later gun, but before the company's name change in 1898 to Nicolas Pieper. (then to A.E.P in 1905) I wonder when the law came into effect?

Murphy,
You need a clear determination on this before you do anything to the barrels. The good thing is that the ELG is in the oval with a crown over it. That indicates the gun was proofed in 1893 or later, hopefully after the law was passed requiring the word "Finish" to be used on the colored steel barrel guns. Pics needed!
Regards
Ken

I do not recall the date the law took effect now. i know it has been discussed here on the board previously. As I recall it was at the insistence of the "Better" Belgian makers as they felt the inappropriate markings was giving all Belgian guns a bad name. Since the 1902 Sears catalog used the term Finish in their description of the T Barker guns, it was likely prior to that.