Working the Parker Top-Lever Model Double Shotgun

Considered by many people to be the "Cadillac" of American shotguns, the Parker holds a special place in the hearts and minds of many shooters and gun collectors. Formerly in the coffee-mill business, the Parker Brothers produced highquality shotguns from the 1860s up until 1942. The majority of Parker shotguns were manufactured at their own factory in Meriden, Connecticut.

In 1934, the Parker Brothers’ company was acquired by Remington, who continued to make shotguns at Parker’s Meriden plant until 1938, when production was moved to Remington’s Ilion, New York, facility. Incidentally, the son of the last Parker employee still lives in Ilion and is still repairing Parker shotguns. The 10-bore outside-hammer shotgun pictured here is known as the Top-Lever Model. It was offered in both 10 and 12 gauges, featured laminated-steel (twist) barrels, and came in many different grades.

The Top- Lever Model was sold from the mid- 1870s up through the early part of the 20th century. The gun shown here is an "R-Grade," believed to have been manufactured until 1899. Basic Disassembly 1. Before you begin any disassembly procedure, check first to be sure the weapon is empty.

Holding the shotgun around the forend (#25) and barrels (#2), and being careful to keep your fingers away from the triggers (#16L & #16R), use your other hand to push the Parker’s top-lever (#34) to the right in order to open the barrels. Upon opening, the barrels will tilt down toward the floor, thus exposing the chambers. If there are any shells in the chambers, lift them out. And to be even safer, I prefer to remove any live ammunition to a separate location. 2.

Begin the disassembly by removing the forearm and barrel set from the gun. First, close the barrels. Turn the shotgun upside down so the forearm is facing up, and pull on the opening lever (#30). This will unlock and free Top of page: The quality of Parker Brothers shotguns is legendary. The gun shown here is a doublehammer Top-Lever Model in 10 bore, made in the late 1870s. Author photos.

The front of each lock has a machined lip that fits in a mortise cut into the frame. the forearm assembly so it can be pulled away from the barrels by the front and removed from the barrels. Turning the gun right-side-up again, operate the top lever once again; except this time, when the barrels open, push them slightly to the rear and then lift them up and out of the frame (#1). 3. Removing the Parker’s locks and trigger guard begins with backing out the lock-plate screw (#13) and gently tapping its head.

This will cause the right-hand lock assembly (#3R) to be moved away from the frame and stock at the rear end. You should now be able to pull the right lock slightly to the rear and off of the frame. Use along punch to reach through an opening in the right side of the stock and tap the rear of the left lockplate (#3L) lightly until it can be removed from the frame’exactly as you did with the right lock plate. Unscrew and remove the trigger-guard screw (#17).

Now, tap the rear of the trigger guard (#15) lightly with a plastic mallet to break it free from the wood. Pull the rear of the guard tang out slightly, moving it out and away This is not always easy with an old, rusty gun. from its seat in the inletting of the buttstock. Next, rotate the trigger guard itself several turns in a counter-clockwise direction to unscrew the guard from the trigger plate (#14). 4.

To remove the action from the stock, unscrew and remove the front (#19) and the rear (#20) trigger-plate screws. While holding the top lever to the right, unscrew the main action screw (#35) from the top, then gently tap the head of the screw downward. This will cause the trigger plate to loosen from its inletted fit in the buttstock. Lift the trigger plate (#14) away from the buttstock (#43), and then carefully separate the buttstock from the frame (#1). For correct reas-

1 Frame 2 Barrel Set 3 Lock Plate 4 Hammer 5 Tumbler 6 Bridle 7 Mainspring 8 Sear 9 Sear Spring 10 Bridle Screws 11 Sear Spring Screw sembly later, be sure to make careful note of the positions of the top-lever stop (#23) and the top-lever stop spring (#24), which are now loose. 5. For disassembling the locks, use a machinist’s clamp or mainspring vise to carefully compress the mainspring (#7), and then disengage it from the stirrup (not illustrated) on the tumbler.

You can now lift the compressed mainspring off the lock plate (#3.) Unscrew and remove the three bridle screws (#10), enabling you to lift off the bridle (#6).

Loosen the hammer screw (#12), and then while holding the lock in your hand, gently tap the head of the hammer screw in order to 12 Hammer Screw 13 Lock Plate Screw 14 Trigger Plate 15 Trigger Guard 16 Trigger 17 Trigger Guard Screw 18 Trigger Screw 19 Trigger Plate Screw, Front 20 Trigger Plate Screw, Rear 21 Trigger Spring 22 Trigger Spring Screw break the hammer (#4) loose from the tumbler (#5).

When the hammer is loose, remove the hammer screw, lift off the hammer, and then lift out the tumbler from the inside of the lockplate. Unscrew the sear-spring screw (#9) and you can lift off the sear spring (#9). The sear (#8) can also be lifted off its pin on the lock plate. 6. To disassemble the frame, use a small machinist’s clamp to carefully compress the top-lever spring (#36), and pull it out from the bottom of the frame. Unscrew the top-lever lock screw. This part is not shown in the parts photo.

It’s on the inside of the left side of the frame, just under the Parker Top-Lever Model 23 Top Lever Stop 24 Top Lever Stop Spring 25 Forend Wood 26 Forend Iron Screw, Front 27 Forend Iron Screw, Middle 28 Forend Iron Screw, Rear 29 Opening Lever Frame 30 Opening Lever 31 Forend Iron 32 Forend Lock 33 Firing Pin Double Shotgun 34 Top Lever 35 Receiver Main Screw 36 Top Lever Spring 37 Top Lever Screw 38 Top Lever Link 39 Bolt 40 Firing Pin Retaining Screw 41 Extractor (not shown) 42 Extractor Screw (not shown) 43 Buttstock (not shown) 44 Buttplate (not shown) top-lever.

Unscrew the two screws from the top-lever link and you can lift the top lever (#34) out from the top of the frame and the link (#38) out the rear of the frame. The bolt (#39) can now be pulled out the rear of the frame. The firing pins are removed by first unscrewing the firing-pin screws (#40) then pulling the firing pins (#33) out to the rear along with their coil springs (not shown). Further disassembly of the frame is normally not required. 7.

Disassembly of the trigger plate (#14) begins with unscrewing and removing the trigger-spring screw

The right lock is simply its twin, exactly reversed. (#22). Once the screw is out, you can lift out the trigger spring (#21), making sure to note how the spring engages the triggers. Remove the trigger screw (#18) and remove the left trigger (#16L) first, followed by the right trigger (#16R). The triggers come out through the holes in the bottom of the trigger plate. 8. To disassemble the forearm, unscrew the front forend-iron screw (#26) and the middle forend-iron screw (#27).

Next, gently tap the heads of each screw, alternating blows between the two screws to evenly push the opening-lever frame (#29) out the bottom of the forearm wood (#25). Unscrew and remove the rear forendiron screw (#28) and gently slide the forend iron to the rear and out of the wood. Further disassembly is not normally required. That’s basically all there is to disassembling the Parker Top-Lever Model double shotgun. To reassemble the shotgun, you simply reverse the procedure above. extractor.

Unscrew and remove the extractor screw (#42) located at the bottom of the barrels near the rear, and then withdraw the extractor (#41) out the rear of the barrel set. I 9. The final step is the removal of the

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