8 ga. chamber lenghts

[charlie cleveland]

does any one know what the longest chamber lenght of a parker 8 ga. was . all ive encontered were 3 1/4 inch chambers . also a 14 ga on gun broker lot of interesting info thanks charlie

[George Lander]

I've never seen or had one with other than 3 1/4 inch chambers.

Best Regards, George

[Dave Noreen]

My 1905 UMC catalogue lists 8-gauge cases 3 1/4 inch for $25 per 1000 and 3 1/2 to 4 inches for $28 per 1000. On the page for loaded 8-gauge shells they don't mention case length. Smokeless loads available were 5 dram equiv. with 1 1/2 ounces of shot; 5 1/2 drams equiv. with 1 3/4 ounces of shot; and 6 drams equiv. with 2 ounces of shot. Black powder loads went up to 7 drams with 2 1/4 ounces of shot.

[Jeff Kuss]

The records show that my 8 ga. was returned to Parker Bros to be rechambered to 4" a couple months after it was delivered.

[Dean Romig]

Page 78 of Vol. 4, Issue 3 of the DGJ shows an 8 bore with 4 1/4" chambers. It's not a Parker but a Chas. Boswell. That is the longest chambered 8 bore I've seen.

[Austin W Hogan]

The Parker 1899 Catalog offeres any chamber length in any gauge; the chamber length could be specified by the customer. There was no charge for chambering to the custmer's specification.

Best, Austin

[Bill Murphy]

As I recall, Jeff's eight was one of a pair, both chambered at Parker Brothers for 4" shells. My Greener is nitro proofed for 3 3/4" shells and 2 1/2 ounces of shot.

[Dave Suponski]

How cool is that! A pair of 8 bores! One for each arm,:eek:

[Jeff Kuss]

Dave,
At 15 1/4 lbs and 38" barrels, you are a better man than I.
Jeff

[Destry L. Hoffard]

The longest I've seen is 4 1/4 but the longest I've seen on a Parker is Jeff's 4 inch gun.

DLH

[Don Kaas]

My hammer Manton was 4", my J&WTolley sidelock was 3 1/4", my PH Parker was 3 1/4" and the Lindner Daly hammer I just looked at was 3 1/4" (at 16 1/2 lb with only 36" barrels, a hefty frau...:shock:) Destry, you will recall the 40 8 bore brass cases you sold for me were 4 1/4"....

[Destry L. Hoffard]

I'd forgotten that, but yes, I do recall that now. I should have bought them from you myself but I've got all the 8 bore I need and she's only 3 1/4.

DLH

[Bill Murphy]

Don, would you consider selling me some of the 4 1/4" Rocky Mountain brass? What was your decision on the Daly? I passed based on only one issue.

[charlie cleveland]

thanks for all the info on the chamber lenghts i would never dreamed of a 4 inch parker .sure wouldnt mind having one though. ha has the fellow with the 4 inch parker ever shot this gun with 4 in load curious about results. i have fired loads up to 3 ounces out of my parker it only has 3 1/4 in chambers. it is a good load and recoil is not bad. good hunting charlie

[Don Kaas]

Bill- Destry sold all the brass to a fellow in Turnberry, Scotland. (perhaps to keep the geese of the golf course...). I had the Daly 8 for a couple of days and sent it back to Larry. A very, very sound beautifully built 1880s gun but quite low in the stock and heavy in weight for a shooter. The action had obviously been covered in light surface rust during storage for me to live with it would have required too much work. The Westley he has is the baby but alas a new Mercedes wagon for Mrs. K has slowed my acquisitive nature this month but I'll revive...

[Bill Murphy]

Don, did you clean the bores on the Daly? Are the pits really pits. I passed based on the condition of the uncleaned bores. Did you have both guns sent?? The shipping must have been astronomical.

[Don Kaas]

I only looked at the Daly. Shipping to and fro was $120. Upon arrival I cleaned the Daly bores- they were very good remarkably so actually. One rather small pit in front of the right chamber and some very minor roughness here and there. If the bores were the only reason you passed on the gun you made a big mistake...the $4500 didn't factor into did it?:rolleyes: To be happy with this gun, I would had to 1) do a butt transplant to fix the check and raise the comb 2) have the barrels done by Dale E. 3) have the action polished and re-engraved and case hardened and 4) start a weight program so I could lift and move the gun...:shock:

[peter holden]

4" is long enough for anyone, if you cant stop geese with 7 dram 2 1/4 ounce its time to packup. the other option use a muzzle loader no chambers to bother about. I have been using a single muzzle loading 8 weighing in at 16 pound but found no pattern advantage using anything above 2 ounce. big gun prices are going rather silly over here at the moment the local gun shop has a Greener boxlock none ejector double 8, but he is asking £13,000 for it. Its nice but not that nice.

Peter.

[Don Kaas]

Peter-as you know, the problem here in North America is that we can not use our 8 bores on wildfowl (and in many states on no game whatsoever). Other than the odd clandestine poke at a Canada or chamber inserts to 10 bore magnum (show them the 10 bore cartridges and the wardens never know) and the occasional foray in some places for turkey, 8 bores are a guncrank's indulgence here.

[Bill Murphy]

Peter, how much would my eight bore Greener Royal 33" (original) unengraved hammer gun sell for over there? It is high condition, nitro proofed for 3 3/4" cases. Made in 1885 according to GG.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Peter,

Good to see you back on the BBS.

Didn't know you were a front stuffer fan, sounds like a lot of fun. What maker is that single 8 bore you mention?

My big Churchill will handle 2 1/2 ounce loads really well, that's what I've used in it when I was over your way.

The prices on big guns over your way have really shot up, makes me think of selling my 8 gauge at auction through one of the big houses. Just hate to though, I'll never own another one even close to it.

I'd say asking ain't going to be getting on that Greener, particularly for a boxlock, unless it's something really special. I could have bought a very similar one last year for $6000 and passed pretty quick.


Destry

[peter holden]

Hi Don.
I new about not being able to use 8 gauge on fowl, but it seems a strange ruling and would have thought that it would be more appropriate to put a shot charge limit in place rather than a gun size restriction, after all it should not matter if you shoot 2 1/4 ounce in a 10g or 8g. As for youre chamber sleeves this is basically going back to the brass perfect case system. i have a willam ford 10g chambered for no12 brass perfect cases i load & shoots this with very good results. I also have a T Wild 10g. i use modified 10g shell tubes to accept 12g shells(streched on a mandrel) this works exactly the same as the brass perfect shells in the my william ford.
Pete.

[peter holden]

Hi Destry
My muzzle loader is a Wallis flinter converted to percusion, it weighs in at 16 pound with a 47" barrell.
Pete.