How to determine barrel chokes?

[Sandy Goss]

Hi Everyone,

Some number of years ago I was given a Parker Shotgun. I is I believe a GH with 30" barrels. S/N is 99970 so was manufactured in 1900. The barrels are Parker Special steel. Question: How can I determine the barrel chokes?

BTW, this gun is in great condition with only minimal wear on the steel and wood. Bores are pristine.

Thanks for the assistance.

Sandy Goss

[Tom Carter]

Send it to me and I'll shoot it this dove season and pattern it for you and tell you the chokes. Cheers, Tom

[Don Kaas]

You need to measure them with a bore gauge to determine the actual choke. Choke is the difference between the nominal bore size and the constriction of the bore at the muzzles(s). For a 12 gauge GH Parker steel barrels the bore will likely be .730" +/- and a full choke constriction around .035". A cheap blade type choke gauge will give you a estimate but only the bore gauge will be an exact measurement. BTW, your gun was made with Damascus steel barrels in 1899. The first Parker Special Steel barrels appeared on GH gun in 1908.

[Sandy Goss]

Hi Don,

Thanks for the reply. Preliminary measurement using a Starrett snap gauge indicates M-F. I have ordered a bore gauge to verify.

I'm confused about your identification. I have the gun beside me. The barrel rib close to the receiver is labled " Parker Bros Makers Meriden Ct USA Parker Special Steel". These barrels are most definitely not Damascus. My grandfather had 3 Damacus barreled Parkers with external hammers. Damascus barrels are quite distinctive.

The serial number is indeed 99970. It exists on the tang behind the trigger guard, on the receiver under where the barrels nest when closed and on the barrels themselves. These numbers are all consistent.

The serial number on the receiver has the number 2 above it and the letter G beneath.

Any help in clarifying my confusion will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for you response.

[Don Kaas]

As I stated, Parker Bros introduced Parker Special Steel barrels for the GH in 1908, a full 8 years after your gun was made. It doesn't take much "out of the box" thinking to realize that the gun most likely went back to Parker Bros and the original (likely damaged or severely pitted) 1900 Damascus barrels were replaced by the then current fluid steel barrels some time after 1908. I own (or have owned) no less than 6 Parkers that this happened to (original Damascus replaced by new fluid steel barrels) and the factory records bore these conversions out. Send for a Research Letter on your gun and if this happened before 1919 there will likely be a record of it. I will also show your gun left the factory in Meriden, Conn. as a Quality D2 or GH with Damascus barrels. Anyway, those are the facts.

[Sandy Goss]

Thanks for the clarification. I'm a newbie at all this and my disconnect was not realizing that Damascus guns could be rebarreled to shoot smokless powder loads. I will follow your recommendation to order a research letter on this gun. Even if it's not completely up to date it will be nice to know the as-built information.

Thanks again for your help.

Sandy Goss

[Don Kaas]

Good Luck with it.

[Bruce Day]

not realizing that Damascus guns could be rebarreled to shoot smokless powder loads.
Sandy Goss


Interesting statement, particularly since those Damascus barrels were proofed by Parker with smokeless powder.

[Dean Romig]

True Bruce, most American gun manufacturers that supplied Damascus or Twist barreled guns after the introduction of smokeless powder on the commercial level proofed these guns with smokeless powder. Sometime later Ammo manufacturers, gun makers and the "hook and bullet" press chose to tell the general public that these Damascus and Twist barrels could not be trusted to withstand the pressures of smokeless powders, hence the big scare to either junk the guns or have them rebarreled.