id like to see a 8ga reproduction

[Milton Starr]

Ok maybe im the only one or maybe not. But id love to see them make a reproduction parker in 8 gauge. To me you cant be 32"barrels and a prince of whales stock on a sxs big bore. Honestly im tired of all these new tactical benelli or similar 12 ga 3.5 magnum. I prefer classical to tactical. Westley Richards is the only company i know who still produces a 8ga sxs albeit 80,000$ . Fine looking guns i digress. I just hate the market is or done has moved to where it is today. Its all about the fastest and lightest. To mea You cant beat the nostalgia of yesterdays shotgun or rolled crimped shells. Id like to see these big guns brought back. With the rising cost of hevishot or similar the only way to get that type of performance from lead is with a 2-3 oz 8 gauge.

[charlie cleveland]

no milton your not the only one that would like to see a reproduction parker 8 ga...if they start making them i want to put in a order for a d grade with 40 inch barrels and 4 inch chambers weigh in the 15 lb bracket...it should handle a 3 to 3 1/2 ounces nicely.... charlie

[Bill Murphy]

As our ages and capabilities combine to limit our "pleasure", my wishes for Repros would be limited to big bores that I could handle. How about a seven and a half pound ten on a 1 1/2 frame or an eight gauge on a 6 frame, both with fairly light 30" barrels, even shorter in the ten. I own the only known 30 inch eight gauge hammerless gun made by Parker Brothers, and it is a ten pound lightweight wonder gun that handles like a twelve gauge. I would love to see someone make a reproduction of that gun.

[charlie cleveland]

bill your killin me with all these ideas...bill youve got the one and only 8 ga quail gun i ever heard of...tell us a little more about this lite weight 8 ga... grade barrel chokes hammer hammereless... charlie

[Bill Murphy]

Charlie, it's a DH #6 frame 30" Damascus gun with skeleton butt, just over ten pounds. It was made for the famous T.H. Keller, the Peters Cartridge Company executive. Keller was a more than flambouyant waterfowler who was known for controlling and owning a giant launch that hosted magnificent waterfowl gunning parties, using hundreds of decoys. He was a respected competition shooter, but that was not related to his ownership of the big gun. The gun apparently passed through other hands in its lifetime, being used heavily, but remains the most "shootable" eight in my collection, because of its light weight. It appears to be the only 30" hammerless eight in the Parker Brothers records. Thanks so much for asking about her.

[charlie cleveland]

thanks bill for the info...keep the little 8 oiled up good...we mite want to go quail hunting some day....... charlie

[Milton Starr]

To me though a modern made great "8" should have industrial chambers to make reloading easier and more cost effective.

Cheapest price i got on a bespoke sxs 8 gauge was 19,500$ for a field grade from ferlach i think it was.
Long as were dreaming bring on a ithaca flues hammerless 8 ga.

Side question are hammer gunns lighter? That parker 8ga from pugs with the varnish on it is 12lbs.
They look to have less wood around the hammers than a hammerless

[charlie cleveland]

milt there are some 8 ga s for sale on PANTILE S GUNS...ITS A BRITH SITE BUT I LOVE TO LOOK AND DREAM...about a year ago they had a 8 ga american made single barrel steel barrel with 4 inch chamber...the thing was as new it was priced at about 1800 hundred in our dollars...would have been a good buy in my book but somebody bought it...but there are still some old cheaper 6 ga s out there like the ones i own...mine are not collector pieces just barly shootable but heh i aint got to much in them...went hunting this morning with the old 8 ga loomis loaded up some 2 1/2 ounce no 2s but did not see nothing but if i had i was ready for him...hope you find that elucive 8 bore.... charlie

[Milton Starr]

MR.Charlie all these fine sxs got me wanting to buy lottery tickets haha. Oh it might be irrelevant but there is a 5 gauge set of brand new made purdey shotguns with one being
a 10ga on gunsinternational. 560,000$ . I know unrealistic but nice to look at.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Any of the big British gunmakers will run you off an 8 gauge but they're going to be expensive. If somebody did do a Parker reproduction 8 gauge the production run would be so tiny they'd be priced in a similar fashion. Who would actually lay out the money for something like that? Anybody who had the money would probably be better off ordering one from Purdey.

DLH

[Bill Murphy]

I'm sure Churchill would make one for about $125,000 or $200,000, but it wouldn't be a nice as Destry's.

[John Dallas]

I had an opportunity to get a 4 hour tour thru Holland and Holland. Looked at a 4 bore which the works manager said "over $100,000 of engraving"

[Mark Landskov]

http://www.westleyrichards.co.uk/GUNS-Shotgun

Check out the Westley Richards website. They will make an 8 bore double for you for L43,500 (that 'L' is supposed to be a 'pound' symbol!).

[Chuck Heald]

I guess I'd be entertained to see a 8ga Repro as well. I wouldn't be interested in buying one, but just for nose pickin, it'd be interesting.

While we're wishin', I wish someone would make a 0000 framed Repro .410 with 30" bbls. at 5 1/2 lbs.

[Milton Starr]

I know of the Westley Richards. They told me last year they had two in production.
I emailed purdey out if curiosity. They said 10bore is the bighest they do these days.oh thays right greener said they would make one for 300,000$ . Also i just heard of watson bros they make a beautiful sxs 4 bo:rotf:re. Not cluncky looking like the searcy 4 bore ive seen. I was told the new 4 bore rifles have to have bigger actions for the smokeless powder and higher velocity. So i suppose the old bp ones look better unless its a shotgun they still look proportioned. Fow now my quest ends with a 4ga english fowler with jeager conversion lock. The gunsmith insisted on a lock period correct .

I still love looking at british bespokes

[Sam Ogle]

Chuck,
Aaaah, yes. I too, would love to see that Reproduction.

A few years ago, I saw an ad for two (2) 8 Gauge shotguns (One Parker) and a 12 Ga Parker DHE Trap Gun:
I was interested in the trap gun, so called the fellow, drove to his house, and arrived there promptly at the time he said he would be home.
He answered the door, with cell phone in hand, talking to someone. He waived me in, and when off the phone, said "Well, I just sold the 8 Gauge Parker.......would you like to see it?" I said "sure."
Wish I could remember more about it, but it was a hammer Damascus, with long barrels as I recall. (Sorry, Destry, I just wasn't all that interested at the time, so it didn't really soak in.)
Ah, well.......heck of a nice fellow, and he had an LC Smith or two or three that would make one's mouth water if that was your collecting interest.
He also had an 8 gauge Tolley which he sold a bit later. It too, was very nice.
Sam Ogle, Lincoln, NE

[Dean Romig]

While we're wishin', I wish someone would make a 0000 framed Repro .410 with 30" bbls. at 5 1/2 lbs.


There are hushed rumors of two original graded Parker .410's with 30" barrels having been shipped to California in the late 30's

I know no details other than what I have stated. They went to brothers or cousins or best friends, as the rumor goes.

Two years ago I was told they might be coming to market soon... again, I know no details.

[Chuck Heald]

Dean,
They may as well be the crown jewels. No way I could afford the hang tag that went with those two guns.

A friend recalls a 30" .410 from his youth that his neighbor owned. The story goes that his neighbor's kid "borrowed" it from his dad to hunt with my friend. In the process of hunting, snow was shot out of the barrel and damaged the end. The father cut the barrels in the barn.

The Parker serialization book shows a small number of 30" .410 guns. My recollection was that it was more than a few, but not much.

[Milton Starr]

To bad parker never made a 4ga to

[Destry L. Hoffard]

I guess what I was really trying to say is that if somebody made a Parker reproduction 8 gauge that it would cost as much or more than an original.

DLH

[Bill Murphy]

Yup, mine was an $85 gun when new as I recall. The best I've been able to do lately is $470. Oh, they were the same gun so there is some appreciation in these guns.

[Sam Ogle]

Murphy, if you are saying you got the latest 8 Gauge for $470, a lot of we older Parkerphiles are going to be sputtering, and spitting tea and coffee across the room.

And, Destry will probably hold winged ducks and geese underwater until they drown, just for spite and frustration relief.

Sam Ogle