Parker gauge determination
Question--I just took my old Parker hammer gun to a well known sporting goods chain to see if I could find out the gauge of it. It was sold to me as a 14 gauge and I was curious to see if this was true. The man at the store, a 27 year veteran, tried to insert a 12 gauge measuring device into the chamber but it wouldn't go in. He then inserted a 16 gauge device into the chamber and it wobbled around with with a moderate amount of "play". From this, he concluded that the gauge was between a 16 and a 12, and probably a 14.
I read somewhere that to ascertain the true gauge of a shotgun, you had to insert a caliper device into the barrel and take a measurement at it's widest point and go with that measurement to determine gauge. Someone did this for me a while back and determined that the gun is a 12b gauge. Now I am TOTALLY confused! Which method is right? I would love for the 14 gauge determination to be correct and I feel that it is a possibility--the gun is early--serial number is in the 900's and barrels are decarbonized steel. Any thoughts on this? Thanks! |
What is the actual, complete serial number??
There are factory records on most Parker shotguns. . |
Jack, read the faq http://parkerguns.org/pages/faq/12B.htm and pay particular attention to the last paragraph. I think this answers your question.... maybe?
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Yes. 12b was brass shell. Which was thinner walled than a 12g paper shell. So the diameter of the chamber is smaller. Or you could have a 14g.
Accurate measurements of chamber and bore are the only way to know for sure. |
My guess is that you need to measure the bore diameter (not chamber or choke area) to know for sure. According to http://www.hallowellco.com/bore_size_chart.htm you will measure .729 if its a 12 ga and .693 if its a 14 ga.
I found an interesting discussion on the A/B topic at https://forum.cartridgecollectors.org/t/16b-guage/9315 which my clear up or maybe confuse the issue.....? Interesting topic none the less. That thread concludes with the following text: All depends what you call the gauge. |
That stuff gets pretty complex and it takes a lot of experience to make a sound judgement. If the bores have been reamed - or even polished aggressively - NO conclusions can be drawn.
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A lot of early guns are oversized in the bores. So bore measurements alone will not give a true answer. If records are available, a letter is a good way to confirm original configuration.
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Unfortunately in this circumstance, our records don’t go down into three-digit serial numbers.
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