14 Gauge Parkers
 

I have seen in a couple of places in the Serialization book where a 14 gauge oddly appears in a group or small run of 16 gauge guns.

I wonder if in such cases a set of barrels intended to be bored and chambered as a 16 gauge may have been somehow compromised in the boring process and that the barrels had been saved by boring and chambering one size larger - as a 14 gauge?

Your thoughts?





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Very interesting theory. The 14 gauge did have a small following early on. Johnson Hooper, a Southern writer before the Civil War, used a 14 gauge and another Southerner from that era (whose name I can't remember) used a 14 gauge.

A 14 gauge Parker is on my wish list, although I expect to be looking for a while

Gary has a dandy!





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One of the hammerless GH's would be my first choice. I know of a DH out there

I almost bought a nice d grade 14 ga once upon a time...charlie

Dean, I think your question can be answered by measuring the outside diameter of the suspected 16 to 14 gauge conversion guns. You can bore out the inside but you can't add metal to the outside. I hope we can find one of those 14 gauge guns in the sample you mention. What are the serial numbers? We may have already found one or more.

If it’s a 1-frame gun there’s no need to add metal anywhere.

For instance, 23240 through 23243 are 16’s except 23241 is a 14.
31597 is a 16 and 31598 is a 14.
31702 and 31703 are 16’s and 31704 is a 14.
43602 through 43608 are 16’s and 43609 is a 14.




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I had a Grade 2 Hammergun that lettered as a 14 ga. And was ordered with cleaning and reloading supplies and shipped to Louisiana. Some time around the outbreak of WW1, 14 ga ammo from overseas became nonexistent and someone professionally sleeved the chamber to 16 ga with 2 3/4” chambers. This was done with steel as opposed to bronze as was the practice back then. This gun patterned like a backbored 16 Gary Carmichael shot it several times and patterned it. It was for sale here on this forum but eventually sold privately on the west coast. Brad Batchelder has a had time determining if the sleeping was factory and said it was the best chamber sleeping Jos he had ever come across

That answers something I was curious about if the 14 gauge used across the pond was the same as what Parker Brothers chambered . Theres a nice looking English 14 gauge hammergun on GB .

14 gauge guns were more prevalent in Europe during the last half of the nineteenth century and that reflected in the 14 ga being made here to satisfy the wants of wealthy immigrants. Once WW1 started all munition production went towards military use. That was the end for the 14