The Ultimate Duck Gun......

[C Roger Giles]

Destry;
In my first reply I omitted to congratulate you on your latest Parker find so consider it said.

Now to some juicy recomendations for this once in a life time find;

You had better contact you old side kick Gerald and run the gun through the PBR/Moonshine proof house, much better to be safe than sorry.

If need be I'll load up some of my favorite loads and express them to you and Gerald for the proofing. I also have some decent strong string for the trigger connection if you have a need for it.

Now to my fourth celebration ala Famous Grouse----Roger in friendship

[Marty K.]

Destry, thanks for the reply and info...I have read your remarks about Bismuth and Kent TM before and have used them per your recommendation....thanks, for that....But I don`t remember 3".....I assume that the barrel wall thickness would be larger on 3" chambered guns? If not then what about the increased pressure or do the loads have the same pressure as 2 3/4 loads and if so then you are really just increasing the amount of shot with 3" shells..................... Right? My balistic knowledge is a bit weak to say the least....Your thoughts? Marty (I have also used Nice shot and like that)

[Researcher]

The SAAMI max pressure for both 2 3/4 inch and 3-inch 12-gauge is 11,500.

[MarketHunter]

Marty,

This gun is on the #3 frame which is actually the lighter 10 gauge frame. It's got chamber wall thickness for sure, breeches look like a cannon. I've killed a jillion ducks with 2 3/4 shells but I like to shoot something a little heavier sometimes too. I'm excited to have a 3 inch double, should be a good one for later in the season when the shooting is a little rougher.

Roger,

I'm on my way to visit Gerald in the morning actually. We've got busines.....

Flanders,

If they've got a good price on those 3 inch BB shells, and you don't want them, I'm sure I'd probably take them off their hands.


Regards,
Destry

P.S. Something I failed to mention about the pigeon shoot was that the new duck gun really seems to actually draw in ducks. We were on dry land, nearest water was a couple miles away. We saw a group of birds coming in in the distance and all got ready thinking they were pigeons. When they got closer it turned out to be a flock of young mallards and a single shoveler.

Apparently they'd found the waste grain around the storage bins just like the pigeons had. They made about four swings trying to get in there, all plenty close enough to shoot, but we didn't of course. We weren't hidden quite well enough for ducks so they never landed but they sure tried. Take a duck gun to a pigeon shoot and apparently you get ducks anyway. I took it as a good sign for things to come with the new gun.

Hopefully we'll see them again opening weekend. Unfortunately, the State of Illinois, in their infinite wisdom, has decided that the Thanksgiving weekend opening day wasn't a good idea. We just heard the season in Southern Illinois opens two weekends earlier as of this season, the middle of November rather than at the end. Hopefully I'm able to make it home for it.

[Old and Reliable]

Destry- great stuff indeed. If you grew up South of I-64 does that mean you could get grits and cathead bisquits with red-eye gravy for breakfast? You are indeed what the Spanish would call a "Rey Del Mundo Hombre" - King of the World Man- with all the trips to Beaver Dam and your interest in the life and gunning experiences of the true "Shootin'ist Gent'man" T.N. Buckingham.

My major references for the research question I am posing are: The Best of Nash Buckingham by George Bird Evans 1973 Winchester Press, and Mr. Buck, The Autobiography of Nash Buckingham- edited by Dr. Dryk Halstead and Steve Smith 1990 beaver Dam Press.

The second book I listed details on page 249 "Presentation of 1962 OUTDOORSMAN Of The YEAR Award- To Nash Buckingham By Lowell E. Kreig ---- Lockhaven Country Club, Alton, Illinois. No mention of a hotel in Alton. Is it possible there was a hotel there prior to the building of the Country Club?

Back to the G.B. Evans book, in the forward from Nash's close friend John M. Olin "If a man ever found the fountain of youth, it was Nash Buckingham. I remember how he looked that night of January 18, 1963, at the Lockhaven Country Club at Alton, Illinois----

You have seen and handled the M21 Duck 12 bore- "The Award Gun"- As this is a Parker Forum, not a Winchester Forum, we'll let that pass, ditto the possible interest in the whereabout of both his Becker-Fox magnums.

One thing I will never quite understand is why the Game Agent needed to check Nash's first Becker "Bo-Whoop" back in Dec. 1948. If Nash had been shooting a pump or an autoloader; certainly, for the Federal mandated 3 shot plug, but a double- not needed.

On barn pigeons, my favorite target awing (as MI will never have a legal dove season in our lifetimes) where did you find pigeon decoys? I use dove decoys, have also seen pigeons drop in my crow decoys in the snowy cornfields in late winter-early spring. I've also used the old Indian trick of propping up dead pigeons on corn shocks for "foolies"

A retired MI State Vet. taught me the "tender-taste-test" for pigeons: Squeeze the deceased bird with your fingers straddling the rib cage- if the rib bones spring back, it is a squab or a young bird, and will be tasty. If not, it is a old-timer and feed it to your cat.

I baste the filleted breasts with olive oil and coarse pepper and like with teal and wood-duck, grill on a hot charcoal fire-maybe 2-3 minutes per side-mighty tasty, not quite as good as dove, but a close second.

I'll possibly have some more paper 10 gauge 2 & 7/8" Remingtons by the next MI side-by shoot at Lapeer, Sat. July 18th. Hope to see you there.

[Richard Flanders]

I'll check Destry. The ones I got had a 2-3(or older?)yr old price on them. $21.49/box I think it was. I took everything but the BB shot and I think they were 3". You want them if they're only 2.75"? For that price it would be worth it for geese. Wish we had some pigeons up here I could keep current on. We have them but they're downtown. My dog training friends get to trap them but no one shoots them.

[John Truitt]

Destry,
That sounds like a great gun. What does she weigh? Last 34" #3 frame 12 dhe I saw was 10 lbs 8 oz. Shoot em up. The long barrels are great.

[MarketHunter]

John,

Wish mine was that heavy actually, but she only comes in at about 9 pounds.

I'll post some pics this week if I can get caught up after this 4 day weekend I took.


Destry

[Bill Murphy]

Destry, my old #3 frame 12, according to the letter, not actual weight, was 8 pounds 7 ounces with 32" barrels and 8 pounds, 4 ounces with the 28" barrels. This sounds strange, but the long barrels are only 30", not 32" as the stock book says. That explains the small weight difference. The 30" barrels are marked 4-14. It's a neat old gun and has an Infallible trigger that works just fine.

[Blind Dog]

Bill, My 0 frame 20ga VHE two bbl. set (32" and 28") is even more at odds. the gun with the 32"s is about 3 oz. less than with the 28"s. The gun balances at the same point and swings similarly with either set.