Anything on your 2020 Parker/shotgun shopping list?

[Brett Hoop]

Mills
The Queen of the medium’s is very easy to learn to shoot well. Much of dealing with recoil is mental. Pre - 64s in 375 H&H can be very good, but much like Parker’s, a bunch of them have been messed with so you want to Vet them like you would any other. I would suggest you seek a later higher stocked Monte Carlo style if you plan to use with a scope. The early versions had too much drop for comfortable scope use. In a true big game/ dangerous game rifle form follows function- meaning in this case flawless feeding from the magazine. While many Pre-64 model 70 do meet this need. Don’t assume they all do, with all ammunition.

If you’d like a 375 on a Model 70 to try and see if you enjoy it let me know. It can be arranged. The big mistake made with these calibers that have some recoil, is to sit down on a bench with a scoped rifle and start trying to deal with it. A much better start is to shoot off sticks or a standing bench using open sights. We aren’t trying to shoot groups but just hit a target and function the bolt. Starting off correctly makes all the difference in the world.

[BRDHNTR]

Set of 12 ga frame 2 , 26 inch barrels

[Mills]

Thanks Brett!

[TxHuntermn]

small bore hammer gun

[Bill Murphy]

I seem to remember buying both of my .375 H&H rifles in the same year, just because they appeared on the horizon close together. My favorite is an original London Rigby ordered by a good friend and shooting buddy who had an illustrious career that included duty as CIA Station Chief in Kabul during the Russian difficulty. He sold it to me shortly before his health declined and not long before his death. I have pictures of him standing over a Gaur, holding the Rigby, and also have his written request for a tiger hunt when he was stationed in New Delhi. Unfortunately, tiger hunting was off the map at that time, even for spooks and diplomats. All factory correspondence is intact and very detailed and interesting.

[Jay Oliver]

I had a good year of collecting and really should spend money this year fixing/restoring some of the Parkers and other guns I bought in 2019. However...

I would like to continue to go after some early Parkers, so a good condition back action would be nice find in 2020. I passed on a real nice back action a few years ago with a serial# in the 100s and I may start the year off by trying to pursue it again(if it is still available).

I am also so enamored with my early Remington Whitmore 10 gauge that I feel I need to get one in a 12(another early one with non-rebounding locks that are reset by opening the action).

A 16 top action hammer gun would be nice and fill a missing spot in my collection.

Lastly, maybe a DH or CH 12 gauge with a straight stock and composite barrels.

That's not asking too much...right?

[Stan Hillis]

Originally Posted by Brett Hoop

....The big mistake made with these calibers that have some recoil, is to sit down on a bench with a scoped rifle and start trying to deal with it. A much better start is to shoot off sticks or a standing bench using open sights. We aren’t trying to shoot groups but just hit a target and function the bolt. Starting off correctly makes all the difference in the world.

Amen. Offhand rifle shooting allows one to rock with the recoil. Bench shooting does not, unless allowances are made. My 10 year old son used to shoot my Ruger #3 .45-70 with 300 gr. Rem HPs at a pretty speedy velocity, off the bench, with no flinching or discomfort whatsoever. I would seat him so the the recoil would move him around a bit on the stool. He loved it, and subsequently killed his first, and many other, deer with it. It went down the road for a new #1 .45-70. I have loaded it with 500 grainers at only 300 fps less than a .458 Winchester Magnum, per the RCBS loading manual. Fun to shoot, and big medicine for hogs and whitetails.

SRH

[Craig Budgeon]

At this point in life, I won't know I want it until I see it and I still may pass.

[mobirdhunter]

I hope to find the one I can't live without. Not sure what that might be until I see it...and hold it. It will probably be a turn of the
Century-ish Parker (I like the era's engraving) with Damascus (or Bernard) barrels, light in weight, with a straight/splinter/two triggers, high dimensions configuration (and open chokes). Who knows, I may just find it.

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Brett Hoop

The big mistake made with these calibers that have some recoil, is to sit down on a bench with a scoped rifle and start trying to deal with it. A much better start is to shoot off sticks or a standing bench using open sights. We aren’t trying to shoot groups but just hit a target and function the bolt. Starting off correctly makes all the difference in the world.

Quite frankly I AM trying to shoot groups and I generally shoot pretty damn good groups with the bigger boys . The 375 H&H is fine from the bench , the 416 Rigby and Rem Mag are okay with a break after two or three 3 shot groups . I will say however I had a Ruger 1H in 458 Win Mag that thumped pretty well , but still shot some decent groups with it when I was working up a load . The 505 Gibbs I thought was going to punish me but in reality it wasn’t as bad as the 458 or so I thought . The guy that owns CH-4D and I had a pretty decent discussion on shooting double rifles and he was an advocate of the standing bench , personally I’ve never cared for a standing bench but to each his own .