parts and ammo questions

[Steve Emmons]

I have a couple questions. Would anyone happen to know where I could buy a cocking hook screw for a 12 ga parker hammerless shotgun? I have tried a bunch of places, but nobody seems to have it. Also, does anyone know what the original pressures for 12 ga 2 1/2 in black powder shells were. I have a gun with really nice twist barrels and was going to order smokeless powder shells from rst that had 1125 for the pressure, but wasn't sure if that was to much. Thanks in advance for the help.

[Bruce Day]

If you really mean 1125 psi , that would be lower than low pressure rubber hydraulic lines at a standard 1500psi.

Or, see TPS, p. 515 for a table giving a mean service working limit of 9500psi and a maximum individual service working limit of 10,800 for your gun, based upon mean proof of 13,700. I regularly shoot Rem STS 1oz loads in my old damascus guns, but that would be up to you.

[Big D]

Maybe FPS?

[Steve Emmons]

I ment a velocity of 1125 not pressure, I just made a mistake when I typed it. Does Remington make sts loads in 2 1/2 in.

[Bruce Day]

I thought you might have. And you know you can have loads that run 1125fps that will push 11,000psi and others that will pop at 5,000.

And no, Rem STS loads are not 2 1/2" long when shot. They vary according to the SAAMI standard between 2 5/8" and 2 3/4" long. More importantly, why do you feel that the shells you shoot must be no longer than 2 1/2" when expanded? I suggest that if a person follows the threads here, reads the Sherman Bell "Finding Out For Myself" articles in the Double Gun Journals of the last ten years, and considers the minimal pressure differences (10%), he will conclude that it doesn't make any meaningful difference. Its also interesting to recall the well known practice of Parker to intentionally short chamber guns under the analysis that it gave a needed but minimal pressure boost for added velocity. In later years when Parker marked chamber length, as in " For 2 3/4" shells", the chambers were actually 2 5/8". Gunsmiths used to claim Parker made a mistake in chamber length and would make money reaming out Parker chambers until the facts were known.

Sure, a person can shoot RST 2 1/2" low pressure shells, they are fine shells and the RST folks are fine people and good PGCA supporters. And for the person who doesn't want to think about what he is shooting, that is a fine choice. However, if a person wants to understand Parkers and shotshells and how they are designed , that person has many alternatives. Parkers are not dainty little guns and for the most part were made for heavy loads. A person may choose, as most of us do, to shoot light loads because we don't like to get pounded, but your Parker is pretty strong, unless the stock is cracked, the barrels reamed thin, etc.