Tight Chokes !!

[John Allen]

I had a DH with .045" choke in each barrel.With older paper shells it patterned around 75% with good even distribution.With "modern" ammo it threw donuts with no pellets in the center of the pattern.I think the tight chokes caused the pellets to cross as they left the muzzle.I killed a couple of turkeys with old ammo and then sold it.I never could get it to pattern any ammo that had a shot cup.

[Mills]

I am using a 12 GH I bought from John with .40 chokes.

[Big D]

My 12 gauge Fox Sterly is .044 in each barrel

[Paul Harm]

Some of us, with nothing better to do in retirement, load short shells that demand fiber wads . Well, at least as of yet, I haven't bought any short wads from BPI, so fiber are mandatory for a good crimp. I get told it looks like confetti. It distracts you when shooting. Well, at least for the first couple of shots. And, surprise, surprise, there's some leading in the barrel to be removed. Something I normally don't experience with modern loads.

[todd allen]

Originally Posted by Randy G Roberts

I am presently working with a seller to acquire a long barreled 12 gauge 1924 GHE, #2 frame, trap configuration with .728 bores, 2 3/4" chambers, and good MWT. What has me puzzled are the choke constrictions with both barrels being measured by a knowledgeable seller as being .062 and .064, wow ! I have never heard of constrictions as such in a Parker. Anyone here have any knowledge of chokes such as these, thoughts ? There are no surviving records on this one BTW.

I spoke to a friend yesterday who has done extensive pattern and ballistic testing with all kinds of loads and choke constrictions, including going North of 50k constriction. (He has tested up to 55k all in a 12 ga.)
He says that in his experience 50 k is where patterns start going the other way with shot cup ammo. (note clever avoidance of "modern")
Patterns were good and even with the ultra tight chokes, but measured larger diameter patterns.
He speculated that with vintage type shells the 60 some thousands chokes might throw pretty good and of course tight patterns.
Gonna have to put this one on paper and see what it does.

[Randy Roberts]

The subject gun actually arrived Thursday afternoon. I have had a chance to do a full evaluation and measuring of this gun. As it turns out the dealer with 40 years of experience does not know how to measure barrels. That really did not surprise me one bit as I did not fully expect this gun to be choked as was indicated. I hope that I have time in the next day or two to add another post to this thread and which I intend to show what the dealer indicated the gun to be versus reality. I think you will find it interesting. At the end of the day I'd previously handled this gun and I'm still thrilled with it. It is a beast, even if it doesn't have 60 thou constrictions.

[Reggie B]

Originally Posted by Randy G Roberts

The subject gun actually arrived Thursday afternoon. I have had a chance to do a full evaluation and measuring of this gun. As it turns out the dealer with 40 years of experience does not know how to measure barrels. That really did not surprise me one bit as I did not fully expect this gun to be choked as was indicated. I hope that I have time in the next day or two to add another post to this thread and which I intend to show what the dealer indicated the gun to be versus reality. I think you will find it interesting. At the end of the day I'd previously handled this gun and I'm still thrilled with it. It is a beast, even if it doesn't have 60 thou constrictions.

[Mills]

Yeah, not a big surprise, but still sounds like a very desirable gun

[todd allen]

Not meaning to "wish" anything on anyone's gun(s), but I was really looking forward to learning something new about Parker chokes, and maybe something about how 60 some thousandths chokes perform on paper. Hopefully the new gun works out well for Randy.

[Randy Roberts]

As previously mentioned this is a gun that I had handled before so I was at least somewhat familiar with it although I did not take measurements previously. As I stated before some of the information as provided by the seller was suspect. Following is a brief list of some of the discrepancies, some are trivial, others not :
Seller Reality
RB constriction .062 .034
LB constriction .064 .041
R bore dia. .728 .732
L bore dia. .728 .733
Chambers 2 3/4 2 7/8
LOP 14 1/2 14 5/8
Weight 8-7 8-9.6

The constriction issue really is not an issue as I never truly expected them to be that tight, sure would have been cool though. Could have been the tightest Parker double ever. The remaining discrepancies cause me no real concern but it just makes me wonder how someone in the biz for so long can get these things wrong.

At the end of the day this is one really cool gun with unmolested barrels that measure 34 1/16", BTFE, with a RKPG stock with some figure. Engraving is very good and the screws are not perfect but they are really good. Gun is tight on face and is in need of a good cleaning. It has a rock hard Silvers pad that needs replaced. I believe the gun to be in original unaltered condition with some decent cc remaining.

This one really speaks to me, as such I have been in contact with Brian Dudley whom I have sent pics. We have had a discussion on this one and formulated a plan. As I sense a future PP article I am going to keep you in suspense and will not divulge the plan or post pics. More to follow at some point