Parker 28 gauge

[Researcher]

In the early days the 28-gauge in North America was offered in the "standard" 2 1/2 inch shell with the load 1 3/4 drams equiv. and 5/8 ounce of shot, but most of the loading companies also offered a 2 7/8 inch 28-gauge case. Chas. Askins writes in his 1910 book The American Shotgun of hand loading 3/4 ounce of shot in the 2 7/8 inch case for his 6 3/4 pound Parker Bros. 28-gauge. When Western Cartridge Co. finally added the 28-gauge to their Super-X line of shotgun shells circa 1931 it came out in a 2 7/8 inch case with a 3/4 ounce load. With the introduction of the Super-X 28-gauge shell, Ithaca Gun Co. began cataloguing 28-gauge guns again, and chambering them for the 2 7/8 inch shell. They had dropped the 28-gauge from their catalogues with the addition of the .410-bore in 1926. Evidence suggests Ithaca did still make a few 28-gauge guns during the period 1926 to 1932. To my knowledge there was never a 3-inch 28-gauge shell offered.

Serial number 222224 is not listed in the table of 28-gauge Parker Bros. shotguns in The Parker Story. That doesn't mean a whole lot, 222224 could have started life as an 0-frame 16- or 20-gauge and had a set of 28-gauge barrels added later.