20 ga. gun weights

[Robert Brooks]

I looked at a Parker 20 years ago and the barrels were marked for light loads or something like that and it did not seem all that light,were any factory marked that way or was it added on later? Bobby

[Dean Romig]

20 ga. 26" Trojan I bought from Russ Jackson is 6lb., 4.9 oz.

16 ga. 27" D-Lifter 6 lb., 3.3 oz.





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[Dean Romig]

Bobby, I've never seen or even heard of a Parker marked that way by the factory, but that's not to say it couldn't have been. When it comes to Parkers we never say "never."





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[Researcher]

Some time back we saw pictures of, as I recall, a late 1-frame 12-gauge, marked on the top of the barrels STANDARD VELOCITY ONLY or something close to that.

[Bob Brown]

Yes, there was a thread with pictures of a 20 with the stamp. I put a reference in a post to a DGJ article called "Some American Lightweights" that had photos of a 1 frame 12 with the stamp as well. Here is a link to the thread.
http://parkerguns.org/forums/showthr...n+Lightweights

[Researcher]

Looks to me like the FOR STANDARD VELOCITY ONLY legend was engraved, not a roll-stamp. Larry's 20-gauge --

230978 02 FOR STANDARD VELOCITY ONLY.jpg

From The Double Gun Journal, Volume Thirteen, Issue 4 --

FOR STANDARD VELOCITY ONLY 12-gauge 1-frame, DGJ Volume 13,Issue 4.jpg

[Dean Romig]

Interesting stamp. One wonders why, when the barrel flats are stamped with the typical “Parker Bros. Overload Proved”, the warning stamp would also be on the exterrior of the barrel breech…
The gun is in high original condition so I wouldn’t suspect there would be any reason for such a warning.

Are there any Remington service codes on the left barrel flat? The lug is in the way of being able to read anything tight against the lug.






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[Dean Weber]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

Interesting stamp. One wonders why, when the barrel flats are stamped with the typical “Parker Bros. Overload Proved”, the warning stamp would also be on the exterrior of the barrel breech…
The gun is in high original condition so I wouldn’t suspect there would be any reason for such a warning.

Are there any Remington service codes on the left barrel flat? The lug is in the way of being able to read anything tight against the lug.






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I have a VHE 16 in high original condition with the same notice. Gun is 1923 with 2 9/16 chamber. No overload stamp and no Remington repair codes. The pre-finished weight of the barrel is 3/3 and the finished weight is 2/14 on a 28 inch length. Chamber/FC juncture is .105

[Bob Brown]

Researcher, Larry Stauch's 20 was made in 1929. Do you know if there any new powders or high velocity factory loads introduced around then that Parker may have had concerns about shooting in their lighter guns?

[Researcher]

Originally Posted by Bob Brown

Researcher, Larry Stauch's 20 was made in 1929. Do you know if there any new powders or high velocity factory loads introduced around then that Parker may have had concerns about shooting in their lighter guns?

The only figures I've seen show that the 12-gauge 3 3/4 dram equiv., 1 1/4 ounce loads with DuPont Oval, Super-X, Nitro Express etc., were actually lower pressure than the old 3 1/2 drams of DuPont bulk powder or 28-grains of dense smokeless powder such as Infallible or Ballistite pushing that 1 1/4 ounces of shot at considerably lower velocity.

However, the high velocity loads pushing that 1 1/4 ounce in 12-gauge or the new heavier 1 ounce load in 20-gauge at higher velocity would have greater recoil that might be hard on a light gun or shooter. Also, we know nothing about the chambers in these guns. If the 12-gauge was chambered for the 2 5/8 inch shells, which in 1929 only came in 1 or 1 1/8 ounce loads, why not just mark the chamber length. Same with the 20-gauge if chambered for 2 1/2 inch shells. My 1930 VH 20-gauge has the same 2 15 weight stamp on the barrel flats and has the 2 3/8 inch chambers for the 2 1/2 inch shells and it isn't marked like Larry's gun?!? Many ponderables.