Parker Recommended Hammer Gun Loads

[Bruce Day]

Here is Parker's recommended load chart. While powder is black powder equivalents can be determined through drams equivalent DRE. These are stout loads. A person may choose to use less powerful loads however the guns were built for stout loads.

[Dave Noreen]

Got a date for this chart?

[Bruce Day]

It's from the catalog of the transition between lifter and top action models. What was the catalog date. About 1881?

[Dave Suponski]

Bruce and Dave that is exact text as seen in the 1882 catalog.

[wayne goerres]

It makes my shoulder hurt just looking at those 8ga load.

[charlie cleveland]

7 drams of black powder in a 8 ga would betough on the shoulder for sure and don t you guess it would make a lot of smoke...i have fired 57 grains of bluedot with a 2 1/2 ounce load in a 8 ga its a stiff load for sure but i m sure 7 drams of black would be stiffer...charlie

[Bruce Day]

While the Parker Gun was made for heavy loads, Parker also published lighter loads for its hammer shot guns. Note the following recommendation of 1 oz and 2 1/2 drams as a "fair charge" for birds with a 12ga .

Parker collectors are fortunate that we have so many documents from Parker for maximum service loads and lighter loads in both hammer and hammerless guns . It is part of basic Parker knowledge for enthusiasts. So when a person asks what he can shoot, a definitive answer can be given by those who know their Parkers, based of course on design specifications.

[William Davis]

2 1/2 Drams 1 oz is a favorite load for Clays in my Parker Lifter.

William Davis

[Alan B. Webber]

Wow those are serious BP loads! I load about 110 grains of BP in #6 frame 10's, one hammer and one hammerless with about 1.25 oz of shot in full length short brass. I'm not sure what difference the hammers make or the barrel length. My barrels are 34 and 36.
5.50 drams is about what I put in my beer can mortar!
I need to load more powder.

[Drew Hause]

Black Powder Pressures:
3 dram / 82 grains 1 1/8 oz. (1200 fps) is about 5000 psi.
3 3/4 dram GOEX FFFg with 1 1/4 oz. (1240 fps) is about 6000 psi.
4 drams of FFF (about 108 gr) with 1 1/8 oz. (1420 fps) is about 7000 psi.

From
“Powder Pressures At Different Parts of the Gunbarrel, 1895” p. 32
http://books.google.com/books?id=inQCAAAAYAAJ&q=pressure&source=gbs_word_cloud_r&cad=6#v=snippet&q=pressure&f=false
(scroll down and click on p. 31)
1855-1925 British Definitive proof for 2 1/2" and 2 5/8" 12g shells - 6 1/2 Drams BP with 1 2/3 oz. No. 6 shot = 4 1/2 Long Tons or about 14,000 psi by LUP or about 15,000 psi by modern piezo transducers.

1925-1954 British Definitive Proof for 2 3/4" 12g shells - 7 1/2 Drams FFFg with 2 oz. shot. Mean pressure to be developed by the proof load was 7.1 tons LUP / 15,900 psi with a maximum of 7.8 tons / 17,500 psi.

[Alan B. Webber]

Thanks. The 6.5 dram load seems like a lot of pressure but on the other hand #6 frame barrels are massive at the breech. The most I've loaded is 110 grains of fffg with an ounce and a quarter of lead. It has minimal recoil with those heavy frames and more than adequate for ducks and geese.

[Angel Cruz]

What about the shot size??

[Alan B. Webber]

I've got some #2 bismuth I've loaded for ducks and geese.
I think CA banned lead for all shooting so I don't know what I'm going to do for ZZ Trap. Whatever it is it's going to have to be Damascus friendly.

[Alan B. Webber]

Does anyone load Pyrodex? I loaded it the other week in my D grade #6 frame 10. It produces plenty of smoke, ignited fine ( I put a pinch of BP over the primer), kicked a bit more but nothing significant in a 14 pound gun and last but not least cleaned up much faster than BP. I turned the garden hose on the barrels and could see shiny steel right away then a couple of paper towels down the barrels and it was clean.
I think it's great stuff and you can buy it anywhere.
I loaded about 41/4 drams the other day and filled the rest of the case with #6 shot. I guess I'll shoot ZZ or a high tower with them.

[Mike Franzen]

Alan about how much shot was in those loads?

[Alan B. Webber]

Mike,
I just filled up the shells and glued the top wad on with duco cement.Probably about an ounce and a half of shot. Last time I did that I really shredded the ZZTrap birds. I'd like to pattern it at about 40 yards. I'll bet it's a very tight pattern.
Alan

[charlie cleveland]

just don t leave a gun fired with pirodex uncleaned over night it seems to rust chambers and barrels over nite worse than black powder have shot several loads of the pyrodex in the 8 ga and 10 ga but like smokeless powder still on acount of cleanup and no rust if left unclean for a few days....yes the smoke is nice....charlie