Parker Choke Alchemy

[Mark Ray]

Parker Sage's,

I have plowed through numerous threads on this subject, and am still unable to ferret out the exact info I seek. I just got the letter on my "new to me" 12 ga, 30" DH. It states that the gun was special ordered to target RH325 pellets and LH 350 pellets using 1 1/8's oz of "shot" (size not specified) in a 30" circle at 40 yards.

Am I right, that, if using #7 shot that the gun is regulated for like 90% and 97%? That seems like crazy tight. This might be a different story if the gun were regulated with #9 shot...but that seems unlikely.

I guess I'm still a classic double hayseed....I miss plain words like Modified, Improved Cylinder and Full!

Any light to shed?

Thanks to all in advance...

[Bruce Day]

Number 7 shot was the usual shot size for patterning.

Parker full chokes were wonderful for long range pattern density. Yours may have great 60-70 yard effectiveness. Try patterning it yourself.

[Rick Losey]

this is from my most recent letter

" The chokes were patterned RH 170 pellets and LH 170 pellets of size 8 shot in a 24” circle at 45 yards"

that is specific for some purpose, I'll eventually try to repeat it

[Mark Ray]

Thanks Bruce...the VH I just bought from Russ is lettered to place 275 pellets in the same circle, right and left. I was thinking that related to what I would consider improved modified....light full. 375 pellets out of 400 at the outside just seems so unlikely...especially considering that there were no plastic shot cups....

definitely not a quail gun!

[Mark Ray]

Rick, It sounds like that gun was built to hurt something and not Kill it!!

The vast spectrum of these guns fascinate me.

[Mark Ray]

Number 7 shot was the usual shot size for patterning.

Parker full chokes were wonderful for long range pattern density. Yours may have great 60-70 yard effectiveness. Try patterning it yourself.

Bruce....if that be the case.....Woe, Hell, Fire and Brimstone are about to rain down on the hoard of Grackles that descended upon Windy Hill yesterday....

[Rick Losey]

Rick, It sounds like that gun was built to hurt something and not Kill it!!

The vast spectrum of these guns fascinate me.

why?????

a 24 inch circle is about 63% of the area of a 30 standard pattern circle

so- assuming an even spread - that is about 273 pellets in a 30 inch circle at 45 yards - 5 yards past standard range

so at 45 yards - assuming a 1 1/8 ounce load of 8s that is about a 60% pattern.

bring it back 5 yards you may well be in the 70% range

the chokes on this gun are still .026 and .028

so - whether you use pellet count or choke constriction, that comes out to about imp mod- light full depending on what chart you use

i expect them to kill ducks and not wound them

[Mark Ray]

why?????

a 24 inch circle is about 63% of the area of a 30 standard pattern circle

so- assuming an even spread - that is about 273 pellets in a 30 inch circle at 45 yards - 5 yards past standard range

so at 45 yards - assuming a 1 1/8 ounce load of 8s that is about a 60% pattern.

bring it back 5 yards you may well be in the 70% range

the chokes on this gun are still .026 and .028

so - whether you use pellet count or choke constriction, that comes out to about imp mod- light full depending on what chart you use

i expect them to kill ducks and not wound them

Damn Rick! I KNEW I shoulda applied myself in math class...instead of sneaking out to fish and hunt!!!

[Rick Losey]

Damn Rick! I KNEW I shoulda applied myself in math class...instead of sneaking out to fish and hunt!!!


yeah ---old Miss Peterson is fist pumping in her grave :rotf:

[Mark Ray]

SO....We are wheedling away to the answer I was looking for....my DH is FULL and LASER BEAM FULL. And the VH I am getting from Russ is about modified both barrels. And I suppose that with modern shot cups....even tighter than that.

"What we have here is......the ABILITY to communicate!"

DANG....I'm beginning to miss my old Ithaca 37 with the POLY-CHOKE!

[Daryl Corona]

Mark;
Do yourself a big favor and don't fret over chokes. Just shoot your guns at clays and those pesky grackles and get comfortable with your ability to center whatever you are shooting at. There are easy ways to open up a pattern without screwing with the original chokes. If you reload many of us here can point you in the right direction.

[Mark Ray]

Mark;
Do yourself a big favor and don't fret over chokes. Just shoot your guns at clays and those pesky grackles and get comfortable with your ability to center whatever you are shooting at. There are easy ways to open up a pattern without screwing with the original chokes. If you reload many of us here can point you in the right direction.

Thanks Daryl, Not fretting at all! Just trying to understand and decipher. Not to worried about centering...but dont want to vaporize the first Snipe that I snipe at..i recently acquired a Really heavy duty, 3" chamber, straight stocked , grade 3, Flues, 12 that has the tightest choke i have ever seen in the right barrel. And IC equivalent in the left. Cant wait to get it in the pigeon ring. But i have to admit, after 40 years of hunting Dove Quail and Snipe with a .410 predominantly, it sure is fun tagging those grey "tailwind" doves at 60 yards with a vintage tight choked double! Having the time of my life, collecting and shooting these functional works of art....and trying to cheat the knowledge learning curve in the process!

Thanks again to all for their input!

[Bill Murphy]

Lovely, you are wondering about chokes in 100 year old guns, shoot pigeons at $1000 or more a shoot, and don't own a choke gauge that Brownell sells for $90.00. Just kidding of course. But if you sent us your serial number, we could give you more information.

[Mark Ray]

http://www.jpgbox.com/jpg/49701_600x400.jpg (http://www.jpgbox.com/page/49701_600x400/)

Here is the letter on the DH that i paraphrased in the first post of this thread...

As much as i have shot over the years, i can honestly say that i have not put all that much thought into chokes...as it appears that modern guns and ammo are a little more consistant than their ancestors....and admittedly, i am a relative neophyte in the old, good, american gun game. But i will also say that i have become a nut for them. I have always preferred sxs's as hunting guns since i could afford a few. I hope all will excuse me if i am a little over anxious for info!

[Daryl Corona]

[QUOTE=Mark Ray;170491] But i have to admit, after 40 years of hunting Dove Quail and Snipe with a .410 predominantly, it sure is fun tagging those grey "tailwind" doves at 60 yards with a vintage tight choked double!

You are so right Mark. There is nothing like puffing a dove and watching him cartwheel to the ground with a cloud of feathers hanging in the air where his forward progress was halted by a well placed load of 7 1/2's.:cool:
I just love tight chokes!

[Bruce Day]

Just shoot for the head and neck.

[Daryl Corona]

Just shoot for the head and neck.

Even if you put an entire load in their head and neck, they are the most loosely feathered birds you will encounter here in the Mid-Atlantic. Does'nt prevent the "cloud".

[Mark Ray]

Just shoot for the head and neck.

By God Bruce, I believe with this DH I could do just that! Thinking about entering it in some card shoots!

[Mark Ray]

Even if you put an entire load in their head and neck, they are the most loosely feathered birds you will encounter here in the Mid-Atlantic. Does'nt prevent the "cloud".

Doves are always a learning curve for my dogs, the first time they get a full mouth full of soft gray feathers!

[Bill Murphy]

Mark, I would suspect that the patterns were shot with #8 shot.

[Mark Ray]

My guess too.. We shall see!

[charlie cleveland]

would like to see the patterns your tight choked parker would shoot on paper..it sounds like a great long rang gun...charlie

[Mark Ray]

http://www.jpgbox.com/jpg/49702_600x400.jpg (http://www.jpgbox.com/page/49702_600x400/)

Well heck, I guess the grackles heard of my plan! Not a single one at Windy Hill this evevning!

[Pete Lester]

Until you put the gun on a paper target and count pellet holes in a 30" circle that was shot from 40 yards you are simply guessing what the gun will do. The components of shotshells today are different from what these guns were patterned with 100+ years ago. With plastic shot cups and magnum shot in theory they should be tighter. Parker Bros. was wonderful at marketing, better than their peers but from my own pattern tests and all the patterns Scott K has shot gun for gun Ithaca, Remington and A.H. Fox doubles will more often than not produce tighter long range patterns with the same load vs. a Parker. Heresy to some but it's the truth.