Your other favorite shotgun

[Rich Anderson]

Whats your favorite shotgun besides a Parker? Personally I really don't have one. I have a couple of "other guns" but nothing thats a favorite. There's a M42 which hasn't seen the light of day in 10 years, my little brothers Rem 1100 20ga which I haven't used since he left 27yrs ago and my skeet gun a Beretta 687EELL.

[todd allen]

H&H Royal SLE, 12 ga, 30" bbl's, 6lbs. 5 oz. Built 1900

[Bill Murphy]

Todd, if you're going to play rough, I'm going to have to tell you about my 32" OE Grade Smith.

[Richard Flanders]

I'm pretty partial to my 26" SG Prussian Daly 12ga lately... have only shot it once but am about to head out to the forest to break some clays and cut firewood.... The dimensions are identical to my 26" SG VH12 so it fits well. Nice gun. Incredible workmanship.

[todd allen]

Todd, if you're going to play rough, I'm going to have to tell you about my 32" OE Grade Smith.
Ok, I choke tubed my H&H. How's that for playing rough?

[Dave Suponski]

Not a H&H...But my other favorite gun is a Model 12 two barrel set 26" vent rib IC choke and 30" vent rib full choke with a straight stock and a pistol grip stock. Fun gun at skeet..kinda like driving a standard shift...:)

[Fred Preston]

If I just have to kill something, I'll use an SBE I've had for about 10 years; otherwise nothing is better to use than a Parker. Destry being of more refined taste, parted with his some time ago; but, I believe Mr. Kaas still has one.

[Christopher Lien]

Well, since Murph mentioned a Hunter Bros iron, I suppose I can too.
A favorite 110 year old shooter, and longtime friend...

Best, CSL
__________________________

http://www.webpak.net/~dslcslien/1Pigeon1.jpg .

[Mark Ouellette]

LC Smith Grade 2 with 30" Chain Damascus Barrels (wish it were a Grade 5!!!)

PS: I love Chistopher's Pigeon Grade above

[Bill Bates]

I'm a little jealous of, what is no my wifes, little Savage era Fox AHE 20 gauge. It has a beavertail forened which normally isn't what I prefer but this one is small and flat enough it feels good in the hand. Anyway I don't think I'm getting it back anytime soon...but she does let me shoot it every now and then.

http://www.pbase.com/slowpokebill/image/104723261.jpg

[Harry Collins]

Winchester M12 and my beloved M97...

Harry

[Bill Bates]

The shotgun I shoot the best is my SIACI 16 gauge hammer gun. It fits and handles so well I should use it more.

http://www.pbase.com/slowpokebill/image/52083054/original.jpg

[George Lander]

I guess it would have to be my 10 bore James Purdey hammergun tastefully restored by the late Virgil Graham with a copy of the factory card and a letter by Nigel Beaumont.

Best Regards, George

[C Roger Giles]

What do you mean other favorite, my favorite is and has always been my Browning Sweet Sixteen.

Roger

[Jack Cronkhite]

My other favorite guns are those passed on that I would never have bought. I re-furbished these for sentimental reasons. They turned out to fit me quite well and drop roosters at a better shell/bird ratio than the Parkers.

1. Plain Jane Remington 870 full choke (best ratio) This one really surprised me but I think it boils down to coincidental perfect fit.

2. SKB XL 900 semi auto (opened choke to Mod from Full) Tend to waste a bit of ammo with this one but like it.

Until the barrel blew on the family VH it was my favorite ever gun. I have a few more Parkers now but am not yet connecting as well as I did with the family gun. Maybe the emotional connection also plays a role. I always had a good feeling hunting with that gun no matter how the day turned out. That same feeling is not present with the newly acquired Parkers. Not to say that any day hunting isn't a great day, just different without that well used VH.

[todd allen]

I'm a little jealous of, what is no my wifes, little Savage era Fox AHE 20 gauge. It has a beavertail forened which normally isn't what I prefer but this one is small and flat enough it feels good in the hand. Anyway I don't think I'm getting it back anytime soon...but she does let me shoot it every now and then.

http://www.pbase.com/slowpokebill/image/104723261.jpg
Bill, thanks for gracing this topic with such a nice picture of your beautiful wife
(and gun)!

[todd allen]

My H&H:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a19/luckydogx2/jakeandmedovehunting.jpg
Up in the UP with the Holland: (my friend, larry Brown, is hunting with a Parker Repro)
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a19/luckydogx2/P1020225.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a19/luckydogx2/P1020226.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a19/luckydogx2/P1020223.jpg
My wife with a BHE, and dog (thrown in for good measure)
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a19/luckydogx2/mygirlgunanddogjpeg.jpg

[Dean Romig]

WOW Bill!! What a FOX!!

[Dave Suponski]

Dean,That was perfect!!! And pretty witty for an old guy to boot! Bill,I agree with Dean..thanks for the great photo of both those Fox's.


Jack,Just keep hunting those new Parker's they will become special to you over time...:)

[Bill Bates]

WOW Bill!! What a FOX!!

I know, how often do you see a 20 gauge AHE with a beavertail fore end and single trigger :)

[charlie cleveland]

i have a lotta favorites but after the parker i guess it would be the 8 ga f. a. loomis hammer gun with 36 in barrels thenthe next a 410 stevens double then it could go on and on. charlie

[Dean Romig]

I still have the first shotgun I ever bought - a Savage Model 77F 20 ga. pump. It is a knockoff of a model 37 and it killed a lot of pheasants, rabbits, puddle ducks and a few woodcock. I hacksawed the barrel off just behind the adjustable choke and it was death out to a maximum of thirty yards. (go ahead Dave with the "black hole" comment).

And then there's the .410 Skeet-er... :rolleyes:

[Dave Suponski]

Dean,No comment this time.There has to something said for being the"Black Hole Collector" I sold my first Parker and still regret it...

[Mike Stahle]

This little lady can and will do it all. (Dove to Deer) ;)

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l308/mountaincreekphotos/DoItAllGunProject03.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l308/mountaincreekphotos/DoItAllGunProject06.jpg

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l308/mountaincreekphotos/DoItAllGunProject08.jpg

[Destry L. Hoffard]

I'm awful partial to Dad's old Stevens 311. It's off getting the cracked stock fixed right now actually and getting a NOS Redhead recoil pad to replace the much rotted Upland that he originally installed. And then #2 on the list would probably be my 1st year Remington Autoloading Shotgun.

Dad and I are doing a project on his old gun while I'm home for my birthday if I can get it back in time. He replaced the tenite buttstock in the early 60's but left the funky woodgrained plastic forend. We, well more he with me playing spectator, are going to make a walnut one for it. I could have it done by some gunsmith but having Dad do the work makes it special ya know. We figured it's time for an upgrade after 40+ years.

Destry

[Peter Clark]

It would have to be my Grandad's, Father's, and now my 1894 Remington. Bought new in 1902, revitalized by Turnbull in 2006 (it was pretty rough and my late father wanted it restored). CEO grade.

[Eric Eis]

I have a little Lefever 16 ga that I really like, followed me home from the Vintagers one year..... Fits me well so when I shoot poor with it (ie Lapeer shoot), it is the operator not the gun :cuss:

[John Mazza]

It would be my little german drilling (16 x 16 gauge, over 9.3x72R rifle barrel).

I would do better with a little more drop at the comb, but if I keep my face firmly planted on the stock, it'll do it's part.

...just a neat as hell, lightweight little gun with nice engraving and a rear sight that pops up out of the rib when you push the selector on the tang. If I was smarter, I'd post some pics - it's really neat !

[Fred Preston]

John, How does that little gun (rifle) handle a full load from the 9.3?

[Bill Murphy]

Fred, a full load from a 9.3X72 is about 15 fps faster than a light load from the same cartidge. I love the cartridge, but it isn't a barn burner.

[Fred Preston]

Bill, I have not used that round as intended, but the books indicate that it is the same as a rimmed H&H .375. I recently bought 20 of those cases and put them in the little Turkish 410 and fired formed them to fit. Today I tested 6 rounds with 20g 4659 and 7/8oz with no pressure signs but pretty good recoil. I haven't patterned it yet, but it cut a lot of leaves of the backyard trees.

[Robin Lewis]

John,

I sold a gun like yours at the Vintagers in New York a few years ago, I wonder if its the same one. Mine had a trapdoor bullet holder in the stock, set trigger for the rifle and claw scope mounts, as well as the pop up blade sight. Could it be the same gun I wonder?

[John Mazza]

Robin:

Mine doesn't have the claw scope mounts, but it does have a bullet trap underneath the stock (at the toe) and the set trigger.
The 9.3 x 74 R is a powerful shell, but the 9.3x72 R is akin to a 38-55 Winchester.

Damn neat little gun !

[John Mazza]

16 gauge was (and still is, I think...) very popular in Germany back in the early 20th century (my drilling is ca. 1904), but they made other chamberings - especially in later years.

The 38-55 was conceived as a BP round, but - like the 45-70 - did get a lot of smokeless loading over the years. Winchester still loads it, but the 255 grain bullet is loaded to the rather amemic velocity of 1300 fps. In my old M. 1894 Winchester rifle, I used to load cast bullets (265 grains, I think) with smokeless powder loads that sent the bullet out at closer to 1600 - 1700 fps. At these higher velocitiess, it'll kill any deer in the woods & was one helluva accurate gun/ammo combo ! (Real quality on that old 1894, ca. 1899)

[C Roger Giles]

Peter Clark;

Ole' Roger, blew the muzzel off an identical Remington that was my grandad's gun, net result was hell in camp for a few days for me.

Grandad hacksawed of the destroyed muzzel crooked as all get out. I eventually inherited the gun and like a damn fool traded it off with regrets a plenty since.

Roger

[Bill Murphy]

Fred, the 9.3X72 is nowhere similar to a .375 H&H. You are confusing the 9.3X72 with the 9.3X74, which is a load closer in power to the .375 H&H.

[Fred Preston]

Yes Bill, I misread John's post about his neat combo. I used 9.3x94 cases to make 410 brass. I once had a beatup 94 octagonal bbl. rifle in 38-55, but it's long gone. Someone else wanted it more than I did.

[Jack Cronkhite]

The 'other favorites' are also into rifles now. A favorite for me is another old family gun. Took my first deer and first moose with it. It is a Model 94 Winchester (octagon barreled) in 30-30. Another very rough gun that I had refurbished back in the mid '80's, including new wood, but didn't reassemble until sometime in the mid '90's. Haven't used it since, as I have passed on big game and just chase upland birds. It rests in the "steel tomb" but looks very nice when some light is shed upon it.
Cheers,
Jack

[Richard Flanders]

Jack: I took my first(and 3d... and 4th) moose and my first(and 2nd ... and 3d caribou... and first bear with an old Winchester lever gun also, an 1887 vintage mod 1886 winchester in .45-90. It is somehow immensely satisfying when you pull the trigger on a magnificent old gun like that and that big old 405gr lead bullet that you cast using the wood stove for a heat source reaches out there and bowls your dinner for the next 3 yrs over...!

[Jack Cronkhite]

.... and bowls your dinner for the next 3 yrs over...!

Richard: That's one of the reasons I decided to limit myself to upland birds. If I need an occasional taste, I can always come up with it. I've tried for years to get my wife intrigued with big game meat but it's not to her liking, although she enjoyed antelope and non-trophy rocky mountain sheep when we were much (very much) younger. While one can do almost anything with various spices and marinades, my top to bottom preferences for the actual taste of the meat is mountain sheep, antelope, white tail, caribou, elk, mulie and moose (they are all good). Never had mountain goat or dall sheep. These days, bison is available at the butcher shop. If I were to slip that into the list, it would rate close to the top.

Well now, you have me thinking I might have to let the old '94 see the light of day again.
Cheers,
Jack

Love this world but won't be climbing around here any more.

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/cpg1410/albums/userpics/20060514_IMG_6746sgw.JPG

[Dean Romig]

Richard, that 405 grains of lead in your dinner for the next three years explains a lot.

[John Mazza]

Speaking of "heavy metal" - have any of you ever played with 45-70 "Trapdoor" Springfields ? They're amazingly accurate, but kick like hell with the 500 gr. bullets. (405's are milder on the shoulder.)

[Richard Flanders]

I can imagine they would kick with 500's in them! They used to have cavalry 1000yd shooting matches with the trapdoors if you can believe that. 6ft bull I think. I know my 1886 shoots very well out at 500yds. I have a bunch of ammo I inherited that includes some heavy .45-70 handloads for bear protection with 500gr solids. Can't imagine shooting them. The fellow who did the handloads broke the stock off a Marlin 1895, likely with those handloads. He gave me the gun because he didn't want to mess with getting a new stock. I've carried it for bears for 30yrs and have taken deer and a moose with it. I have an 1885 Win Hi-wall in .45-90 that is the hardest kicking rifle I've ever had the displeasure to shoot even with lighter loads. Those 500gr loads would be brutal in that thing.

Roger that Dean... as you said, nice and sweet that stuff...

[Paul Harm]

Mine would be my 1894CE Remington, then a 1894 F grade, and my 1889 Remington with 30 and 32" barrels. Paul

[Pete Lester]

It's a single barrel repeater but I am very much interested in getting one for myself. Right now only factory ammo is available.

Big Bore Manly Men Skeet Shooting (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgT7-xr2PGA)

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

Well mine would have to be my duck gun 10ga PH with 32 in steel barrels and 3-1/2 in chambers I shoot 3-1/2 bismuth in it regularly during season. most of my hunting buddys laugh because i am so careful with it. do not know if the chambers are factory or not does not seem to be any swamp in the barrels.

[Bill Murphy]

Gary, shoot us some serial numbers and markings from your 3 1/2" ten and see if we can give you some opinions. I am still looking for some evidence of pre-Remington 3 1/2" Parkers. If our organization would come loose of some of its research material, we would have this information. This is what is known as "The Black Hole of Curatorship". We have the stock books to do this research, but the Board of Directors will not allow anyone to conduct the research. All research is done at the rate of forty dollars a serial number and it is not made available to the members. The Fox Collectors Association is taking the same road. What is your opinion of this situation?