20 ga. gun weights

[Stan Hillis]

What would be the lightest 28" barreled Parker 20 ga. that has been "recorded", and about where would the average weight be?

Thanks in advance.

[edgarspencer]

My Rita gun weighs 5 pounds 12 ounces. DHE20, 28”.

[Craig Larter]

My DH 20ga 28" damascus 0 frame weights 6lbs 3.3oz.

[Stan Hillis]

Thanks guys. I hope a few more members who own 28" Parker 20s will respond. I read somewhere that because of design features Parker small bores are heavier than Foxes and L C Smiths. I'm just trying to get some anecdotal evidence as to how much so they are.

[Reggie Bishop]

I have a 28” GHE 20 6lbs 6 ounces. My 30” Fox 20 weighs 6lbs 1 ounce.

[Brett Hoop]

My Rita gun weighs 5 pounds 12 ounces. DHE20, 28”.

Rita keeps me up at nights, and your not suppose to speak about a ladies weight. A stat I didn’t need to know:cuss:

[Dave Moore]

I have a DHE 20ga that weighs 5#14oz.

[Harold Lee Pickens]

On the other end, I've got a PH 20 28" Parker Steel that matches its letter at 6lbs 12 oz

[MARK KIRCHER]

"Connie" - My 1903 28" titanic steel barreled 20 bore DHE weighs in at 6Lbs. 7oz - I suspect my others would be heavier as they have longer barrels

[allen newell]

My Parker GH w/28 inch barrels weighs 5.8 lbs

[CraigThompson]

Rita keeps me up at nights, and your not suppose to speak about a ladies weight. A stat I didn’t need to know:cuss:

I’ve got a buddy that used to ride a Harley for recreation. He always said no girl over 100 pounds was allowed to ride on his P-Pad :rotf:

[CraigThompson]

"Connie" - My 1903 28" titanic steel barreled 20 bore DHE weighs in at 6Lbs. 7oz - I suspect my others would be heavier as they have longer barrels

What’s the weight on your west coast DHE 32” guns ?

[Dean Romig]

My 0-frame GH weighs 6.60 with the 26" 16 gauge Damascus barrels and 6.65 with the 28" 20 gauge Damascus barrels.


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[Craig Larter]

Stan: I think gun for gun a Fox 20ga will be lighter than a Parker. The difference is the Fox action is petite compared to the Parker O frame.

[Reggie Bishop]

Craig is that a CE? Looks like a beautiful Fox!

[Harold Lee Pickens]

My VH20 weighs in at 6 even ,matching its
letter, but has 26" cyl/mod barrels.

[MARK KIRCHER]

What’s the weight on your west coast DHE 32” guns ?

Craig- The 1 frame west coast guns weigh 7Lbs 2 oz.
I do have an O frame 20/32" GHE that weighs 6lbs 9oz and has proven to be "Hell"on ducks!

[CraigThompson]

I had a Sterlingworth 20 26” that I actually thought to lite . Got a 28” 20 Sterlingworth I can shoot way better than I could that short barrel gun . The 26” however was a first year manufacture .

[Craig Larter]

Reggie: Yes the Fox pictured is a CE, hard as hell to find a good one.

[Garry L Gordon]

Stan, Here are the weights of my Parker 20s with 28 inch barrels:

VH 6 lbs. 4.11 oz (Vulcan Steel)
CHE 6 lbs. 4 oz (Acme)
GH 6 lbs. 3 oz (Damascus)
BHE 6 lbs 12 oz (Damascus)

I've others with shorter and longer barrels, too, if you're collecting that data.

[Bruce Hering]

I only have one... VH 30", 6lbs 8oz

[Craig Larter]

Stan: I have 148 Fox 20ga 28" guns in my database the average weight is 6lbs 1oz.

[Robert Brooks]

AE Fox 20 with 28 bbls 5 lbs 14 ounces letter says 6 lbs. Bobby

[allen newell]

At 5.8 lbs it looks like my GH 20 is the lightest thus far

[Dave Noreen]

I have nothing that exactly fits the criteria. My 0-frame 20-gauge has 26-inch barrels and it letters at 6 pounds but is 6 pounds 2 ounces on my scales. I have two 28-inch Fox 20-gauges at 5 pounds 13 $ 14 ounces while the one I actually use is 6 pounds 4 ounces with a No Shoc recoil pad.

[Stan Hillis]

Thanks again for all the replies. Very interesting.

My Fox Sterlingworth Ejector 20 ga. with 28" barrels weighs 6# 3 oz. with one of Mark Beasland's "Silvers style" pads in place. The pad weighs 4.7 oz. The original buttplate weighs .7 oz. Do the math and the gun weighs 5# 15 oz with original buttplate. Add in the two buttplate screws and it'd hit 6 lbs. on the nose.

I used the pad on it to get the LOP to what I needed. It is a magnificent quail gun. Dean Harris lengthened the chambers to 2 3/4" and opened the chokes to .006" and .016". I guess if the metal removed in the chambers and chokes were put back it would hit the 6 lb. 1 oz. average that you have, Craig.

Just curious how much heavier Parkers are, comparing apples to apples. Would y'all say, based on Craig's 148 Fox average of 6-1, that the average weight difference would be about 4 to 5 oz.?

[CraigThompson]

I’ve got a Sterlingworth 20 28” and a VHE 20 28” both have factory buttplate . If I think about it this week I’ll take both to the shop and weigh them on the digital scales . On a side not I have a VHE 20 26” and “had” a Sterlingworth 20 26” . While that little Sterlingworth was hands down lighter I find that VHE 26” way easier to shoot than I did the 26” Sterlingworth .

[David Gehman]

At 5.8 lbs it looks like my GH 20 is the lightest thus far

I think you should maybe check your scales.

[David Holes]

Have a vhe 20- 28 inch that weighs 6-10. wouldn't want it any lighter

[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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[Dave Noreen]

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/showthread.php?t=16811&highlight=Some+American+Lightweights

[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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[Dave Noreen]

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

100008

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

100009

[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?

[James L. Martin]

My 2 20ga 28" guns : Trojan 6' 2" and VH
6' 3"

[Dave Noreen]

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.

[Dean Romig]

Do we know if the chambers on the two subject guns have been lengthened? IMO that would be the only reason for such a stamp on 1929 Vulcan Steel barrels.





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[Dean Weber]

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

https://i.imgur.com/XqsrrQz.jpg

[edgarspencer]

At 5.8 lbs it looks like my GH 20 is the lightest thus far

Allen, is that "5.8" lbs Five Pounds, 8 Ounces, or, as it is typed, 5 and 8/10 lbs?

[allen newell]

Edgar, the guns weighted out on my scale at 5 lbs 8 ounces. I had the scale calibrated and trust it.

[Robert Brooks]

That was what the notice said standard velocity only. Bobby

[Dave Noreen]

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

1923 would be three years earlier than the beginning of the OVERLOAD PROOF stampings. They appear to start in the 217xxx range during 1926

[Dean Romig]

I think we may be laboring under the assumption that these same or similar stamped warnings on a mere handful of Parkers might have been stamped by Parker Bros. when we have no evidence of that.





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[Dave Noreen]

Too bad we don't have some Chuck Bishop research on all three. We need one to surface with its original hang tag!!