28 gage

[Mike Janeczko]

Hi guys,
A newby here...
I am looking for a 28 gage for woodcock and grouse hunting in "Da Nortwoods" of northern Wisconsin. Dumb question #1: Did Parker make very many guns in this gage? DQ#2: Are any of them single trigger? Thanks -
Mike

[Bruce Day]

Answer #1 not a lot but enough to find one without looking too hard

Answer #2 yes

[Harry Collins]

Mike,

Welcome aboard! The original Parkers have become "dear". You can find them for under $10,000 but they will have some issues. A single trigger may really put the price through the roof. There are reproductions of Parkers in 28 gauge with single triggers and were once in the $3,500 range. Again these have gotten "dear" as well.

Good luck,
Harry

[Mike Janeczko]

Hey thanks guys...
Yep, those 'ol sxs's have all gotten pretty "dear" ..
Sad to fess up, I have pretty much been a model "21" guy..have the 12, 20 and 16's but Olin made the 28 gage with the 20 gage frame and barrel bored out to 28...which means the win "21" 28 gage weighs about a ton...
too much for this 'ol geezer to tote around in heavy brush at least for very far...anyway if anyone has parker 28 for sale I'd sure be interested....haven't found one yet on the usual sites...cabelas, bass pro and other gun libraries...
Mike

[charlie cleveland]

try gunbroker they will have what you want in a parker repo...prices arenot cheap but usally inmost peples budget.... charlie

[Bruce Day]

Guns international has 14 Parker Repros that meet the specifications. www.gunsinternational.com (http://www.gunsinternational.com)

Or a person could look for a couple years and find a couple originals and try to get the cost below $20,000. Its the single trigger requirement in a 28 that makes it hard to find.

There is a 24" CHE 28ga, double trigger though, that is available privately. A nice gun. Be a perfect grouse or quail gun. I use a 20ga 24" DHE for that. I can't afford 28ga cartridges.

Or a person could get a brand new AAHE 28 ga with his choice of trigger, barrel length and other features. Might take 6 months to a year.

[Bill Murphy]

Galazan makes the Model 21 in 28 gauge in a mini frame configuration which may weigh about six pounds or a little less. I want one of those.

[Dean Romig]

Hmmm... a 28 ga. CHE with 24" barrels and a double trigger would be an ideal grouse and woodcock gun - is it a straight or pistol grip? What are the chokes? Skeleton or checkered? Beavertail or splinter?

I bought a $100 raffle ticket on the RGS Parker 28ga. and didn't win it.... what's up with that??

[Bruce Day]

CHE 28/24 Acme, DT, PG LOP 13 3/4 to pad, splf, chokes ???, shorebird bottom plate eng.

[Rich Anderson]

Dean IF you won it you would just sell it anyway so hopefully the winner will put some rounds through it shooting it at Grouse.

One of CSM'S Fox 28's would make a nice gun also. I saw one at Hausmanns last year I wish I had bought but the VHE skeet works just fine. The Repo's are nice light guns and are an excellent buy for the money.

[Dean Romig]

Dean IF you won it you would just sell it anyway

Ouch!! :shock:

Not a 28 ga. my friend - that thing would look like a 90 year old gun in pretty short order. You know how I love to shoot and carry a twenty-eight.

[Bill Murphy]

What's this about "finding the perfect 28"? 28s are best when accumulated in quantity. Don't search for perfection, search for just one more. I found my "just one more 28" last weekend.

[Russ Jackson]

Bill ; Tell us about it !!!! Maybe some pics.?

[Larry Stauch]

There is one on the Cabelas Gun Room site for around $9900.
Here's a Miller single trigger gun, but it has 30" vent rib barrels.

Sorry I don't know how to post a picture; I've pushed about every button I can think of...

[John Dallas]

LTGG - Try this:

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[Bill Murphy]

Russ, my latest 28 is not a Parker. It is a nice little Pedro Arrizabalaga, 50 years old and appears unfired. Not a "Best Gun", as many Arrizabalagas are, but extremely well fitted and stocked, border engraved only, vivid case color, 5 3/4 pounds. Correctly measured bores and chokes are .545, .020 in the right, and .039 in the left. And you thought full choke Repros were heavily constricted! In my experience, full choked Parker Brothers 28s measure .020 of choke. I don't remember what full choked Repro 28s are choked, but they are tighter than original Parkers.

[Russ Jackson]

Bill ; Sounds like a nice carrying gun ! Congrats. Have you given it a good go yet ?? I love the little 28 Ga. doubles ,not too concerned who the maker is as long as it feels nice in the hands and not too bulky for a small bore gun ,of course ,at least in my mind nothing beats a 28 Ga. Parker ! I have never had much use for Autoloader guns but I picked up a little 1148 in 28 Ga. at a local show and just couldn't pass it up ,one of the nicest carrying guns I have ever owned ! I have to say ,If the 28 Repros are choked tighter than an early 16 Ga.Trojan I once owned ,the shot would have to " Dribble " out of the bores ,those Full Choke Parkers are really TIGHT !

[Mike Janeczko]

There is one on the Cabelas Gun Room site for around $9900.
Here's a Miller single trigger gun, but it has 30" vent rib barrels.

Sorry I don't know how to post a picture; I've pushed about every button I can think of...

Mike Here,
this website thingy is the worst..
it is the most complicated darn thing of all the websites for huntin and fishin that I use...
I don't even know if this is the right way to post an answer...anyway...thanks for the info on the Cabelas website...I checked there and must have missed it..
Mike

[Francis Morin]

[quote=Mike Janeczko;35760]Hey thanks guys...
Yep, those 'ol sxs's have all gotten pretty "dear" ..
Sad to fess up, I have pretty much been a model "21" guy..have the 12, 20 and 16's but Olin made the 28 gage with the 20 gage frame and barrel bored out to 28...which means the win "21" 28 gage weighs about a ton...
too much for this 'ol geezer to tote around in heavy brush at least for very far...anyway if anyone has parker 28 for sale I'd sure be interested....haven't found one yet on the usual sites...cabelas, bass pro and other gun libraries...
Mike-- Mike, you have good taste, but may I comment on your 28 on the 20. Winchester made initially two frames for the great but heavy for gauge M21- one for the 12 (including later the Heavy Duck 12 series) and one for the 16 and 20 gauges. Later, when they offered the raised ventilated rib, there were two special frames for that option, due to the taper on notch at the rear breech areas with that rib- They milled out sections of the water table flats to lower the frame weight, but if they bored out 20 gauge barrels to 28 gauge specs- 20 gauge nbd is .6150"", the 28 gauge nbd is .5500"--I have a machine shop background, if you took the 20 gauge barrels and "bored them out" to meet 28 gauge specs., you would have to remove 0.650" per side- impossible--

I will be shooting Tower birds tomorrow at our area club, and I may know of a gentleman with several 28 gauge doubles, maybe not Parkers, and if you want, I'll will be glad to make inquiry on your behest. He also has a VHE 12 with 30" tight choked barrels, ventilated rib and SST I am going to shoot. I am only interested in 12 gauge shotguns, so any small bore I come across, I turn over to the "Brotherhood here"--

If you become a paid up annual member here, you can post "WTB" on our For Sale Forums- I would stay away from Gun brokerage and Double Gun Shoppe websites, too many 'tire kickers and cheap seat critics" IMO-- here, we are all gentleman and treat each other with proper respect. :bigbye:

[Bill Murphy]

Paul Crosnoe has a VH with cracked stock for $7700. 28" cylinder and modified. If the barrels are good, not a bad price. The internet isn't a bad place. An internet Vintager gun friend who knew I was interested in Parkers, referred me to a friend about forty miles from me who had a 28 VH he wanted to have evaluated for sale. It was an OK restock, blued frame, straight grip 26" gun that turned out to be the seventh (as I recall) 28 gauge made by Parker Brothers. It is a William Wagner gun, #97,032, ordered at cylinder and full and still in wonderful condition except for the blue frame. I appraised the gun at around $5000, more with some work. He asked what I would like to pay for the gun. The gentleman sold it to me for $2600 and also offered me a very nice Damascus GH at a very fair price. He was retiring to Myrtle Beach and was looking for a home. I arranged for him to meet Linda's cousin, also 50ish and single like the Parker guy and in search of a buyer for her Myrtle Beach mini mansion. Unfortunately, that is the end of the story.

[Mike Janeczko]

Mike here - I'm definitely interested in Paul's ... where can a guy get a parker restocked??
I tried fixin stocks a coupla times with no success...I just sent my 16 gage mdl 21 to connecticut and had it restocked...they did a perfect job...does anybody specialize in Parkers??

[Francis Morin]

Mike here - I'm definitely interested in Paul's ... where can a guy get a parker restocked??
I tried fixin stocks a coupla times with no success...I just sent my 16 gage mdl 21 to connecticut and had it restocked...they did a perfect job...does anybody specialize in Parkers??-- Brad Bachelder- 30 year master gunsmith in Grand Rapids, MI. He rebuilt a "GHE Parker Project Gun" for me, found a matching No. 2 frame pg buttstock and a set of 28" Vulcan ejector barrels- it is my Numbero Uno pheasant gun (Will be hunting preserve birds with him Sat 19th- with his Lab Max--)

Brad is a member of the PGCA and has many members besides me as clientele. His workmanship is A-1 Special-- e-mail him at bachelderfirearm@aol.com, phone no. (EST) is 616-459-3636, his normal hours are 10 to 5 Tuesdays through Fridays.

I have never dealt with Mr. Crosnoe personally, but word I hear- he is a legit and straight-up man. I can't speak for him of course, but perhaps he might let you get an estimate on the VH 28 gauge he has for sale as to cost of repair. I can tell you this, from my own experiences with both boxlock and sidelock guns- restocking a LC Smith or a Dan LeFever is a "whole 'nother ball game indeed"- You might also try Galazan's- but you have to look under the "Novelty Stocks" they do get some Parker and M21 "take-offs" from time to time.

My favorite grouse gun, and I am NOT a grouse hunter per se, like many of our New England brethren herein on the PGCA- is a 1936 Utica mfg. 20 bore Fox Sterlingworth with 28" barrels, double triggers and ejectors. It at once time belonged to a well known grouse hunter and guide in MI- "back in the day"-- now the coverts he favored are golf courses-:bigbye: