first damascus gun. needing guidance

[matt koepnick]

have been pondering buying a parker with damascus,or hammer gun. was blessed to come across a grade 2 with both. says 1882 manufacture.the frame size is 1 . barrells have a plain 4 stamp as weight. they now weigh 3lbs 8 oz. set is 30 inch long. both barrells choked at .030 . chamber length measures 2 5/8 . chambers bored to .805. barrells are curiously bored to .760/.765. by appearance it has 3/16 long forcing cone. some minor pits.
i have done extensive barrel measurements to check and recheck wall thichness
here a basic set of numbers:
breech =.160 both
2 3/4 down = .115/110
6 down=.080/,075
8 down=.065/.060
12 down=.050/.045
15 down=.040/.038
20 down =.036 both
down to where chokes start=.030
i have some loads for my vh that are 7/8 oz at 7200 psi, in 2 5/8 shells.
do i need to load lower? i can load same payload to 6000 psi with some stuff i have left. the larger bore size makes me wonder about lower pressures with same 7200 load.
any thoughts would be helpful. thanks matt k

[Mills Morrison]

Sounds good from where I sit. Those early hammer guns often have thick barrels. You might get the gun in hand and see how it handles.

[Austin J Hawthorne Jr.]

Hi Matt. I have the same gun, also made in 1882, with slightly different specifications and have been shooting it for years with loads in the 7500 psi pressure range. Given the barrel specifications you mention I would have ample confidence in the guns ability to shoot the loads you are using in your VH. You were fortunate to find one with the barrel check hook and radiused breech face improvements. Can you post some pictures?

[matt koepnick]

thanks guys. i bought it at the southern, and was simply very happy to have it. it feels nice , and swings effortlessly. my thoughts of shooting, and hunting with it now are taking over.. i'll take it out this comming weekend and give it a whirl. thanks again.

[Dean Romig]

With those wall thicknesses and chamber lengths I wouldn’t hesitate a second to shoot the loads you mention. As mentioned above “ample” is a great descriptor for those wall thicknesses.





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[Brian Dudley]

Shoot it.

[Mike Koneski]

You should be able to shoot any reasonable target load out of that gun. I shoot Fiocchi 1 oz 1170 and Nobel 1 oz 1170 out of my 12g Damascus hammer guns..

[Milton C Starr]

I also have a grade 2 made in 1882, ordered on July 20th 1882 shipped August 31 1882.

[Arthur Shaffer]

Matt

Barrels of that size are common in that era. They used 11 guge barrels for 12 gauge and 9 gauge barrels for 10 gauge as a common practice. After a lot of looking I found an excellent writeup on the subject in the Parker Story. This practice was phased out later. A lot of the reports of an 11 Gauge Parker being discovered are simply descriptions of a normal 12 gauge made with 11 gauge barrels. Your barrels are likely original.

[Dean Romig]

This list compiled by Charlie Price, Richard Hoover and Austin Hogan in 2012.

This list does not necessarily constitute a complete list of all guns with factory 11 bore barrels, only the ones originally recorded as 11 gauge or that they personally measured.


.SER. NO. GRADE ACTION GAUGE BBL LGTH

2149 O U 0 11 32
2172 D U 0 11 28
2173 D U 0 11 28
2193 O U 0 11 30
2203 DS U 0 11 32
2204 DS U 0 11 30
2205 DS U 0 11 30
2206 DS U 0 11 30
2207 DS U 0 11 30
2208 DS U 0 11 30
2209 DS U 0 11 30
2218 O U 0 11 32
2219 O U 0 11 32
2220 O U 0 11 30
2221 O U 0 11 30
2223 DS U 0 11 28
2224 DS U 0 11 28
2225 O U 0 11 32
2239 O U 0 11 32
2240 O U 0 11 32
2241 O U 0 11 32
2242 O U 0 11 32
2243 O U 0 11 32
2251 D U 0 11 32
2253 DS U 0 11 32
2260 D U 0 11 32
2261 D U 0 11 32
2262 D U 0 11 30
2263 DS U 0 11 30
2275 D U 0 11 31
2276 D U 0 11 30
2277 D U 0 11 30
2278 D 0 11 30
2346 D U 0 11 30
2353 D U 0 11 30
2357 L U 0 11 32
2364 D U 0 11 30
2371 D U 0 11 32
2373 D U 0 11 32
2377 D U 0 11 32
2382 D U 0 11 32
2412 D U 0 11 32
2420 D U 0 11 30
2422 D U 0 11 28
2424 L U 0 11 32
2431 D U 0 11 32
2432 D U 0 11 30
2436 D U 0 11 30
2437 D U 0 11 30
2444 D U 0 11 32
2457 D U 0 11 30
2537 O U 0 11 32
2540 O U 0 11 32
2541 D U 0 11 32
2564 D U 0 11 30
2572 D U 0 11 30
2576 D U 0 11 30
2578 D U 0 11 30
2584 O U 0 11 30
2594 D U 0 11 30
2622 D U 0 11 30
2623 D U 0 11 30
2625 DS U 1 11 26
2634 O U 0 11 28
2652 L U 0 11 31
2706 O U 0 11 30
2707 O U 0 11 30
2721 O U 0 11 32
2727 L U 0 11 32
2728 D U 0 11 32
2730 DS U 0 11 28
2733 L U 0 11 32
2840 DS U 0 11 30
2851 DS U 0 11 30
2859 DS U 0 11 28
2863 L U 0 11 30
2912 L U 0 11 32
2913 L U 0 11 30
2914 L U 0 11 30
2923 L U 0 11 30
2937 DS U 0 11 30
2943 L U 0 11 30
2945 D U 0 11 30
2950 L U 0 11 30
2951 L U 0 11 30
2990 D U 0 11 30
3078 D U 0 11 32
3127 D U 0 11 30
3128 L U 0 11 30
3129 L U 0 11 30
3130 L U 0 11 30
3160 T U 0 11 30
3282 D U 0 11 30
3283 D U 0 11 30
3287 D U 0 11 30
3288 D U 0 11 30
3292 D U 0 11 28
3296 D U 0 11 30
3326 D U 0 11 30
3327 D U 0 11 30
3330 D U 0 11 32
3521 T U 0 11 28
3607 D U 0 11 30
3625 T U 0 11 30
3654 D U 0 11 30
3683 L U 0 11 28
3691 D U 0 11 32
3696 D U 0 11 28
3701 D U 0 11 32
3706 T U 0 11 30
3711 D U 0 11 30
3715 D U 0 11 32
3732 D U 0 11 30
3750 D U 0 11 28
3756 D U 0 11 30
3758 D U 0 11 30
3761 D U 0 11 30
3762 D U 0 11 30
3763 D U 0 11 30
3769 D U 0 11 30
3772 D U 0 11 30
3776 D U 0 11 30
3805 T U 0 11 28
3807 T U 0 11 30
3812 D U 0 11 32
3822 D U 0 11 30
3830 D2 U 0 11 30
3834 D U 0 11 30
3842 T U 0 11 30
3844 T U 0 11 30
3854 D U 0 11 30
3858 T U 0 11 32
3869 T U 0 11 30
3897 T U 0 11 30
3900 T U 0 11 30
3901 D U 0 11 30
3902 T U 0 11 30
3904 D U 0 11 30
3915 D U 0 11 30
3927 D U 0 11 30
3930 T U 0 11 27
3931 T U 0 11 28
3950 D U 0 11 30
3958 T U 0 11 30
3967 T U 0 11 30
3973 D U 0 11 30
3974 D U 0 11 30
3997 D U 0 11 30
3999 D U 0 11 30
4005 T U 0 11 30
4007 T U 0 11 30
4018 T U 0 11 30
4032 T U 0 11 30
4033 D U 0 11 30
4035 T U 0 11 30
4052 T U 0 11 30
4053 D U 0 11 30
4118 D U 0 11 30
5252 L U 0 11 28
5287 D2 U 0 11 30
46740 L A 0 C 11 30





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[Richard Flanders]

I have an 1883 grade 0 twist bbld hammer gun that has 32" tightly choked barrels stout enough that I figure, if it will fit into the chamber, this puppy will handle it. I shoot heavier loads in that gun than in any of my other Parkers. It's a great duck gun, far and away my best. Incredible trap gun also.

[matt koepnick]

hope these come thru. thanks for all the info.what a treasure for me. 106560

106561

106562

106563

[Richard Flanders]

Whew, I'd be happy with that gun too! Gorgeous.

[Dean Romig]

Nice G !!





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[Austin J Hawthorne Jr.]

Beautiful gun Matt. I love the stock.

[matt koepnick]

have received my parker letter i sent off for. kudos to mr chuck bishop for his work on this.
fast turn around and a delight to read. my gun appears to be as lettered. weight is off a tad in my favor . lighter.. 7 lbs 12 oz. dug into my parker identification book and was matching up the butt pate pix, and barrell /frame stampings. pretty cool. this gun is deffinately a good learning piece for a relative newbie like myself. thanks to all for their answers to my inquiries. will have to try again next weekend to shoot it, mothers day took precedence. matt k