I loaded some 10 ga shells with 0000 (.360 dia. ) buck shot to shoot in my hammer coach gun, 19 in barrels. They put all 9 pellets in a 30 in circle at 30 yards and went through 3/4 plywood. Have not had a chance to hunt with it yet but have high hopes. Carvel

thats a good shooting gun you got caravel i hoipe you get to hunt with it soon..where did you get that 0000 buckshot at i would try that load...charlie

Charlie, its 36 cal round balls that hornady sells for flintlock guns. 3 fit perfect in thin brass 10 ga shells. I still haven't found any 10 ga round balls. 790 or so in dia. Do you use a patch in your 8 ga with the balls? Carvel

Carvel

You could contact these folk about a mold

http://www.jt-bullet-moulds.co.uk/moulds.html

i do not use a patch with the ball caravel..thanks for the info on the buckshot..my 8 ga mold came from these same people that rick has got posted here these are really quality molds..you ll not get any molds made in the usa at theis price...i will order me a ten ga mold from them...charlie

i got the 8 ga today at 12.00 it arrived with no harm in shipping..i assembled the gun it locks up tight its a fish tail top lever gun.the barrels have been cut from the factory 34 inch to 32 inch..the inside of the barrels have cleaned up nicely some pitting but not bad bores are way better than my other parker 8 ga s..the stock is in good condition lots of oil in the stock but no cracks or splits...now theres lots of rust on the outside of the barrels i ve worked slowly with a pad and oil for about 2 hours already but got a while togo the barrels will plenty good for shooting i would have to say theres over 40 thousands left at the muzzle end..the right side trigger holds good sometimes but sometimes it don t the lside hammer holds but has a hair trigger the hammer springs are very stout the fireing pins have good springs in them...have got to brush out the chambers a little were a shell will slide in easier...guns gona need a lot of elbow grease and care...but gun should shoot ok ..its tight and it is on a 6 frame its a lot lighter than the sister gun to it ... mister david the fellow i got it from weighed it at 11 1/2 lbs i think this will be right...i would say this gun was shot and cared for in the early days of her life but as she got older and you could not hunt ducks with her any more that she got put in a corner and about forgot about..in a few days i will post some pictures of her hopefully being shiot..forgot this is a stub twist steel barrel gun and the barrels weigh stamped wight on barrels 7 lb 6 ounce...if i had some of these old gunsmiths boys talents i could turn this old gun into a pretty nice old gun but heh i aint no brad or brian for sure..but some day i want some of them boys to rework the barrels and wood maybe...till then i m open to suggestions on the old mill s old gun sister to this gun..the gun i just got is serial no 65142 mill s old gun is 65145 so i guess the gun i got today is the older sister by a few hours or a few days...both these guns were shipped in that lot of 6 guns that were all 8 ga s to et allen i know for sure mills gun came from california to the parker silent auction and mr david who i got the sister gun from lives in sanfransico at the present time..all he knew about this gun was he thought it had belong to a grandpa in his family... well there are four more sisters out there some where i hope they have survived..does any you boys out there own a sister to one of these old guns...charlie

Congratulations on your new (old) 8ga. This has been a red letter week for you. Next week is going to seem a little slow for you. Post some pictures for sure. What grade is the old gun. Is it a lifter gun.

Congratulations Charlie 8 Bore.
Post pictures of your new baby.

Good job Charlie! Sounds like your biggest concern may be the oil in the stock making it weaker than it should be. Sounds like you did well

Charlie: I hope you post some photo's of this big boy real soon. I might get lucky and find a Parker 8 Ga. Someday,that is in my income bracket, so that means it will have to be real reasonable. Thomas

boys i wasjust lucky on this find... charlie

i wonder whats usally the cause of a hammer not holding back on one of these old hammer guns... i shot the old gun this evening the left barrel... woulda shot the right barrel but the hammer don t hold to good... charlie

can you feel the tension from the spring?

it could be the notch in the tumbler is damaged or dirt has accumulated and blocked it

or the tip of the sear is damaged

8 ga
 

Congratulations Charlie on the 8 ga. I know you like those big bores.

I can feel it catching some and it will hold sometimesi think your rite about it being dirty thanks allen i do like the big bores i may have to use brian s page on the tear down of a hammer gun i have got fair on hammerless at repair but never pulled the side plates off a hammergun charlie

The innards of a hammer gun are a whole lot easier to access than a hammerless.

you'll find a side lock much easier to get into. you don;t need to remove the stock to get at the workings

there is a bolt/pin next to the left hammer that goes through and comes out in the same spot on the right side plate

you should be able to remove both locks once this is out. with the lock out, you can see if dirt or wood splinters getting in the way. Clean the lock's insides with a toothbrush (use an old one or your wife's - solvents taste terrible :rotf:)

now you can hold the lock in hand and cock the hammer to see if the nose of the sear catches in the tumbler's notch. Just keep a firm grip on the hammer when you need to trip the sear's extension (sits at a right angle to the lock - enters a hole in the stock to meet the triggers). you do not want this dry firing.

If a good cleaning resolves the issue - great news. other wise you need to decide if the issue is the sear or tumbler. taking a lock apart is not that hard once you have done it a few times- its a bit daunting the first time. But you could just send the lock to someone like Brian a lot easier than sending an 8 bore.

If the lock works fine out of the gun, then look to the trigger, is it not properly resetting in place and keeping the sear from coming all the way down. I actually had one that this was all it was. took the triggers out, cleaned them , took out a slight bend, and cleaned the slots in the stock they go in and everything was good to go.

let us know how it goes.

one hint- when I take a lock apart- i draw the plate on a piece of paper. then tape each piece and screw on that paper with an arrow drawn to the spot on the outline of the plate to remember where it sits. I have taken many locks apart. but it still do this- I don't lose small parts and have fewer DOH moments putting it back together. and watch the small parts, some try to escape. this is a job for a clean workspace. I do it on a large white towel.

when i get a spare moment i will tear the locks down with this info and brians drawings i should be able to do this if not i will ask for help for sure gosh its cold here tonight suppose to be about degrees i think my coputer board needs cleaning or up dateing all the letters run together tonite cannot even put a number on the board charlie

Cold?

Just had the dogs out

It's a balmy 3 degrees here and it's clear so it will go down some

Charlie, just be very careful when you remove the side plate. It is very easy to chip out some stock wood that has been "glued" to the plate from old oil. I have found the easiest way to get the plate moving from the stock is to loosen the plate screw enough that it is proud to the left plate and then tap it gently with a plastic hammer. This will cause the right plate to move. Good luck. Bill

very good point Bill, I forgot to say that - and that is an area that is easy to damage and will be very visible.

Some real nice 8's just showed up on guns international