Dick,

I am not real sure what you would like to load.

12 gauge it looks like. How much lead shot? 3/4. 7/8, 1 or 1 1/8 ounce?

Brass hulls? Not sure if most plastic wads available today would fit real well in a thinner walled brass hull.

I think best to use what is commonly available today in plastic wads for plastic hulls. For a 12 gauge Parker in good shape, 2 3/4 inch hulls will be fine.

I'm sure any 209 shotshell primers would be OK.

What powder do you intend to use? The amount of lead shot will be a factor.

Take your time and be certain of what your goal will be. Loading recipes on powder manufacturers web sites have a lot of data. Check them out.

Once you decide on what weight shot you want to load and what powder you would like to use, and available, please get back to us and we can give you more details if you need them.

Yeah, get something loaded up for your Parker - and shoot it.

In the meantime if that might be too long to wait, get some factory loaded low pressure loads, like RST.

Bill

Bill
If I could of got RST loads or any other on 2 1/2 , I most likely would of not got this reloading stuff
Very hard to get anything up here in Canada

Ah, Canada, eh?

Yeah, that could be kinda tough. Not sure what to suggest.

Tricky to get loading stuff down here in the US and near impossible in Canada.

Any body else have any ideas?

Bill

I shoot clays quite often on regular sporting courses with 410's and 1/2 ounce of 8's and 9's (2-1/2" shells) and have to be dead nuts centered on the bird or it's a miss. That's why I call them Professor guns. 1/2 ounce in a 12-gauge has got to be just as critical if not more so owing to the much shorter shot column. Bill, I've never been at your local Clays course but I'm wondering if it’s set with a lot of "cupcape" presentations, to use the jargon of sporting clays shooters. :)

Me? My light 12 gauge practice load is 7/8 ounce of 7-1/2’s or 8”s at about 1150 speed and driven by Alliant E3 powder. That’s in Remington hulls, Cheddite primers and gray Claybuster wads.

Hi Frank,

Yes, our course has a lot of "cupcake" presentations that do not include any real long, Bo Whoop type shots. Hence, a half ounce of shot in the right place will "kill" your bird. There are enough tricky ones tho that will make you humble.

Ya gota hit 'em tho. 1/2 ounce or 1 ounce, ya gota hit 'em!

Admittedly, some by what you have called, a "Golden BB" that produces that visible chip. (I sure wish they put more of those in a bag of shot.)

We don't keep score but we do like to do the best we can. For me, and the mostly old farts I shoot with most of the time, it's more social and it's good exercise. As in, a one mile plus walk carrying a 7 1/2 pound side by side. A Fox or Parker of course.

I've been shooting 3 /4oz 12ga loads for as long as I can remember. This is clay targets mine ya. Maybe back when CBers first came out with their 3/4oz wad. Bill, at first you'll probably make a few mistakes in what you buy, but keep it. It can usually be used latter for something else. In the past I never had much luck loading nitro powders in brass shells. It all has to do with the crimp [ I think ]. The military had brass shells and Buck Shot, but they used a swedged crimp - a vey slight roll crimp. Most of us guys don't want to roll the end because it would wear out. I believe Charlie has had some luck with nitro in brass shells. I've made it work with 410s [ 444 Marlins fire formed ] and plenty of hot glue. Because you want a thin, .028, onershot card, I was always afraid of using too much of anything on top of the shot [ a thick OS card will give you donut patterns ]. But another guy using plenty of HG and 410s, well, I gave it a try and it works. Good luck.