Lengths of Pull
 

I'm new to Parkers - and the PGCA - and am working on the basics, including
models and sizing of the guns. I have a GHE 16 with 28 barrels and a 14"LOP, including its 3/8" pad.

After shooting it for a year or more, I've learned that this length is a bit short. At 6'2", a measured LOP for my size is more in the 15" range. How unusual is a Parker of this length and what's the best strategy for finding a gun - preferably 16 gauge - of this size?

a 15" original length of pull would be a rare find

i find I can adjust to length of pull - within reason easier than adjusting to drop

i am 6' 2" as well and have no guns near 15" LOP

Since i would wonder about the originality ( but it could be) of a gun with a 3/8 pad being 14" even - you could end up with 14 5/8 by replacing that pad a one inch silver pad

As rick said, an original 15" lop Parker gun would be hard to find. Your best bet would be to go with an original 14-1/4" lop gun and then put a pad on it in place of the dhbp. Which would land you in the 15" area.

Parker reproduction guns are often long in LOP and a 15" gun would not be too difficult to find. They are often high in the comb too.

At 6"2" also I just put slip on leather pads on my guns for extra length. Yours is easily fixed with a period one inch pad making 14 5/8" and with a slip on leather pad which also protects the gun you have your 15 inches length of pull.

Lou,
Long LOP guns although uncommon can be found. My AAH from 1902 letters with a 15" lop and I once owned a DHE 20 gage from 1911 which also lettered at 15". I'm tall also and seek out target guns with longer lop. I like 14 3/4" for clay targets but find that for hunting where quick shots are required and sometimes heavy clothing is involved 14 1/4"- 14 1/2" is just about right.

It all depends on what you want to use the gun for.
For clays, the longer LOP, but for live bird shooting like quail or grouse, a shorter LOP.
14 1/4" LOP was about standard and a DAH or something less than 3" would be good as well...





.

Finding a Parker that fits you and one that is choked for the birds you are going to hunt and is pleasing to your eye and your pocketbook is the name of the game. As we age, I think that gun fit is more important because we can not make adjustments like a younger person.

I am 6'1" and shoot 14" to 14-1/4" just fine.
And i have seen some shorter than me shoot as long as 16".

Not that it means anything, other than everyone is different.

I was measured at an Orvis shooting school at 14 5/8 length of pull, 1 1/2 drop at the comb, 2 3/8 drop at the heel and think that if I was measured by three different people that the measurements would be some different but very close to that. Am 6ft. with short arms have tried the slip on leather pans to add length with varied success. Seem to get along fine with 14 1/4 a shirt and vest. What throws me is the 3 inch or more drop at the heel. An't no way. Have purchased a Parker that did not fit and tried to make it work. It did not. No longer own the gun. With my shooting, I need all the help I can get and if I find a gun I love and the measurements are not close to mine. No way. It will work for someone somewhere.

My preference is a 15 inch LOP for anything I'm going to use for targets and a slip on pad with some spacers works wonders. The pad is easily removed for hunting and the originality of the gun isn't hindered. I think the standard LOP is around 14 -14 1/4, that being said I have a DHE 20 that's factory at 15 inches, late season birds with a heavy coat it's a touch to long.

By the later Parker catalogs, standard stock measurements are 14 to 14 1/4" LOP from the forward trigger and 2 1/2 to 2 3/4" DAH. Early Parkers often had drops approaching 3" . Waterfowl specific guns had more drop.

As recommended above, use slip on pads to increase LOP. It is rare that a factory Parker would have an LOP over 14 1/4" .

Thanks to all the PGCA members who've taken the time to fill in the background on LOP issues. I was pretty sure it'd be a long shot to find a 15" factory LOP, and that's been confirmed - but it's not a reason not to ask, or look. I'm determined not to do anything permanent to change the stock length on my current gun, and I may give the slip on pad a try. I'm using this GHE 16 g to indulge a longtime flirtation with Parkers, and to get reacquainted with handling a shotgun (20 year absence). The regimen is to develop some good habits with clays, but I plan to work up to some Montana upland game birds. A journey, in other words.

Thanks again for the time and trouble, and please keep me in mind if you stumble across that 15" LOP 16 g. SxS that just may be out there. - Cheers.

There out there....lurking in the bushes. Don't give up the quest, that's where most of the fun is anyway:)

Edwin Hedderly's DHEs were ordered at 15 1/2 inch length-of-pull in 1911, then when he moved up to A1 Specials he went to 15 5/8 inch.

All of my A-1 Specials are 15 1/2 or more.

Mine too esp the small bores:rolleyes: