New member with a question
 

I just bought a 100 year old parker and very excited. I had my best gunsmith look at it and everything is great, however I am not familiar with how to purchase 2 1/2 shells. Could someone direct me to a site and the right size load? Also, I want 2 1/2 inch shells in South Dakota during pheasant season in late Ocotober. I live in the Boston area and not at all familiar with whether or not I can take ammunition with me on the plane. If anyone has any information on that, please let me know.

Thank you in advance.

RST and Polywad both make 2.5" shells

Charlie,

I moved your thread to the General Parker Discussion sub-forum so that it will receive more attention.

Mark

You can only take a small amount of ammo,with you and it's not worth the hassle. Ship your ammo the week before your trip to wherever you are staying. That's what we do and any extra we leave for the guide/lodge.

Tell us about your gun and the markings. There are many 100 year old Parkers that don't need specialized ammunition.

you can take 5kg of ammo per international rules in your baggage. It has to be in 'packaging intended for the transportation of ammunition'. That can be original boxes or the plastic shotshell boxes by mtm and others.

Better check with the airline, which will have another set of rules.
The last time I traveled by air with a shotgun, the ammo could not be in the same case as the firearm, the limit was 2 boxes, the bag must be hard sided, and lockable - I assume with a TSA approved and accessible lock.

What type of Parker is it? Grade? Type of barrels?

Charlie, where in the Boston area are you? I live in Andover.

Thank you for the ammo/air flight info. The gun was manufactured in 1913 as per the serial number. The barrels are special steel and the grade is GHE.

If they are special steel barrels, the chamber length is most likely 2-5/8". Did your gunsmith check them out for you?

If they are 2-5/8", I would not be concerned about shooting 2-3/4" shells in it. That is the shell that Parker intended to the shot in that chamber length.

charlie i would measure the chamber length again if it is 2 5/8 inch then it was designed by factory to shoot 2 3/4 inch shell..i have 3 20 ga doubles that have 2 1/2 inch chambers and have shot 2 3/4 inch shells in them for many years with them..a study has been done on this it only raises the presure by about 150 lbs ..use plastic hull shells in 2 3/4 because they are thinner than paper hull when shooting in 2 1/2 inch chambers..but this would be up to you..this way you can fly to hunting destination and buy ammo without the airline kicking up about ammo.. charlie

Weston,ma. My cell is 617 435 1226

Charlie :

Save yourself some efforts--------Contact RST shot shell @ (570)553-1651 and see if they are going to display at Addieville on the 26th thru 30th of this month. If they are ,you are about an hours drive to get to Addieville from Weston . Have them bring the order to Addieville for you . You can also introduce yourself to other Parker people and you could joint the group at our annual banquet on Friday night the 27th .The PGCA has their own tent and set up . Check the Parker web site for info.

Allan

Allan, good advice thank you. I have shot at Addieville for several years and hope to attend.

I rely on a Galazan recommneded gun smith who I think is the best there is. He checked out the gun for me befor I purchased and recommended 2 1/2" shells - hard for me to argue with him.

Many gunsmiths haven't read or heard of Sherman Bells testing of damascus barrels or the article on shooting longer shells than the chamber . So long as you're not shooting high pressure shells it won't matter if you shoot 2 3/4 in a 2 1/2 chamber. The problem is " what is the pressure of the shells ". Most manufactures won't tell you. If you're not a reloader then I'd stick with fore mentioned shells. Good luck - Paul

I appreciate those comments. Thank you. If you want to post that article on chamber length/shells that would be much appreciated.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I called the gunsmith I like who has many PGCA customers and his advice is the same. Why risk the 2 3/4" shell when the gun was designed for 2 1/2" shells? Overtime, many of the short Fox Shotguns (maybe not as strong an action as the Parker) end up shooting lose or the barrels explode. In the end, he knows of these studies, but he would argue it is better to be safe than sorry. I agree.

I too would say it is not a good practice to shoot 2-3/4" shells in chambers that are actually 2-1/2" long. 1/4" difference is a bit more than I would be comfortable with.

My initial question about the chamber length was if they actually measured 2-1/2" or if they measured 2-5/8".

There is a lot of Parker documentation (literature and hang tags) that tell us that Parker guns with 2-5/8" chambers were designed for shooting 2-3/4" shells.
The 1/8" difference was designed to make a better gas seal and allow the gun to hit harder.

Charlie, we hope to see you at Addieville. I have spoken to both Morris and Alex of RST Classic Shotshells and they do plan being at Addieville though probably not with a full truck as we are accustomed to seeing.

My 1898 Parker DH with Titanic Steel barrels (very possibly the same steel composition as used in Parker Special Steel and Vulcan Steel) has 2 5/8" chambers and I have shot thousands of rounds of 2 3/4" "off the shelf" ammo through those barrels with nary a problem.... same goes with my Damascus barrels fitted to the same gun. My DH is built on a 2-frame so the gun is pretty stout to begin with but with either set of barrels with 2 5/8" chambers in both sets of barrels it digests those loads without a single complaint.