8 ga
 

i was cleaning the old 8 ga hammer gun i got from mills and just happened to look at the serial no. it is 65145...got a letterthat mills sent off for and let me have it..well i got down the parker bible and looked up the number.yep it was in there just happened to notice there were 6 consective numbered 8 ga s in a row number 65141 through 65146..i think that bill murphy reported these guns came from california some copany ordered them..for sure this old 8 i got from mills that was a silent auction gun came from california.it must have stayed in california because thats were the guy who gave it to the silent auction lived..the gun i have origanaly had 34 inch barrels but sad to say they now are 27 1/2.. they were stub twist barrels..seems like a lot of these old 8 ga s had stub twist barrels...any way wonder if any one else has one of these 6 old guns in this serial block 65141 to 65146...charlie

Charlie Mr. Delahoussae(sp?) gun is in the serial number range it clearly shows 65142. It is also in California. Interesting in that it is also stub twist and cut. I wonder if it was common to cut down those long barrels at some point.

i traded for mr delahoussae gun.that makes two of them 6 california guns found just 4 more to go...don t have it in hand yet but will soon...can t wait.....charlie

Charlie, what do the letters say? We would like to see pictures of the letters as well as the two guns you have acquired. Who were they originally sold to?

Congratulations Charlie

Your new nickname is ( 8 Ga. Charlie.) Thomas

only have a letter on the8 ga silent auction gun serial no 65145... letter says it was oredered byet allen of san fransisco quality r top action hammer gun 8 ga barrels 34 inches with capped pistol grip stockweight 12 lb 8 oz..will get the wife to post a picture of the letter and of the gun forgot the letter says cost 60 dollars plus 35 dollars for 8 ga barrels... iwonder if there might be infoi for number 65142 8 ga.....the letter says 65145 had plain twist barrels but the parker story list it with stub twist also the no 65 142 in the parker story says it was a stub twist gun i saw this on the barrels when mr david shown it on the forum....all this is really interesting to me hope some of you fellas can sort it out...charlie

thanks thomas for the new name i hope to live up to it...charlie

Charlie- you already have.

heres the letter on gun no 65145 and some pictures of it.charlie

this is a ole fishtail opening gun.. its in a ugly state of repair but in much better shape than when i got it from mills..i ve probably shot this gun a 100 times with low power loads but would not be scared to shoot it with higher powered loads but as you can see the stock has had it share of misfortune..this is probably the worst condition gun i ever saw to be still shooting...charlie

Charlie, I saw it before the restoration. It looks great now.

was E T ALLEN a store selling guns or was he just a person.. charlie

I think most of us would have retired the old 8ga. That hose clamp sure sets it off. If you get a deer with that one it will really be special.

Charlie did not tell the part of the story where a prominent gunsmith in SC declared the gun beyond repair. That night, I offered it for sale to Charlie and he accepted. Not two weeks later, Charlie had the old gun in shooting condition.

Charlie, do I understand you have acquired another of the 8 gauges in that order of 6? Good job if so.

Charlie, E.T. Allen was a dealer in guns and sporting goods at 416 Market Street, San Francisco. Their advertising mentions that they were agents for Parker shotguns.

thanks bill for the info on et allen...i kinda thought they were but not sure..mills yes i have acqired another 8 ga it is one of them 6...have not got it in hand yet maybe by saturday..can nt wait to see it.. i know its got a few issues to fix...would nt it be something if the other 4 of them 6 turn up and know were they are hope they have been took better care of than the other 2 have... charlie

That is great! So you are up to 3 8 ga Parkers now? That is good news. I need to get up to two now.

I just bought a vintage photo that has what looks like an 8 gauge Parker in it.

and it looks like ????????????? :corn:

Here it is. Worst case scenario is it is a cool old photo for a cheap price.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/350887179876

might be, that is a great picture in any case

Charlie, make sure you post photos when your new catch arrives.

will post pictures when the ole gal gets to mississippi...i m sure glad them barrels are still 32 inches long woulda been better with the 34 s she was built with...i ve got a lot of rust to scrub away too by the pictures...read the surprize forem in the hunting section with parkers..yep the old 8 ga lifter finally connected on a doe...charlie

I realize the 8's not legal for waterfowl , but is it legal for deer with buckshot in South Carolina ?

i expect it is legal for deer where buckshot is allowed and for turkey most everywhere

What Rick said. Not to mention it is legal for sporting clays

Our friend Jim Hall shot the L.C. Smith versus Parker Challenge one year with his eight gauge hammerless.

You cannot use the 8ga in Virginia for any hunting. Carvel

But you can use a 3 1/2" 10 ga. autoloader or pump...
Now that's just silly!

A silly law? Imagine that.

I figure since the 8 gauge ban is tied up in a treaty with Canada and Mexico, it would be pretty hard to repeal. It suits me fine to use it for turkeys and clays and maybe pheasants someday. Mine is so heavy, I am afraid it might sink my boat

i wish you boys could hunt with the 8 ga if ya ll wanted to...they are a little heavy but there s just something about useing the ole 8 that makes me keep toteing one..mills you gona have to get you a big tractor inner tube and put around that boat of yours we don t want that big d grade of yours to get wet.... charlie

Well that may very well be true , but you can bet your backside if I ever get one I'll kill a deer in Virginia using it !

Heck I could use it during Damage Control hunting no problem . Which is kinda BS as anythings legal then 22 cal CF , suppressors etc etc etc .

Gentlemen, I have three 8ga. Parkers, three 4ga. various British, and one 3ga. gun. The "trick" in using these guns to upland hunt with is to use a "porter". Just like they do in Africa.

Austin once told me that he had evidence that Parker Bros offered a porter as an option with the sale of their 8ga. guns. This option was never listed in any catalog. So far I have been unable to find an original Parker Porter. I have had to stoop to using a repro. Repro's are commonly disguised as grandsons.-----Daryl

one thing for sure that porter is gon have to be in good shape to carry a big 4 ga afield all day.i figure you would need at least 2 porters to carry one big 4 ga..i could see myself shooting at quail with one of these guns..now all we need is some porters daryals got the 4 ga s...guess will have to go west to get them quail...i seen a picture of tom arbrust friend shooting a 4 ga with 40 inch barrels they said it weighed 24 lbs...thats about twice what the average 8 ga weighs..guess i d better start working out in the gym...charlie

The shells would add an extra 10 or 15 lbs to your carry weight.

Maryland's only mention of the eight gauge is that it is illegal for migratory birds. Now I have to find out whether pen raised mallards are considered "migratory birds".

They are Bill. At our club in Balto. Co. you have to use No-Tox shells on a release tower shoot as per DNR.

well i m glad mississippi has no law against hunting anything with the 8 ga except federal birds...killing a deer even though it was a doe with the 8 ga with that pumpkin ball load is at the top of my list in the things i wanted to do in hunting. now that i ve done this i think i will load up some of the short ten ga loads iin my old parker or lc smith and get back to hunting with a round ball load.. by the way the serial no on the old lifter is 25403now only got 26 1/4 inch barrels..shes took a doe with a buckshot load that tom armbrust loaded up for me and also the secound deer it has taken was killed by the round ball load made and loaded up by me..the lead ball weighs 2 ounces pushed by 40 grains of blue dot power its really a low power load..i hope others will try getting a deer with there parker shotgun espesially those with the eight ga..if not a 8 then try your 10 or 12 or the small ga s 16-20-28-410. i ve taken deer now with the 8-10 12...hope to add the rest of them..but with the round ball load i ve gotone only with my round ball load so you see my list is still very long...charlie