Why do some 1 frame guns weigh more than others?
 

I have been looking at 16 bore 1 frames for a while in different grades all with 28" barrels and most with 14" stocks. I am wondering why some are 6lbs 8 oz and others are closer to 7lbs.

I currently have a VH 16 on a #1 frame and it is about 7.1lbs.. I don't understand why I keep seeing similar guns that are the same frame size weighing in at a half pound less.. ??


Thanks!

Barrel striking was a manual process (by very skilled people), so inevitably, there can be some variation in wall thickness.
Barrels and ribs are assembled with solder, and that,too, was a manual process with some variation.
Guns with lighter barrels may have also had wood removed beneath the butt plate in order to achieve a balance at or around the hinge pin.

A couple of reasons come to mind. The density of the wood, the shaping of the stock, dogs head buttplate vs. a recoil pad, the thickness of the receiver body, the size of the bore and the tapering of the barrels. What does a 1/2 pound difference or less really matter? Find one of the weight you like and buy it.

Does the quality/grade of steel usually signal a difference such as titanic vs special ect?

I would say no, the type of barrel steel won't make much difference in weight. Barrel length and striking will though.

Please keep in mind that the craftsmen at Parker were magicians at making the same gun do so many different things. Frame size is only one factor in the equation. When you look at Parkers over a long period of time you come to realize that you need to evaluate each individual gun on it's own merits. If you are looking for a nice lite weight gun to carry upland hunting or a heavy weight for target/waterfowling you need to look for that particular gun.

I've seen 1-frame 12ga guns as heavy as 8lbs I also have two in my safe that tip the scale at 6 1/2 lbs. It took me a long time to find the lite ones I have. In each individual gauge & frame size it's the same story. Each gun was built individually for a specific need.

I am looking at a gun that is 7lbs and I cant decide if I would regret that extra half pound in a grouse gun. Albeit I would only use it occasionally.

Also I quess that the reason they would be lighter in higher grades of steel would be because they would have spent more time striking a DH grade vs a V grade?

Be a lot easier to find under 7 lbs with a 16 or 20.

My 30 inch GH One frame 12 is about as light as you will see at 7 lbs. Some less not many. From memory my two 28 inch Trojans are 6-8 20 G & 6-10 16 G. Both nice handling guns.

Small frame guns can be fairly heavy I have a 26 inch 1 1/2 frame VHE 12 that's 7-8. While short and open choked the barrels have a lot of metal, no doubt ordered that way.

William

I am only looking at 16 bore guns

Nope, that would be an incorrect assumption. The barrel steels are not significantly different in weight, cubic inch of one vs. cubic inch of the other.
Further, striking of the different steel barrels didn't vary significantly except with the possibility of a finer finish on the 'Titanic' barrels.

If you want a lighter sixteen gauge Parker for upland shooting why not look for one built on the 0-frame size... you could save another half pound.






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Thanks Dean, I currently have a 0 frame vh but I am looking at getting a D grade and I cannot afford a 0 frame D grade.

Yes, you would regret the extra half pound in a grouse gun. I just turned 70 and my next grouse gun will weigh about 4 3/4 pounds. It is in my safe just waiting for that hunt.

Correct. Carbon and low alloy steels weigh in at .285 lbs/cu.'
my two 20s, a GHE and a DHE, both have 28" barrels, and choked the same. They both weighed, pre striking, 3 lbs even.

For mine, wall thickness of the barrels seems to determine weight more than anything

I can't help but shake my head over those who worry about 1/2 pound on a gun when they weigh 210lbs. and the coffee and flapjacks they ate a couple hours before shooting added 3/4 of a pound around their belly.....

Then they complain their gun is too light and it kicks too much...

To paraphrase the seminal 1978 album by Devo (which I have never heard) "Are We Not Men?"

I have been looking for a DHE or DH 16 Must have its skeleton but plate and modern dimensions. I want the smaller O frame. It is 1/2 lb lighter but also feels smaller in the hand when grasp around the action. They are less robust and to me this is also important. I also need the gun to be stocked high say 1 1/4 X 2 1/4 no more than 1 3/8 X 2 3/8, would like 28" tubes that have choke minn of .005 in the right barrel and .010 in the left, they can have more choke but no less. Gun should be in very good original condition and have no issues. A gun like this is hard to impossible to find and will not be cheap. I have only missed one that fit this description and it was listed for 12,500.00 It was sold during the first week listed. I had called after it was sold. Never have seen one like it since...)-: SXS ohio....

Well.. Something like that will always be out of my price range. I am simply looking for a 6.5 lb gun on a #1 frame. I know they are out there.. I am looking at a few. 6.5lbs is definitely light enough got me to carry all day. I am just a little hesitant about a 7lb gun I am curently looking at.

I have a 12 DH skeleton BP, 1 frame, 28 inch barrels that weighs 6lb 8 oz. It's a fun gun. Also have an 8lb VH 12 32 inch barrels and an 8lb 6oz Trojan 12 28 inch barrels. The trojan has a difference to it but the VH is about the same except the longer barrels make it swing differently. I wouldn't worry about the 1/2 lb but that's me. I also like shooting superposed and they weigh a lot more than most parkers.

Have 4 16 G guns, under 6 to nearly 8 lbs. By far hardest to shoot is the under 6. Best all around carry and shoot, for me, is the 28 inch 6-10 lb 1 Frame 16 G Trojan. Only improvement I would make is higher grade same configuration .

William

My 16's vary on the unstruck barrel weight. Two 1 frame guns are 3 8oz., 3 5 oz., both 1 frame and my 16 built on an 0 frame has barrels that are 3 lb. 3 oz.
So, my thought is that different barrels weights are a contributing factor and I wonder if an 0 frame 16 might have been given more attention when built.
I do know my 0 frame 16 is a great gun that fits me better than any other gun that I own. Find one of them and you seem to find a special piece. They can be found and maybe others can add to the merits of the 0 frame 16.

Of the seven sixteen gauge guns on the 0-frame that I own (5) or have owned (2) all but one was comfortable to carry and to snap to my shoulder when the situation presented itself.

Of the two 1-frame Trojans that I have owned, they both weigh in and handle as nicely as my lighter 0-frames.






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The more you see of the Trojans, they may be a great value. I bought a really nice 20 Trojan and did not buy the 16 Trojan that the same old man owned. It was not as nice but I wish now I had bought it too. He owned only the two doubles and mostly shot the 16. Did they ever make a 16 Trojan on anything except the 1 frame?
Interesting, my two 1 frame VH 16's, one is from the Chesapeake area and is choked Imp Mod and Full and the other has open barrels, they look like a 2 and 3 frame 12 when you look at the barrels side by side. The choked gun, which I like to think was ordered for ducks, is much heavier and thicker and a really sweet handling 16.

The standard frame size for the Trojan sixteen was the 1-frame. Special order Trojans are nearly as scarce as hen's teeth. There may have been one or two built on the 0-frame size but I have never heard on one.





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