Appropriate Shells?
 

I have a 12ga Parker made in 1922 with 32” Titanic steel barrels, no. 2 frame, weight 8lb 5oz. The barrels are in excellent condition, no dents, wall thicknesses fine. The chambers are 2 3/4. I had the gun lettered and there is no mention of chamber length.

My local gunsmith pronounced the gun safe to shoot with modern loads - but not steel shot as it’s choked tightly. When I asked about specific safe loads the conversation got mushy.

I’d like to use the gun for ducks over decoys and pheasant.

After doing much research it would appear that the max safe loads would be approximately 1 1/8 oz, 1300 fps and pressure 7kpsi-ish? Does this sound right? I would love to use
1 1/4oz at 9-10kpsi but I gather that that’s way too much?

I’d love to hear opinions from those that have dealt with this situation.

Best,
Brett

Nobody can give you a guarantee on what your gun will handle based on this description. IMO 2 frame 12ga guns with fluid steel barrels can handle heavy loads and most likely all of them have at some point in time. If you go to the Hodgdon Reloading Data Center online you will see many recipes for 2 3/4" hulls shooting 1 1/4 ounce of bismuth using Longshot powder with a psi between 8K to 9K. Personally I would pick a recipe at the 1250 fps not just for lower pressure but also lower recoil. A load like that is all you need for ducks with the proper choke, I speak from experience. I have shot those loads through a number of 2 and 1 1/2 frame 12ga guns without issue. When bismuth first hit the market it wasn't available to reload. The original bismuth cartridge company loading was 1 3/8 ounce. I shot a bunch of that through a 12ga Trojan in the early to mid 90's with no issues.

Shoot whatever you want as long as the shell length is appropriate.

Why on earth would you feel that you need 1-1/4oz of lead?

Brian,

I was thinking of bismuth duck loads primarily. However, based on my limited experience 1 1/4 oz lead loads are often used for late season pheasants in the Midwest when birds tend to flush way out there.

Best,
Brett

Brett,

I have a similar Parker to the one you described (mine has 30' barrels) and I have use Bismuth shells from Boss Ammo Co. I use the Boss shorty in #5 bismuth. There has been zero problems with the gun and the shells are deadly on Ducks and geese. I haven't had the opportunity to hunt pheasants but I'm confident they would work great.

I second Christofer's recommendation of Boss bismuth for non-tox requirements. I shoot their 16 ga fiber wad shells on late season SD pheasants on the WPA's.

That would be box birds, for me.

First thing I would do, not knowing if those 2 3/4” chambers are factory or somebody else’s handiwork, is to measure barrel wall thickness at the juncture of the chamber and the forcing cone.





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I am curious to know if anyone has found a gun with insufficient barrel wall after having the chamber lengthened 1/8" (2 5/8" to 2 3/4"). I am guessing no but prepared to be surprised.

Actually, 2 5/8" chambers were cut for 2 3/4" shells.

I would assume 2 1/2" or 2 9/16" chambers lengthened to 2 3/4" are the ones that we should concern ourselved more with.





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