[Bruce Day]

No. For upland hunting, in a 12ga, I use the Federal 1 1/8oz loads, 16ga the 1oz and 20ga the 7/8oz loads. All damascus, all spot on the dram equivalent ( DRE) recommendations of Parker for the gun weight, and all under (as best I can tell) the pressures used by Parker for working service pressures and listed in the tables in The Parker Story. There is a difference in the 16ga for me, as my Parker Small Bore Shot Gun tables list only the 7/8oz, 2 1/2 DRE load for 16ga guns, but I am aware that later, during the 1920's and 30's, Parker was suggesting 1oz loads in the 16. I have shot the 1 1/8oz loads in the 16ga, I am aware than they are beyond Parker recommended, and I can see why, so I don't do it anymore. My three 16's ( one P and two C's) are all 1 frame guns 6 1/2 to 6 3/4 lbs, but if I got a 6 to 6 1/4lb 0 frame 16 sometime, I think I'd want to keep the loads at 7/8oz. So far as I know, RST and reloading are the only sources of 16ga 7/8oz loads.

For clays shooting, I reload, and reload the hulls 1/8oz less than the nominal shot loads for each ga., and also drop the speed to a little below 1200fps to get softer recoil and less wear on the guns. Hodgdon Int'l is my choice for the small bores, its cleaner burning than the Hodgdon powder used by RST but runs a little higher pressure. RST tries to keep pressures much lower than Parker service limit pressures to account for unknown condition guns, those that are honed to thin barrels. My Parkers of all barrel steels are good condition with good wall thickness, they are generally later guns, and I follow the Parker new gun pressure and load tables.

If Bill Murphy reads this, I solved my 20ga 3/4oz loading problems by getting a new MEC progressive loader. The symptom was inconsistant ignition and the cause was varying wad seating pressure.

Hunting season is a-coming. The old dog is getting older, the young dog is in NoDak at doggy charm school and the trigger finger itchiness was not solved by the dove season so far. A few pictures of hunts past.


Photo:

1. Kansas, Jan 2010 closing day of the season. Bruce Day, Larry Frey, Josh Lowensteiner

2. Closing day, Josh, BD, Larry Chapman holding some sort of strange gun, Jim Hall, Larry Frey

3. Kansas, Bill Bolyard holding bird in hand and holding in his mouth something the dog picked up

4. A trio of CHE 20ga's at the cabin.

5. Nebraska Sand Hill. opening day duck season. Banging away with the 12ga GHE damascus.

6. December, Lon Morris , lunchtime at the Grizzly Bar, Absarokee, Montana

7. Jan Kansas. On the high plains information superhighway

8. Josh and Bruce

9. Doc Van and Bill Bolyard

10. Jim Hall, a little colder than back home in Virginia

11. Charlie Herzog, ducks and Parkers

12. Columbus, Montana, lunch break

13. The New Atlas, Columbus, something for the PETA people

14. The Jersey Lily, Ingomar, Montana. The county road crews have been lax in keeping up with paving for the last 100 years

15. The Jersey Lily, named after Lily Langtry

16. SoDak. Ron Garrido, Greg Dershem, Ron McDonald (from Tasmania), Larry Frey and Shortstop

17. Ron sharing a beer with his new found friend

18. Charlie Herzog. 16ga A grade hammer gun and pheasant