the longest barrel

charlie cleveland · 05-09-2013, 08:25 AM

i was just setting here wondering what was the longest barrel on a shotgun did parker brothers ever make...charlie

Dean Romig · 05-09-2013, 08:30 AM

Charlie, in a quick scan of the tables in the back of Vol. II of TPS I see eleven 40" eight-gauge guns listed. I thought I remembered a 42" gun being made but I may be wrong. Parker Bros catalogs I have read list barrels as long as 40" could be made by special order.

Dean

Ed Blake · 05-09-2013, 08:41 AM

I've seen a 40" 8 gauge at the Southern. What a hoss. Isn't there a 36" 12 out there somewhere?

Fishtail · 05-09-2013, 08:59 AM

I believe Walter P. Chrysler had a 16 ga with 40" barrels.

Bindlestiff · 05-09-2013, 09:13 AM

Here is some information I collected for a Parker Pages article that never came together. I suspect that 40 is the answer and the two larger are type-o's that could easily be 40 too.

Dean Romig · 05-09-2013, 09:23 AM

Robin, can you comment on the 46" and 50" guns shown in your list?

Okay, I see where you comment on "the two larger" possibly being typos

Jim P. · 05-09-2013, 04:06 PM

What would the practical advantage be of using barrels that long? What would their effective range be? Just pondering.....

Dean Romig · 05-09-2013, 04:08 PM

If you're out of ammo you can smack the ducks and geese out of the sky with it.

Bindlestiff · 05-09-2013, 04:15 PM

Their use was the focus of the Parker Pages article I collected the information for, but I couldn't come up with a reasonable answer. Maybe someone will have some knowledge on the thinking back in the day on the use of "long tom" barrels.

Dean Romig · 05-09-2013, 04:17 PM

Maybe more power/velocity due to a more fully burned powder charge... This, I think would be more necessry in the bigger gauges like the 10 and especially the 8.