Ammunition

[Brad Dean]

Hi There,

I am pretty new to all this. Do most Parkers have Damascus barrels? If so, what do you prefer to shoot with these types of barrels? I am hoping to hunt ducks with it. What are most of you shooting in yours? Damascus or not. Also, is there a Parker Hammer Gun out there with fluid steel barrels, not damascus?

Thanks,

[Autumn Daze]

Brad,A lot of us like RST Shotshells.Checkout their website rstshells.com These guys are a class act....

[Tim Kisieleski]

RST makes great stuff. Probably perfect for what you intend. If you start volume shooting with your older gun, and your not as well healed as dunkle, you might look into reloading LP stuff. easy on your gun and easier(once your geared up) onyour walet.

I hunt rst and shoot clays with handloads.

[Ed Blake]

Parker fluid steel hammer guns are as rare as hen's teeth. Anyone with a remote interest in hammer guns is on the lookout for one, but more for the sake of rarity/collectability than safety.

[Don Kaas]

To answer some of your other queries, "most" Parkers have fluid steel barrels but tens of thousands have "damascus" or composite steel/iron barrels. Virtually all Parker hammer guns have "damascus" barrels but a few Parker hammer guns do have fluid steel barrels (<50?) Some other have been re-barrelled to steel either here or abroad. Below are examples of both from my gunroom- a D grade 12g pigeon gun with 32" Meriden factory installed 2 3/4" chambered Titanic Steel barrels and a G grade 10g with 3 1/2" magnum chambered barrels beautifully installed by ARMAF and proofed in Liege, Belgium. Both guns also have Damascus barrel sets as well.

I recommend RST and Gamebore cartridges for short chambered composite steel Parkers. Hand loading Niceshot or Bismuth for waterfowling is also an easy option especially for short 10 gauges.

[Bill Murphy]

I think I could shoot Don's guns.

[Don Kaas]

I am taking Kimble and Bogardus gunning on the Eastern Shore on Friday. Choice of gat for the outing and subsequent pigeon affair is causing me some consternation, while I would like to go Parker, far too many (5) of my pigeon/fowling "Old Reliables" are in the shop! The "Big Ten" Grade 2 Parker shown above may be the default choice for the blind and the old 1893 Purdey for the ring.

[Bill Murphy]

Yup, Don, I would be shooting the Belgian barrelled 3 1/2" gun for North Shore geese, and I would be shooting my $5.00 a box of 25 Super-X steel BB loads. My Lefever Arms Company sleeved 3 1/2" DH is goose proved on these loads also and has shown no sign of stress. Of course, for serious dragging through marshes, the old AYA is preferred.