12 ga. Parker Chamber Length ?

[Mike Stahle]

I had my machinest friend make me a 12 ga. Chamber length gauge today.
Followed the dimentions from the following web site.
My parker falls right between the 2 1/2” and 2 5/8” lines on the chamber gauge.
My Browning Citori with 3” chambers measures smack on at 3”.
I was told by the seller of the Parker that the chambers were 2 3/4”
So what do I really have here for a true chamber length?
I have been using only 2.5" Mag-Tec brass shells loaded with BP in this
Parker to date.

http://www.tbullock.com/bpsg.html

A simple chamber length gauge may also be made from a bit of heavy sheet metal. This one is double ended; the pictured side is 12 gauge and the other side is for 16 gauge.

12 ga. Chamber Length Gauge.

Cut to 0.798”

2 ½” first ring line.

2 5/8” Second ring line.

3” Third ring line.

(oops need to add a 2 ¾” ring yet, how did I forget that one:-))

[Researcher]

Parker Bros., as many of the old shotgun manufacturers did, believed a chamber about 1/8 inch shorter then the intended shell gave the best patterns. Even on into the Remington years that was the policy for Parker shotguns. The Remington era Parker specification sheets are reproduced in The Parker Story and they call for chambers 1/8 inch shorter then the intended shell.

[Dean Romig]

Many Parkers have 2 1/2" chambers while many Parkers have 2 9/16" chambers and probably an equal number of Parkers have 2 5/8" chambers. I have some of each in various gauges. I use exclusively 2 1/2" ammo in some of them while in the ones with more robust chamber wall (and forcing cone) thickness I will use 2 3/4" ammo.

[Mike Stahle]

So my question is, back in 1900 when Joe owner went to the local hardware store for a box of shells what length of shells would he have come home with? Or did it really matter?

[Austin W Hogan]

Prior to 1900, the buyer specified length to both gunmaker and shell provider, according to the Winchester and Parker catalogs of the time. What we would now call the "default" length was 2 5/8 inches for twelve gauge. Winchester also made 2 3/4 inch loads for the M1897, which they labeled "repeater" prior to 1900.
We have been able to find some 10 ga unfired shells of the era and they measure 2 7/8 inch; we have found only a few 12 ga unfired shells, they measure 2 9 /16 inch. We would like to obtain unfired 12 ga shells from several makers from the era to determine the original length.

Best, Austin

[Mike Stahle]

A good reply I recieved of the same question from 86er over on the Lever Guns Forum.

"A lot of shotgun ammo dubbed 2 1/2 inch (which is 65mm) is actually 67mm. This is just about the norm in British ammo as well as Italian ammo. FWIW, a true 2 1/2 chamber can handle the 67mm ammo perfectly well. Your shotgun could very well be 2 1/2" in American terms but is actually chambered 67mm which is totally acceptable and within spec. The only other possible scenario that makes sense is that it was 2 1/2 inch and later the forcing cones were lengthened, allowing the gauge some slight forward movement. If it were originally 2 5/8" it would measure that or a tad more, not less. I am an English trained gunmaker so I am intimately familiar with all side by side guns as far as repairs, restoration and fitting but I am much less familiar with the history and nostalgia of the American brands. I can't rule out some oddity in the Parker specs but I've never seen it on the many Parkers I've worked on and at least to me my analogy(s) makes the most sense."

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[ch]

Austin, theres a lot of lose shotgun shells this time on wards collectables.com don't know if any are that old but theres pictures. What year range and lenght do you want I know a old collecter whos pretty sharp on old cartridges and shot shells and has a lot of it. ch