10 ga. choke size

[Austin W Hogan]

Ten gauge was more popular and common in North American than the No 12, when Parker production began in the 1870's. A popular upland load at the time was 1 ounce of small shot over 4 1/2 to 5 drams of black. Most trap (live bird) shooters in the US ( including Bogardus) favored the No 10, but some clubs restricted trap gun weight, not gauge at the time according to Bogardus' book. "Light tens" of 7 3/4 to 8 1/4 pounds remained popular through about s/n 75000. Most of these were on the two frame, but at least 1 one frame 10 is known.
A bore of .800 or larger is relatively common if not dominate in lifter Parkers. Bogardus recommended loading the ten with No 8 wads. One ounce of shot and 5 drams in a 2 5/8 No 10 case had room for a good wad column.
I had a copy of Parker Order book 2 for study for a Parker Pages article; this covered the mid thousands s/n range, but many guns in the low thousands (2, 3, 4000) were returned or remained unsold to be listed in this book. Almost every page had entries requesting barrel replacement or "emery out barrels". It appears "emery out barrels" means just that; try to remove pits with emery. Pitting was an every day occurance when black powder and mercuric primers were used.
A barrel wall thickness measurement is a good idea ( see Bob Foege's letter in the Spring Parker Pages) Remember that 1/3 of the barrel cannot be measured, and 5000 measurements per inch are required to find ALL pits of .010 diameter. A hundred years is enough time for a pit to etch its way through a fairly thick bore. Visible pin holes are often detected when barrels are disassembled for repair.

"Light Tens" are an interesting collecting niche.

Best, Austin