My Parker Research Letter is in; need translation

[Mark Conrad]

I ommitted the location of New Haven, CT. I'll send you another letter. I gave you the pattern information because it is there. The books don't list the ounces of shot in the shotshell so it it is hard to determine the actual choke unless it is spelled out in the order. I suspect your gun was full and full because the order does not specify choke. Note the pattern info is 45 yards not 40.

Mark

[Dollar Grade]

Assuming a 1 1/8oz load there is 461 #8 pellets. This would give you a 38% pellet count at 45 yards. The chart that I have only goes up to 40 yards and a 40% pellet count is Cylinder choke at the 40 yard mark. The chart also shows pretty much a 20% decrease every 10 yards, so...we could extrapolate that it would be about skeet choke which is listed as 50% pattern at 40 yards and an extrapolated 40% pattern at 45 yards.

I had that gun listed as Mod/Cyl but it may have been with a galazan brass choke gauge (which will not be all that accurate seeing as the bores are probably not .730" )and not by the constriction. Next time you are into GM take the barrels in and have the gunsmith measure the choke constriction. Other than that you will need to shoot it at some paper at known distances.

Good Luck,
Kurt

[Bill Murphy]

The target shot by Parker Brothers in that period was smaller than 30 inches as well as being shot at 45 yards, not 40. I just looked at an early stock book in TPS and there was a whole page of 175 patterns out of 12 gauge guns with 30" and 32" barrels, not likely open choked guns. One gun lists a second barrel with a 150 pattern. I can't remember what the pattern size is in these early stock books, but I think it was 20" or 25". A 20" or 25" pattern at 45 yards with a 175 count is probably full choke. The 150 pattern is probably a modified in the TPS illustration. The reason that Mark does not always have complete information on patterns for our letters is that the stock book copies were too wide to reproduce on Commander Gunther's copiers in two pieces. Normally, the right column or columns were sacrificed. These columns contained the pattern information in some eras. He did not have the option of cutting off the right (correction, left) columns because they contained the serial number. Often, the load used and the distance and diameter of the target is not specified. When the Research Committee was at Ilion in 1998, we copied very few stock book pages because Commander Gunther had already made copies and gifted those copies to PGCA.

[Double Trouble]

Based on past forum discussions, I don't think we reached a consensus as to what shot charge Parker used. (...and, I think it varies with era, as in early guns may have been patterned with lighter loads, with 20th century guns having heavier shot charges.)

Either way, this old ammo had no plastic shot cups/wad columns, and probably featured soft shot & the "less than gentle" acceleration of black powder - all things that won't result in optimal patterns.

Long story short, my gun (patterened the same as the one in this discussion) is a nice skeet gun with "old fashioned" black powder loads, but it's a trap gun with the modern, efficient RST shells.

So, regardless of what choke percentage it shot like in 1885, the practical shooter would want to know what choke it shoots like today.

In your case, I'd say at least modified.

[Mark Conrad]

Bill is exactly right on the pattern information. First of all, the page (copy) stops on the pattern information. Sometimes I can make it out others I can't tell the size of the shot. The early guns were patterned at 45 yards with 24 inch circles. In this case it says 45 yards but the size of the circle is not mentioned. In looking at the other guns on that page none are tighter than 175. That is the reason I feel it was full choke. Also in the order books if open chokes are desired, it says it in the order. If no choke is mentioned it is safe to assume the gun is full choke. Back in the time this gun was ordered the large dealers would order as many as 3 or 4 hundred guns at a time. Most were ordered with full choke and in my opinion the dealer would open them up if the customer wanted less choke.

Mark

[Double Trouble]

Didn't Jeff state that his letter specified a 30" circle at 45 yards ?