Underlifter Parkers at SXS

[J. A. EARLY]

Originally Posted by Austin J Hawthorne Jr.

Kirby,
I also have an 1875 10 ga. lifter with the abrupt shoulder at the forcing cone and a 2 5/8 inch chamber. When I first started shooting it I was a little concerned about a 2 7/8 in. case opening up into the barrel, but then I measured the bore and found that, like most Parker's of that vintage, the barrels were over bored to .805 inches. Unless you start reloading, which by the way is a lot of fun, I agree with our fellow members about using RST shells. Your gun, like mine, should have a 90 degree angle where the water table meets the standing breech instead of the radius like the later hammerguns. It is for that reason, and assuming your barrel walls are not to thin, that you might like to keep your loads on the light side if you do start reloading.
Have fun, shoot often, and you will learn to love the 10 gauge.

Austin,

So you are shooting 2 7/8" shells in the 2 5/8" chambers? I asked the question before and no one would say to do it. Yet most everyone had no problem shooting 2 3/4" in 12 gauge with shorter chambers or even in 20 where pressures are even higher.

The 10, due to a larger surface area I would think would handle the low pressure loads with thin modern plastic even better than a 12 or 20. I just hate loading 2 5/8" for my 1878 lifter and then 2 7/8" for my top lever. Too much inventory.