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Originally Posted by Jay Oliver
John, that is a a nice one and it doesn't get much earlier than that! What a great Parker! It looks to be all there. Are the barrels 30"?
As far as shooting goes I took it easy with mine knowing the age and barrel steel. The most recoil, which wasn't much, was out of the black powder shells 1oz and 2 1/2 drams.
I never felt like I was putting too much stress on the gun.
The RST 3/4 oz. shells didn't have hardly any recoil and performed well. I shot some of my ultra ultra light reloads, which are 5/8oz. and 14 grains of Red Dot(those pink/red shells in one of the pictures). Those were like shooting a .22 and I was still hitting targets.
The most fun of course was with the black powder shells. I think you could back off to a 20 gauge load of 7/8oz and 2 1/4 drams and still have some fun.
Oh and my daughter will give me the business at some stations if I can't figure out a target or miss a few. This video was just at a "good" station
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Hi Jay, I wish I had your expertise in reloading - you've got the best of both world's being able to shoot without stressing your gun! I use modern trap loads in my later Parkers and RSTs in the earlier ones.
My gun currently has 27" barrels, although I imagine it started out as a 30" gun as it shows the telltales of being nipped, and is a 14 ga. It's the only Parker I own with cut barrels other than a 10 ga I bought sight unseen as a parts gun but on receipt turned out to be a 5 frame beast with fishtail and is now a 'shooter'. Finding the correct 32" 5 frame barrels would likely cost many multiples of what I paid for the gun.
Good to have our kids keeping us honest. My daughter is usually the harsher critic but also has the most interest. My son is OK with shooting but not enamored. I can tell you without hesitation it only gets better as they get older so treasure every moment as time really does fly - that episode with the hand trap was almost twenty years ago now. Great to see your kids enjoying your Parker with you -well done!