Weight/Balance Conversation

[Reggie B]

Adam on some skeleton butt guns you can actually see two plugs in the stock. I think they used those holes to add weight and then plugged them. That was what I was told. I will check my Parkers and see if any have those visible plugs. I will post a pic if I find anything.

[Craig Larter]

The extreme in weight forward is a 36" 8ga but it's amazing how well our small group of 8ga enthusiasts shoots them. Given a little bit of practice you can adjust and they feel good and break targets.

[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by Reggie Bishop

Adam on some skeleton butt guns you can actually see two plugs in the stock. I think they used those holes to add weight and then plugged them. That was what I was told. I will check my Parkers and see if any have those visible plugs. I will post a pic if I find anything.

Adam, Reggie is correct. Parker would drill out stocks to create balance a gun. The matching of pre-struck barrel weight barrels to desired weight characteristics is another method they used. In my experience, Parkers are generally on the heavier side and have what I'd call a "stable" balance. Even 24" 12s have great balance.

[Stan Hoover]

This is what I must be missing, no wonder some guns I tend to do better with than the other.

I can't honestly say that I've ever checked the balance of a gun, but then again there's not a bunch of money on the line and I'm just shooting for fun.

Interesting topic

[Double Lab]

I need a gun, whether it be a SxS, O/U or even a rifle, to balance pretty much evenly between my hands. I call it perfectly balanced when balancing at the hinge pin she stays horizontal.

[Adam Steinquist]

Out of boredom (or whatever else you might call it), I started keeping a spreadsheet a while back to try to understand common themes about which guns I like the feel of better than others and which ones I may shoot better than others. I track weight of different components (barrels, forearm, stock & receiver), the stock dimensions, chokes, and balance point.

To give a consistent point of reference, I always measure balance the balance point distance from the front trigger. On the gun in question (0-frame 16 GH), the balance point is 98mm ahead of the front trigger. For my other two 16s (1-frame VHs) the balance points are 105mm and 107mm ahead of the front trigger. For my 12ga 1-1/2 frame GH, the balance point is 118mm ahead of the front trigger and almost exactly under the hinge pin - this 12 is the one that I think I like the feel of the most and the one that I believe I shoot the best.

Have others seen that as the frame size gets smaller the balance point moves for they’re toward the triggers? Or is it that my modest collection shows trends that only hold true because of my small sample size?

My new 16ga GH is almost identical to my 12ga GH in every variable except for balance point and weight - the same stock dimensions, the same chokes, the same barrel length. I’m taking it shooting tomorrow and I’ll be curious to see how the balance point effects my shooting

[Bill Murphy]

In 63 years of buying and selling Parkers, way more than 100 of them, and shooting every one of them, I have reached a conclusion. Don't whine, and learn to shoot. Oh, that's two conclusions. Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing those who don't learn how to shoot well and those who find excuses for missing. I'm just explaining that there are many shooters who do just fine with poorly balanced guns, guns with too tight chokes, guns with ill fitting stocks. They just work harder at it and shoot a lot. I will be the first to admit that some Parkers feel better balanced in the hands than others, but there are a bunch of additional factors contributing to hitting the birds. I remember a thread a while back about learning to shoot well with a .410. I didn't recall much advice about the gun, the ammo, or the shooting procedures. It seemed to boil down to expending more rounds. I don't agree with that simple explanation, however. I believe learning good procedures goes along with shooting lots of shells to make a good shooter.

[John Davis]

IMO, You can learn to shoot just about any gun but that doesn’t mean you are going to shoot consistently good scores with it. That requires a gun that fits you. And lots of practice.

[Phil Yearout]

Bill, my dad had a saying: get a gun and learn to shoot it. He’d say that whenever somebody obsessed about something about a gun or blamed the gun for poor shooting. Kinda what you’re saying I think.

[6pt-Sika]

Originally Posted by Phil Yearout

Bill, my dad had a saying: get a gun and learn to shoot it. He’d say that whenever somebody obsessed about something about a gun or blamed the gun for poor shooting. Kinda what you’re saying I think.

Without a doubt when I had the first K-32 I shot very well be it skeet trap or what little sporting I did . But that gun had three barrels and Kolar subgauge inserts for the other three skeet gauges . That gun had a moderate Monte Carlo stock and stayed the same for all three games . Now it’s a bit different deferent shooting 4-10 guns at a shoot and all at the least are slightly different .