duck loads!

[Patrick Butler]

I may be forced into going out and buying loading equipment as I have short-chambered
(original) Parkers in 16, 20, 12 and 10. I could not force myself to lengthen those chambers, even if they had excellent thickness, as all but the 10 are untouched.

I have been on the waiting list for RST for a year, but they have not yet resumed production and as far as I know they are/were the only sellers of short-chambered non-toxic light loads for vintage guns.

I'm a very motivated buyer if anyone has a few extra boxes or no longer shoots a short-chambered oldie. Yes, I also posted in the wanted section.

[Jeff Christie]

Where can you buy Nice Shot for reloading? I have never seen it for sale. I have had reasonable success with bismuth but prefer the KTM way more. I have only used bismuth on our armor plated wild Iowa roosters not ducks or geese. I may on geese next year.

[George Lang]

I know everyone is going to cringe in horror and cry blasphemy but ever since the 1970's when Long Island NY was forced to us steel shot in 12 gauge guns for waterfowl hunting(many years before the national and statewide bans) I used steel shot in all my steel barreled 12's-Parker,Fox & Ithaca doubles. Win model 12's & 97's, Rem mod 31's & Ithaca mod 37's and still do. I measured chokes and still do and have found no differences since the 1970's. Barrels still ring true and bores are bright and shiny. No other problems have been found.Now I don't shoot thousands of round thru each gun but 100 to 200 would be the norm. When I can find non-tox ammo at reasonable prices I will buy it and use it since I have never found a normal steel load that can come close to the performance of lead and some of the non-tox stuff. Now my theory is unless the are truly valuable collectibles they were meant to be shot & not coddled and let the next guy, when I'm gone, make his own decisions and choices. Just my personal observations and choices.

[Mills]

Maybe Sherman Bell needs to do another "Finding Out For Myself" on steel shot.

[George Lang]

Mills, none of the guns I used had twist or Damascus barrels and chambers were 2 5/8 & 2 3/4's long. I also used 16 gauge guns with lead until the full ban and then steel in the 16's, but 7/8 ounces of steel "sucked" unless the birds were very, very, very close and setting there wings to land. Like I said it was my personal experience and worked for me but each to there own.

[Rick Riddell]

This brings up another situation today, in the blind a guy was using hevi shot goose loads in one of his classic doubles, he offered a few to try but I reluctantly passed, those loads are iron mixed right? Not the same as hevi shot classic doubles. Would they be safe? I use an open choke (IC) over decoys, 4's in hevi shot classic doubles works well for birds coming in but those #2 would have been great for those weary birds on the fringe.

[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

Originally Posted by George Lang

I used steel shot in all my steel barreled 12's-Parker,Fox & Ithaca doubles. Win model 12's & 97's, Rem mod 31's & Ithaca mod 37's and still do. I measured chokes and still do and have found no differences since the 1970's.

Now my theory is unless the are truly valuable collectibles they were meant to be shot & not coddled and let the next guy, when I'm gone, make his own decisions and choices.

George,

I will come out of the gun closet... I, along with another member, shot steel shot Federal ammunition in a #2 frame DH Parker .034" in the left and almost .040 constriction in the tighter barrel. No damage occurred to the barrels. I also shot those same shells in my #2 frame EH 10 gauge using Gauge Mates. Same story, no scoring, no bulges, and not damage to the barrels. Oh, and we both still have 10 fingers each!

I would not however shoot steel or any very heavy loads in my AH 10 gauge. The barrels would take it but a man's got to know his limitations... If you cannot afford to take the risk then don't do it!

Mark

[George Lang]

I agree Mark.

[Richard Flanders]

I know and 85yr old lady up here who shot the choke out of the nicest Ithaca 37 I have ever seen and had some kind of screw in choke installed and is still shooting the gun. This lady has shot a LOT of ducks. Whenever she comes to camp with us I get the job of hunting with her to make sure she's ok and I can tell you that it's an honor and that there's no place I'd rather be; no one in camp has the nerve to suggest that they take that job from me. What a trooper she is. She flew her Super Cub and C-185 all over Alaska, mostly for hunting, until she was 75 and my hunting partner and neighbor now has the Cub. She was a physician and after she retired at 75 she spent TEN YEARS working at and on developing medical clinics in the Aleutians and then wrote a book on her experiences at it. Her motivation and work ethic could embarrass the stoutest of all of us.
As for the original subject here, I could be wrong here but bet that if one were to reload shells with a double layer of shot wrap or a layer of wrap inside a cup, no type of hard non-tox shot, be it steel or the iron Hevi-shot, could hurt a Parker. I've only shot KTM, bismuth and Classic Doubles out of mine and give KTM the clear nod for being the best of the three.

[Big Friend Ten (BFT)]

Originally Posted by Richard Flanders

I could be wrong here but bet that if one were to reload shells with a double layer of shot wrap or a layer of wrap inside a cup, no type of hard non-tox shot, be it steel or the iron Hevi-shot, could hurt a Parker. I've only shot KTM, bismuth and Classic Doubles out of mine and give KTM the clear nod for being the best of the three.

Roger that Richard!

I do not recommend a steady diet of steel or Hevi Shot in a Parker mostly because of the strain it will put on a 100 year old stock.

Modern steel shot shells have really thick wads, at least the good ones do.

The problem with steel is the extra velocity needed so that when the shot finally gets to the duck or goose, it has the required energy to penetrate. To achieve the extra muzzle velocity, and to cycle dirty autoloaders, steel shot is loaded to near SAAMI maximum mean working pressures. A Parker with good barrel thickness will withstand the pressure but that pressure may in turn loosen the action. Maybe, maybe not...

Then there is the recoil produced by those high velocity steel shot loads...

I like Nice Shot, Kent TM, and Bismuth for my Parkers. In a pinch I'd shoot a low condition "shooter" with steel or Hevi Shot.