28 gauge Parker choke boring/testing

[mobirdhunter]

I'm reading about Parker choke boring as I gear up to measure/re-measure barrels, an ongoing Summer project of mine. In my reading I see that Ed Muderlak claims that all .410s and "some" 28s were targeted to measure chokes at 30 yards, rather than 40. I've not found any supporting information in TPS yet, but our home page FAQ section says that it's "possible."

I only have one Parker 28, a DHE grade, and the research letter states it was choked full and full (no pellet count). My initial (and quick) choke measuring back when I first purchased the gun revealed chokes a bit more open than the typical choke chart (again, the one posted on our home page FAQ link) suggests for a 28. However, if Parker did indeed target/pattern at 30 yards, wouldn't the constriction be less (compared to the chart) than if they targeted at 40 yards?

(I've not patterned my 28, and have shot it using spreader loads on the several occasions I've used it, so beyond a not-so-careful measuring, I don't know much beyond the fact that it kills quail if I point it well.)

**I'm curious if those of you who have original chokes in your 28s, and have a research letter for them, have measured those chokes and compared them with the typical choke constriction charts. If so, what are your findings?**

[Bill Murphy]

You didn't tell us what the FAQ says about 28 gauge chokes, or what your choke constriction is, but full choke Parker 28s in my experience have been .020.

[mobirdhunter]

The chart lists .022. I assume it is for 40 yards, although it's not explicit.

[mobirdhunter]

Sorry...and my initial measuring came out about .017".

[Bruce Day]

Parker’s brochure The Small Bore Shot Gun used this:

A killing circle is that which places six shot pellets on a medium size bird ( I don’t know what bird) . A killing circle concept is more sensible for a hunter than just a 40 yard 30 inch circle pattern where it takes only one number 8 shot to break a clay.

[mobirdhunter]

The table (thanks, Bruce) certainly speaks to the lethality of 28s within a reasonable range. I pulled my copy of the Small Bore Shot Gun out and looked to see if there was any clarification for choking 28s or distances at which the guns were targeted -- none that I found. The table in the back lists both the 3/4 and 5/8 oz. loads for the 28 and has percentage of #7 shot in a 30 inch circle at **40 yards** I believe the brochure is from the late 1910s or early 1920s(?).

So is there any proof that "some" (as Muderlak suggests) 28s were patterned
at 30 yards rather than 40? If so, to achieve a full choke pattern (65% using the brochure number) wouldn't the constriction be less than the .022" figure from many published tables? It seems logical to me that it would. And if they did use 30 yards for some pattern testing, when the records say "full choke" (with no pellet count), what might the constriction be? Just curious.

[todd allen]

Originally Posted by Garry L Gordon

I only have one Parker 28, a DHE grade, . . . .

Only one Parker 28, a DHE?
You ain't getting any pity from me

[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by todd allen

Only one Parker 28, a DHE?
You ain't getting any pity from me

Did my wife put you up to this post?

[Bruce Day]

Garry , there is proof for patterning at 25 yards but none that I know for 30.

As to the second part of your question , consider this. I do not know the answer directly , but I can provide reasoning to an educated guess. The tightest choke 20 ga that I know of is in a C that I own, .028 “ , certainly a tight choke when a usual 20 ga full choke is about .020. The .028 in a 20 is a 4.55 percent choke.

Your 28 ga at .022 “ constriction is a 4.0 percent constriction. If it were constricted to 4.55 it would be a .024 “ constriction. We know that as gauge reduces, it requires less constriction of the barrel inside diameter to achieve the same or similar percent of pellets on target , that is why full choke on a 12 is .030 or less and full choke on a 20 is .020.

So , your 28 at .022 is certainly full choked and may be at the effective limit of choke boring , any more and the jamming of shot at the constriction could result in more flyers and a broader pattern.

[Pa SxS]

Here is the stock book information for a VHE 28ga. If you look at the far right, the patterning was done using size 8 shot in a 30" circle at 30 yards. I'm not sure if they always used these measurements. If you look at the gun directly above 201921, it's a 20ga. using a 30" circle at 40 yards, and the gun below was a 16ga. gun also using a 30" circle at 40 yards. I wanted to see what they used for a .410 but from the data in TPS, the earliest .410 was 215833, well after Parker changed their stock book from a horizontal format to a vertical format. The vertical format doesn't show patterning info.

It would be interesting to see what a hang tag would say was used on a 28ga. or .410. Maybe they used a generic hang tag that all read 30" at 40 yards or used a hang tag specifically for 28ga. and .410. Anybody got one?

My 28ga. has .018 and .022 chokes. IM and full.