3oo 



KHCREATION. 



Tests made May 3, i960, over the range 

 and on chronograph of the U. M. C. Co.. 

 by Mr. Wm. M. Thomas and Mr. Howard 

 D. Hodge. 



Parker gun No. 82,403—20 gauge; length 

 of barrel, 30 inches; titanic steel; both bar- 

 rels full choke, chambered for 3 inch cases. 



Shell— 3 inch smokeless, U. M. C; 20 

 gauge. 



Powder — Smokeless, 2]/ 2 drachms, say, 

 3X grains. 



Shot— Thatham's, ]/& ounce, No. 7 

 chilled. 



Wads— Trap, H incn Express, 3/s inch 

 black edge, C card, all 20 gauge. 



Velocity in feet 40 Pattern in 30 



yards from muzzle. inch circle. 



908 194 

 915 223 



919 2 37 

 929 191 



920 202 

 904 211 

 806 222 

 918 226 



909 214 

 918 214 



Average, 913.6 ft. sec. Aver., 213.9 pellets. 

 Variation, 33 ft. sec. Variation, 46 pellets. 



Same gun. 



Shell — 3 inch smokeless, U. M. C. ; 20 

 gauge. 



Powder — Smokeless, 2 x / 2 drachms, say, 

 35 grains. 



Shot — Tatham's, % ounce No. 7 chilled. 



Wads — Trap, ft inch Express, % inch 

 black edge, C card, all 20 gauge. 



Velocity in feet 30 Pattern in 30 



yards from muzzle. inch circle. 



Right barrel. Left barrel. 



945 214 227 



920 198 233+ 



925 199 226 



928 223+ 203— 



928 191 210 



923 225 



927 181 — 



923 221 



915 

 938 



Av., 927.8 ft. sec. Av., 204 pel. Av., 219.8 pel. 

 Variation, 30 ft. sec. 



Following this test 10 shots were fired 

 under precisely same conditions using 

 smokeless powder, but leaving out the C 

 card wad under the shot. An average 

 velocity of 896 feet seconds, variation 31 

 feet seconds was obtained. 



Taking pattern of left barrel for 5 con- 

 secutive shots gave an average of 211 pel- 

 lets. 



Then 10 shots were fired using another 



smokeless powder, omitting C card wad 

 as above. This gave an average velocity 

 of 919 feet seconds, variation 24 feet. Pat- 

 tern of left barrel, 5 consecutive shots, 205 

 pellets. 



As will be seen, the C card wad im- 

 proved the shooting of the gun, adding 

 but little to the recoil. 



The average velocity reached by a 

 20 bore sufficiently heavy to fire with 

 comfort to the shooter and safety to the 

 gun, 2.y 2 drachms of bulk nitro powder 

 and 7/i ounce of Tatham's No. 7 chilled 

 shot is 915 to 920 foot seconds; as against 

 a velocity of 350 foot seconds accorded to 

 the 12 gauge field gun with its normal load 

 of 3 drachms of bulk nitro powder and i l /% 

 ounces of same size and make of shot. 



So the 20 bore shows up well with its in- 

 creased velocity of about 70 foot seconds. 



As to pattern, that is all a question of 

 individual guns and chokes. This particu- 

 lar 20 bore is full choke in one set of bar- 

 rels and throws over 75 per cent, of its 

 entire charge within the 30 inch circle at 

 40 yards from its muzzle. 



By reducing the powder perhaps 2 

 grains a greater percentage of shot 

 might be accounted for, and by diminish- 

 ing the charge of shot to -)4 ounce or by 

 increasing powder to 2% drachms a great- 

 er velocity would assuredly be obtained. 

 But as these tests were not made to de- 

 termine how much shot could be bunched 

 on the plate, nor how fast they could be 

 sent there, but merely to arrive at an ap- 

 proximate idea of what this little gun was 

 actually doing with its every day charges, 

 I submit that the tests prove beyond ques- 

 tion the gun is a splendid performer 

 and that it was loaded in capital style. I 

 use at quail, early in the season, 2}/ 2 

 drachms bulk nitro powder and Y\ ounce 

 No. 9^2 or No. 10 shot; later I use No. 9 

 shot. At snipe, 2^2 drachms and % ounce 

 No. 8^2 or No. 9 shot, and on windy, wild 

 days, No. 8, or even yy 2 shot. At duck, 

 No. 6 or No. 7 shot; and for geese I would 

 use No. 4 or No. 5 shot. I have never 

 had an opportunity of testing this gun at 

 geese, but I hope to this winter, and cer- 

 tainly shall if opportunity offers; just as 

 a matter of experiment, and not that I 

 regard a 20 bore as an ideal goose gun by 

 any means; for in this kind of shooting 

 one seldom carries the gun or its ammuni- 

 tion, so the greatest charm of the small 

 bores does not enter into the game. 



I availed myself of the opportunity of 

 testing the shooting qualities of my 12 

 gauge hammer gun, and I give tables 

 showing what a modern Parker full choke 

 pigeon gun can do when loaded with first- 

 class ammunition. 



The loads tested were average pigeon 

 loads. An increase of }i to T /i drachm 



