398 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June 6, 1889. 



THE "FOREST AND STREAM" GUN TEST. 



PATTERN AND PENETRATION. 

 No. 2.— Parker Hammer and Hammerless Guns. 



IT was entirely proper that the series of tests of shotguns 

 now on the American market which the Forest and 

 Stream is engaged in conducting should open with such 

 a well known and typical arm as the Parker. The Parker 

 gun has been known well and widely for a quarter of a 

 century, and the aim of its makers has been from the 

 start to have it second to none and one entirely worthy 

 of the confidence of the American sportsman. There 

 are probably more Parkers out in the hands of the shoot- 

 ing men of this country to-day than of any other one 

 make of shotguns. The works' at Meriden, Conn., are 

 among the most extensive and expensive of any of the 

 private armories of this country or in the world, and a 

 tour through the works will enable the visitor to see the 

 whole process of manufacture, from the rolled rods of 

 steel used in bunching together for the laminated barrels 

 to the completely finished weapon all prettily carved and 

 engraved. The Parker gun now on the market is of the 

 top-action type and claims all the essential qualities 

 of a perfect gun, which are simplicity of construction, 

 excellence of workmanship, beauty of proportion, bal- 

 ance, shooting qualities and capacity to resist the strain 

 of long continued use. The greatest objection to breech- 

 loading shotguns in the past has been their getting loose, 

 caused by constant opening of the barrels, which fall 

 with their weight upon the hinge joint. This objection 



genuine twist barrels of good quality, and the fine ones, 

 ranging in price from $75 up, have fine Damascus or 

 laminated steel barrels. Rebounding locks, so essential 

 to the safety and convenience of a breechloader, are 

 applied to all the guns. 



At the suggestion of the Forest and Stream that a 

 test of a good all-round gun of the Parker output would 

 be desirable, Mr. L. J. Gaines, an expert from the fac- 

 tory, came down with two guns, one a 10-gauge of the 



PARKER 12-GAUGE, RIGHT BARREL, 40TOS., 407 PELLETS. 



is entirely overcome by means of an improved check 

 hook and pin, which sustains the weight of the barrels, 

 preventing any strain upon the hinge joint, and thus 

 adds many years of usefulness to the guns. The locking 

 bolt holds the barrels positively firm, and being of taper 

 shape, allows the locking of the gun, even when a little 

 dirt is in the way. This locking bolt is supplemented by 

 the top fastener upon the end of the extension rib, which 

 prevents the springing of the breech from the barrels and 

 any lateral motion of the barrels at the time of discharge. 

 The fastener has its sides cut upon the arc of a circle, 

 with the hinge joint as a center, which gives a perfect 

 bearing along its entire surface when the gun is closed. 



It is the result of experience, that in order to enable 

 sportsmen to use heavy charges, the hinge pin must be 

 removed from the breech a greater distance than form- 

 erly. The length of the frame therefore has been materi- 

 ally increased. The Parker gun was the first to use low 

 hammers, which admit of rapid sighting along the top 

 rib of the gun. 



From the beginning a system of boring was followed 

 that aimed at the best results in both pattern and penetra- 

 tion, and the Parker gun has made a remarkable record 



PARKER 10-GAUGE, LEFT BARREL, 40YDS., 412 PELLETS. 



ordinary hammer type, and the other a 12-gauge of the 

 hammerless style. They were beauties of their class. 

 Ammunition came with the guns, and a short ride 

 brought Mr. Gaines and a representative of the Forest 

 and Stream out to our testing screen on the range of the 

 Suburban Shooting Grounds Association, at Claremont, 

 N. J. 



The plan for testing was of the simplest. A table, 

 with a bag of soft earth upon it, formed the rest, and 

 was placed just 40yds. from the screen. Seated in a chair 

 behind the table, Mr. Gaines had no trouble in taking 

 deliberate aim at the conspicuous 30in. circles as they 

 were spread upon the shutters swung in by Range Supt. 

 Moss. It was not that calm, still sort of a day that one 

 would like for a careful trial. In range parlance the 

 wind came with varying force from the 9 o'clock quarter. 

 A few shots into the soft boggy soil and the 10 gauge was 

 warm and dirty for the trial. Five shots from each barrel 

 were fired at this range and each charge not only made a 

 pattern on the large sheet but such pellets as went into 

 the black center passed through the pattern paper into 

 the penetration pad, and made there a record for hardness 

 of hitting. With ten shots so made a record was secured 

 of the entire work of the gun under these conditions,- but 

 perhaps the holding was not good, or the proper allow- 

 ance was not made for wind, or the sighting line on the 

 weapon may not have been properly struck, or at any 



PARKER 12-GAUGE, LEFT BARREL, 40YDS., 386 PELLETS. 



for close, hard shooting. All guns are thoroughly tested, 

 and each one bears a tag when it leaves the factory, giv- 

 ing its record at the target. 



The Parker gun, as a distinctively American production, 

 has all the advantage of the American system of manu- 

 facturing, by producing an interchangeable gun, the 

 parts of which are all made to gauge, fit accurately, and 

 are readily duplicated, which is "not the case with guns of 

 foreign manufacture. The different parts are made by 

 special machinery, and by workmen who make a specialty 

 of one part only. No metals but the best cast steel and 

 wrought iron are used in its construction. No decar- 

 bonized or plain iron barrels in which the grain of the 

 metal runs lengthwise are used. The cheapest guns have 



PARKER 10-GAUGE, BIGHT BARREL, 40YJDS.. 433 PELLETS. 



rate shooting at a fixed circle is a test of both man and 

 arm, so in order to get the best possible exhibit of the 

 gun's ability for pattern a large sheet of paper 48 x52in. 

 was put up and a mark fixed in the middle of it. This 

 was repeated until three shots from each barrel had been 

 taken. Now came the repetition of all this at 60yds., and 

 the trial of one gun was over. While the shooting was 

 going on and as Mr. Gaines took cartridge after cartridge 

 from the box containing them, the Forest and Stream 

 also took five, and of these when brought to the labora- 

 tory in our office three were opened for weighing up and 

 counting, with the result shown in the test certificates. 

 How essential this is was shown in the very next gun, 

 for in giving the charge of the 12-gauge weapon Mr. 

 Gaines said he had l$oz. of shot in each cartridge, the 

 count, etc., of the opened cartridges shows that he had 

 but l|oz. of the No. 8 shot he was using. 



In selecting the circle for the best performance of the 

 guns when fired at the large sheets of paper, the distance 

 of the center of the circle taken marked Cin the diagram 

 from the center of the temporary bullseye fired at A, was 

 taken and they go to show that the guns, especially the 

 10-gauge, were very closely sighted. The greatest varia- 

 tion between the two centers was 7^in. in one of the 12 

 bore's left barrel shots at 40yds., and the least distance 

 lin. from the same barrel at 60yds. The averages stand: 



UOyds. 60uds. 



w aange ( Left barrel 4 in. 3in. 



12-eaue-e i barrel 5 in. 5in. 



a Scrage I Left barrel 5}{m. 4in. 



At the opening of the several hours consumed in the 



careful test the atmosphere was hot and dry, and the 

 guns showed it in the hard ring of caked powder which 

 formed far up the barrel near the muzzle. When the 

 readings on the wet and dry thermometers told that the 

 percentage of humidity was rising, a look into the gun 

 barrel found there a corroboration of this in the disap- 

 pearance of the hard ring, and the appearance instead of 

 the uniformly mottled interior. In these two weapons 

 the barrels, right and left, were the same build, and they 

 were each of them tried with the same sort of cartridges, 

 and no trial was made of different cartridges from the 

 same gun. At future dates other tests will be made 

 of the Parker gun, and under conditions which will per- 

 mit it to make a clearer exhibit of both its pattern and 

 penetration abilities. The figures as given in the reports 

 oelow do not do full justice to the capacity of the weapon 

 as thousands of shooters know it. Yet now, and here at 

 the very opening of this series of tests, we venture to ex- 

 press this opinion, and expect to find it f ullv substanti- 

 ated in the returns as they are gathered, that shooters 

 need have no fear of buying any gun sent out from a 



PARKER 10-GAUGE HAMMER GUN. 



reputable house, so far as shooting qualities are con- 

 cerned. There are differences of result from various 

 guns and various charges, and these are interesting 

 enough to be worth searching for in careful tests, but 



PARKER 12-GAUGE HAMMERLESS GUN, 



this leaves the general fact remaining, that the gun in 

 accuracy is in advance of the shooter in ability in ninety- 

 nine cases out of a hundred. 



PARKER HAMMER GUN, 10-Gauge. 



Claremont, N. J., April 11, 1889. 



TEST MADE AT FOREST AND STREAM GUN-TESTING SCREEN. 

 Gam— Parker Hammer, Damascus steel barrels. Cost, $85. 

 No. of gun, 55,254. Weight, lO^lbs. Length of barrels, 

 32in. Gauge, 10. Right barrel, full choke. Left barrel, 

 full choke. 



Weather— -Clear. Direction of wind, 9 o'clock. Force of 

 wind, 12 miles per hour. Thermometer, dry, 59°. Do., 

 wet, 49° . Humidity, 52° . Barometer, 29.95in. 

 Cha rge, as given by holder of gun 1 : 



BOTH BARRELS. 

 Sh-ell— U. M. C. Paper. 



Powder, Brand— Dupont Crystal Grain No. 1. 

 Po wder, Quantity— 4% drs. 



( Malic— Cincinnati Chilled. 

 Bhobl Quantity— 1% oz. 

 { Size— 8. 



CARTRIDGE ANALYSIS. 

 Three Cartridges Taken at Random. 



BOTH BARRELS. 

 Loading. Powder. Shot. 



Card and two pink- 1 1... 133 grs. 579 grs. 597 pellets, 



edge wads over pow--, 2. . . 132 grs. 572 grs. 592 pellets, 



der; card over shot. (3... 132 grs. 579 grs. 597 pellets. 



Average 132 grs. 576 grs. 595 pellets. 



TEST AT 40 YARDS. 



Five Shots per Barrel from rest at fixed 30-inch Circle. 



RIGHT BARREL. 

 Pattern. Penetration, s %>ellets. 



1. 366 pellets. 



2. 408 pellets. 



3. 406 pellets. 



4. 401 pellets. 



5. 424 pellets. 



24 sheets. 



18 sheets. 

 15 sheets. 

 15 sheets. 



19 sheets. 



LEFT BARREL. 

 Pattern. Penetration, 3 pellets. 



1. 330 pellets. 



2. 357 pellets. 



3. 295 pellets. 



4. 312 pellets. 



5. 303 pellets. 



23 sheets. 



13 sheets. 



14 sheets. 

 13 sheets. 

 18 sheets. 



Av. 401 pellets. 18 sheets. Av. 319 pellets. 16 sheets. 



Three shots at 4-foot square; 80-inch Circle selected from 

 best pattern. 



RIGHT BARREL. LEFT BARREL. 



1 433 pellets. 1 422 pellets. 



2 432 pellets. 2 442 pellets. 



3 403 pellets. 3 413 pellets. 



Average 422 pellets. 



TEST AT 6 



Five Shots per Barrel f rom 



RIGHT BARREL. 

 Pattern. Penetration, 3 pellets, 

 1. 190 pellets. 16 sheets. 



2. 205 pellets. 



3. 175 pellets. 



4. 178 pellets. 



5. 181 pellets. 



8 sheets. 



6 sheets. 



7 sheets. 



9 sheets. 



Average 426 pellets. 

 YARDS. 



rest at fixed 30-inch Circle. 



LEFT BARREL. 

 Pattern. Penetration, 3 pellets. 

 1. 218 pellets. 16 sheets. 



2. 161 pellets. 



3. 191 pellets. 



4. 227 pellets. 



5. 193 pellets. 



9 sheets. 

 .. sheets. 

 10 sheets. 

 7 sheets. 



Av. 186 pellets. 9 sheets. Av. 197 pellets. 10 sheets. 



Three shots at 4-foot square; 80-inch Circle selected from 

 best pattern. 



RIGHT BARREL. LEFT BARREL. 



1 233 pellets: 1 223 pellets. 



« 2 187 pellets. 2 221 pellets. 



3 223 pellets. 3 229 pellets. 



Average 214 pellets. 



Average 224 pellets. 



