doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com 28 guage an American or European?

Parker didn't invent the 28 bore, but they did introduce it to America. And it was in 1902, not 1903, or else my 28 gauge VH from that year is a very high quality fake!

The earliest Parker Bros. 28-gauge in the surviving records is a BH-Grade serial number 94373, followed by two DH-Grades serial numbers 95431 and 97170. There is a body of evidence that about 1900, the Brothers P took several 0-frame 20-gauge guns that were languishing in inventory and fitted them with 28-gauge barrels in an attempt to move some inventory with a new novelty.

Remington Arms Co.'s Model 1893 single barrel was being offered in 28-gauge a year or two before the first Parker Bros. 28-gauge doubles.

Interesting; the cartridge (of a sort) shotgun is older than I remember and the 28 is almost as old. Not, however, especially "American."

O'Gonnor was a great "hunting expert," a good "hunting gun expert," but not so much a "firearms history expert." A little short-sighted historically....

Mike,
I've run across a few things O'Gonnor stated as fact that were ...well, not so much. Other writers have things in their doodlings that sometimes crop up as misinformation. My personal opinion is that gun writers (and other writers) of the past (and some of the present) don't verify everything they hear and some may have even made assumptions. I recall an article I read about carbon composite covered barrels where a well known red headed editor of famous Peterson magazines, stated that the composite facilitated faster cooling of the barrel as evidenced by the fact that you felt little heat on the exterior after a rapid fire session. We had a good laugh around work at that. Then I sent an email to him explaining the error and my professional background with composites. I never heard back.

It ain't all fact just because it's in print. Hell, history books are filled with second, third, fourth, 30th, hand recounts of what actually happened. When we try to reminisce with our hunting buddies about past hunts, I know my recollections vary from others...and both of us were there! Add a third and three variations emerge.

Thank you for stating it so politely, Chuck H. I probably wouldn't have done such a good job.

And you have to consider the fact that all successful writers have to play to their audience to some extent. Audiences want "the right 'facts'" not necessarily THE facts. There's SOME truth to what O'Connor said about the genesis of the .410, but only about 2% of THE truth.

Chuck, why is it that any mention of the .410 catches your attention? (Kidding).

You two have put your fingers on it. History is not fact, never has been, and eyewitnesses to history are as variable as breezes. I think of it as story-telling and what makes it interesting are all the opportunities now to measure our biases against received fact, factoids and opinions. As for verification, one man's truth is not another's. My dear father's injunction was to assume nothing.

That's it Kingsley...in fact if you've ever noticed the stories, "the older a man gets, the further he walked to school as a boy and the colder it was".......(the snow also gets deeper)......

As Chuck mentioned above with the history books embellished here and there, who knows what a real "fact" is......the sporting magazines of the past are full of dramatized vivid events for the hunters and gun cranks', all in the hype of selling magazines over the years...........the outdoor T.V. shows took off where the magazines left off.........

Best...

King,
I recall reading Gordon Prange's books and later his (+Goldstein & Dillon) reference book that had a lot of recounts of Pearl Harbor and Midway that differed from other writers and the reasons why. I have no way of knowing whether he was right or not, but it did plant the thought with me that history books are just people passing along a story told to them by others who likely heard it from someone else, etc., and there can be a lot of misinformation easily.

An old gentleman once said to me: "The winners write the history books."
Gave me pause for thought. Still does.

Sam Ogle,Lincoln, NE